Back in 2008, a controversy developed at Harvard University regarding the right of Muslims to sound the adhan(call to prayer) in a public space. Three graduate students published an op ed in the Harvard Crimson claiming that, unlike church bells or a menorah, this display was not in keeping with the commitments of the pluralistic university.
Many disagreed, and a fair account(fair, according to the Harvard Muslim chaplain's blog) of the controversy appeared in the New York Times.
I just obtained my copy of the 2010 edition of The Best Spiritual Writing. It carries a reprint of an article by Leon Weiseltier, a Jewish writer for the New Republic, that had, in my judgment, some wise ruminations on this issue and, in addition, on the wider question of the cacophony created by open civil space and the pleasures, as well as challenges, of the "ravishments of other traditions."
You can read it here.
Ring The Bells | The New Republic
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Arlene Anderson Swidler 1929-2008
Arlene Anderson Swidler, an early pioneer in interfaith relations , died this spring. Arlene was not only one of the leaders in the interfaith movement, she also was an important voice for feminism and for homosexual rights in the Catholic Church and beyond. Arlene wrote or edited ten books, including Woman in a man’s Church (1972), Sister Celebrations (1974), Human Rights in Religious Traditions (1982), Mainstreaming (1985), A New Phoebe (1990), Homosexuality and World Religions (1993). She also published 75 articles.
In 196o, Arlene and her husband Leonard, a professor of Religion, returned from three years in Germany where she had collaborated with Leonard's research on the "Una Sancta Movement," the only ecumenical effort then to include Catholics. Arlene conceived of the revolutionary idea of an American scholarly periodical devoted to ecumenism with Catholic participation (no comparable publication existed at the time) and recruited Leonard, who in turn recruited Elwyn A. Smith, Professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Together they founded the JOURNAL OF ECUMENICAL STUDIES.
When Leonard became a professor at Temple University Religion Department, the journal moved with them. To this day, the journal continues to publish regularly and serves as an important resource for those concerned with a mutifaith world.astro.temple.edu/~dialogue/jesindex.htm - 13k
Arlene suffered from Alzheimers disease for the last seventeen years of her life. Thanks to the unceasing efforts of her husband Len, she remained at home all those years, including the last five when she was completely bedridden. On October 3, friends and colleagues will gather at Rosemont College where Arlene taught to pay tribute to the memory of a remarkable woman and to the courage and dedication of a remarkable couple.
Articles by Arlene and Len are being collected at a website: astro.temple.edu/
May Arlene's memory be for a blessing.
Terror Claims Against Muslim Leader Rejected by Court
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Thursday, August 28, 2008
Crosscurrents
This journal continues to be an important source for thoughtful conversation on issues of interest to those engaging in the challenges of a multifaith world.
 clipped from www.crosscurrents.orgMore
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Statistics
Here is a helpful reminder of the relative size of the religious communities worldwide.
 clipped from www.adherents.com
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Friday, March 7, 2008
Muslim American Leader Speaks Out
Here is a letter from a Muslim American leader that makes us hopeful about the future.
We need those signs of hope these days....
From the Desk of Ibrahim Abdil-Mu'id Ramey
MAS Freedom Civil and Human Rights Director
WASHINGTON, D.C. (MASNET) March 7, 2008 - On March 6, 2008, the world
received news of yet another tragedy in the ongoing conflict between
the Palestinians and Israelis. In an apparent act of revenge, armed
Palestinians infiltrated a Rabbinical school in Jerusalem and attacked
a group of teenage Jewish students, leaving eight of them dead. They
were not combatants, and the act did not take place in self-defense or
in the heat of combat.
Most of the world, especially in Israel, was stunned and horrified by
the killings. But in Gaza, at least according to news reports, people
were jubilant in their celebration of the deaths.
Should Muslims in the United States also feel a sense of joy and
vindication? No. We must recognize the attack for what it was: an act
of murder. And we must now ask ourselves the difficult question of how
we, as activists in support of the people of Gaza and Palestine, can
go forward in the wake of an act of senseless brutality that could
threaten to derail some significant support for the cause of ending
the occupation and respecting the human rights of the people in Gaza
and the West Bank.
Sadly, acts of deliberate murder are hardly rare in the context of
this part of the world. I remember, a few years ago, the act of murder
in a mosque in the West Bank that left nearly 30 Muslim worshippers
murdered by a fanatic named Baruch Goldstein. The Muslim world, and
most people of conscience, were enraged. Yet some extremists in Israel
not only celebrated the killings, but actually made Goldstein (who was
killed after the attack), a cult hero among some ultra-Zionists.
But murder, by whomever, is simply a crime against humanity and
against the Almighty. And the killing of Jewish students in Jerusalem
was exactly that kind of abomination.
The pursuit of liberation is a human response to oppression, and one
that is common to all oppressed people, in all periods of history. But
there is a moral and practical, distinction between legitimate
political struggle on one hand, and acts of criminal revenge on the
other.
As Muslims, we believe that struggle against oppression, and
self-defense, are not only legitimate, but also required. The killing
of innocent people, on the other hand, is morally repugnant-and Haram.
I hope that the Palestinian leadership, and especially Hamas, will
recognize that the celebration of these murders will only serve to
further isolate them, and make it more difficult for them to claim
some moral high-ground in the eyes of world opinion. I also hope that
they will consider that activists throughout the world, who support
the rights of the people of Gaza, must now labor under yet another
burden of suspicion, and even outright rejection, by opponents who are
all too anxious to equate the Palestinian cause with savagery and
terrorism. Further, it obliterates, in the consciousness of many, the
nonviolent responses to the occupation that would ultimately be more
effective as instruments of liberation vs. sensational and
counter-productive acts of killing and mayhem.
As I have said in a previous essay, it's long past time to end the
violence, and the killing, in Israel and Palestine. We mourn the
deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, especially in Gaza.
But now, we should also mourn the killing of the Jewish students in
Jerusalem, and call for the respect for human life as a core value for
both sides of this conflict. I, as a Muslim in America, offer my
condolences to the families and communities of the young people who
were killed in this act of violence.
The struggle for freedom has no room for the murder of innocent
people. It is not acceptable in the modern world.
An eye-for-an-eye, as Dr. King reminded us, will simply make both
Palestinians and Israelis blind.
We need those signs of hope these days....
From the Desk of Ibrahim Abdil-Mu'id Ramey
MAS Freedom Civil and Human Rights Director
WASHINGTON, D.C. (MASNET) March 7, 2008 - On March 6, 2008, the world
received news of yet another tragedy in the ongoing conflict between
the Palestinians and Israelis. In an apparent act of revenge, armed
Palestinians infiltrated a Rabbinical school in Jerusalem and attacked
a group of teenage Jewish students, leaving eight of them dead. They
were not combatants, and the act did not take place in self-defense or
in the heat of combat.
Most of the world, especially in Israel, was stunned and horrified by
the killings. But in Gaza, at least according to news reports, people
were jubilant in their celebration of the deaths.
Should Muslims in the United States also feel a sense of joy and
vindication? No. We must recognize the attack for what it was: an act
of murder. And we must now ask ourselves the difficult question of how
we, as activists in support of the people of Gaza and Palestine, can
go forward in the wake of an act of senseless brutality that could
threaten to derail some significant support for the cause of ending
the occupation and respecting the human rights of the people in Gaza
and the West Bank.
Sadly, acts of deliberate murder are hardly rare in the context of
this part of the world. I remember, a few years ago, the act of murder
in a mosque in the West Bank that left nearly 30 Muslim worshippers
murdered by a fanatic named Baruch Goldstein. The Muslim world, and
most people of conscience, were enraged. Yet some extremists in Israel
not only celebrated the killings, but actually made Goldstein (who was
killed after the attack), a cult hero among some ultra-Zionists.
But murder, by whomever, is simply a crime against humanity and
against the Almighty. And the killing of Jewish students in Jerusalem
was exactly that kind of abomination.
The pursuit of liberation is a human response to oppression, and one
that is common to all oppressed people, in all periods of history. But
there is a moral and practical, distinction between legitimate
political struggle on one hand, and acts of criminal revenge on the
other.
As Muslims, we believe that struggle against oppression, and
self-defense, are not only legitimate, but also required. The killing
of innocent people, on the other hand, is morally repugnant-and Haram.
I hope that the Palestinian leadership, and especially Hamas, will
recognize that the celebration of these murders will only serve to
further isolate them, and make it more difficult for them to claim
some moral high-ground in the eyes of world opinion. I also hope that
they will consider that activists throughout the world, who support
the rights of the people of Gaza, must now labor under yet another
burden of suspicion, and even outright rejection, by opponents who are
all too anxious to equate the Palestinian cause with savagery and
terrorism. Further, it obliterates, in the consciousness of many, the
nonviolent responses to the occupation that would ultimately be more
effective as instruments of liberation vs. sensational and
counter-productive acts of killing and mayhem.
As I have said in a previous essay, it's long past time to end the
violence, and the killing, in Israel and Palestine. We mourn the
deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, especially in Gaza.
But now, we should also mourn the killing of the Jewish students in
Jerusalem, and call for the respect for human life as a core value for
both sides of this conflict. I, as a Muslim in America, offer my
condolences to the families and communities of the young people who
were killed in this act of violence.
The struggle for freedom has no room for the murder of innocent
people. It is not acceptable in the modern world.
An eye-for-an-eye, as Dr. King reminded us, will simply make both
Palestinians and Israelis blind.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
American Jewish Leaders Welcome Letter from the Muslim Community Calling for Dialogue and Understanding
Last week Muslim scholars from the Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations issued an open letter to the Jewish Community calling for dialogue and understanding. (see entry on this blog for February 28.)
In response the leadership of the Reconstructionist, Reform, and Conservative Jewish Movements in North America made the following statement:
We deeply appreciate the hand extended in a letter from Muslim scholars at The Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations, and we clasp that hand willingly. That we have much to learn from and about each other is clear – sometimes painfully clear. We look forward to the shared work of thoughtful dialogue.
We appreciate in particular the letter’s assertion, regarding the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, that “The loss of every single life is a loss to humanity and a bloody stain on the tapestry of history. We call for a peaceful resolution that will assure mutual respect, prosperity and security to both Palestinians and Israelis, while allowing the Palestinian people their rights to self-determination”. We whole-heartedly share that perspective, and hope that our exploration of the troubling issues will enable us to understand each other’s narratives and to come together in explicit and stern denunciation of terrorism.
Clearly, the time for a respectful consideration of the issues that unite us and also of the issues that divide us has come; indeed, it has been too long postponed.
So let us begin.
The statement was signed by Dr. Carl Sheingold, Executive Vice President of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation; Rabbi Jerome Epstein, Executive Vice President of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; and Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism.
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