This Week: Telling a Better Story

This week, a lot of frightening events are happening.

This week, Congressional hearings are currently underway to investigate the “radicalization of Islam in America”.

Led primarily by Representative Peter King, the hearings target American Muslim politicans, advocacy groups, community organizers, and more, questioning them about terrorism within the Muslim community. Key trials have included CAIR and Minnesota’s own Rep. Keith Ellison.

For some, these hearings are strongly reminiscent of the McCarthy trials of the previous century. For others, they offer an excuse to question the Muslim community.  “A Congressional hearing on Thursday addressing homegrown Islamic terrorism offered divergent portraits of Muslims in America,” wrote the New York Times, “one as law-abiding people who are unfairly made targets, the other as a community ignoring radicalization among its own and failing to confront what one witness called “this cancer that’s within.”

Also this week, America is still reeling from the anti-Muslim ICNA protests in Orange County and from the anti-Muslim murder of two Sikh men in Elk Grove.

In Orange County, regardless of ICNA’s individual motives or agendas (which may or may not be reprehensible), protests can and should be examples of fair, peaceful, inclusive, and nonviolent action for change. Even if the above video has been edited and marketed unfairly, even one bad apple is too many. Vitriolic racial and ethnic hatred is unacceptable. We should all learn from these experiences and use them to produce better dialogue in our public sphere — especially regarding religion.

And in Elk Grove, 65 year old Surinder Singh and 78 year old Gurmej Atwal were gunned down in broad daylight. Their murder is under investigation as a hate crime directed at Muslims. When will this end? When will the misguided hatred and violence stop? “During a news conference Monday at a Sikh temple, a spokesman said the recent violence has scared some temple-goers into concealing any indicators of their religion. Sikhs often are mistaken for Muslims and have been the subject of occasional violence across the country since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”

However: This week, we are fighting back with a better story.

This week, the Hamline University Better Together + Taking Root campaign is coming together to share an interfaith meal, collect donations, and volunteer for a young refugee family from Burma.

Karen refugees Ker Ner and Paw Shu are 19 and 23 years old, and they are expecting their first child in May. Hamline interfaith students are bringing together their faiths and traditions and giving them a helping hand!

Join us on Saturday at 2:00pm. Meet up at the statue of Bishop Hamline on Hewitt Avenue in Hamline’s campus, and we’ll head to our service site in a Hamline van! We’re also going to share pizza and work on packing welcome kits! Key donations include pots/pans, bakeware, silverware, can openers, new towels, new pillows, waste basket, broom, mop, new toilet paper, new shampoo, and baby items.

Also this week, Hamline University’s Multifaith Alliance shared an awesome event about welcoming atheists into interfaith dialogue.

After setting our safe space and digging into our lasagna, we talked about a lot of important questions. What is atheism? What is interfaith? These simple words actually encompass a wide variety of personal perspectives and worldviews. How can we welcome them all?

With the help of a fantastic video by notable atheist Chris Stedman of NonProphet Status, we listened to stories and shared our own. How can we make new friends? How can we develop some more inclusive language? What do we want to learn more about? How can people who care about interfaith work be welcoming of atheists? How can atheists, Humanists, Religious Humanists, non-theists, Freethinkers, and more be receptive to working with all members of our community?

Most importantly, how can all of our faiths and traditions make an impact?

Things might be scary, friends. The hearings might be frightening; violence and shootings might be terrifying. But if you listen and look, there is a stronger, more powerful story being told. It is a story of welcoming strangers as neighbors. It is a story of welcoming non-believers as brothers and sisters. It is a story of bringing our traditions to the common good.

Religious Objects

Over candles and a table crowded with items of religious significance, we talked about a lot of compelling questions last night! At our interfaith dialogue about the power of religious objects, we tackled a lot of tough questions!

What are all the different religious objects you can think of? We talked about everything from crosses or prayer beads to bodies, tattoos, songs, and prayers…
What makes such objects significant? Can a person make an object holy, or must holiness come from some other source? Do you give an item worth, or does it influence you?

What happens when objects’ meanings change over time? We talked a lot about indigenous communities’ names and symbols, swastikas, the ying yang, and other objects… Sometimes objects’ meanings change naturally, but sometimes they are appropriated. What’s wrong with this? How do we fix it?Do you ever appropriate symbols or objects?

During times of religious persecution (e.g., Jews during the Holocaust, Christians in medieval Japan), people sometimes had to spit on or break their holy objects. Would you defile or destroy a holy object to avoid persecution?

There is a story of a Buddhist coming upon another Buddhist, chopping up a statue of the Buddha and using it for firewood. Horrified, the first Buddhist says, “Why are you doing this?” The second Buddhist says, “The Buddha’s not in there!” Let’s say you are Christian or Jewish – would you burn the Cross or the Torah for firewood? Would you defile or destroy a holy object to survive the elements?

Sikhs in the military and on airplanes (having to cut their hair or not wear their dagger): What should the armed forces or airlines do? Would you feel comfortable sitting next to someone if they had a dagger that you could see? Why or why not?

Sometimes obtaining religious objects necessitates tough actions – for example, use of leather or feathers to make it (as in tefillin or some Native American prayers). Would you kill a cow or trap a bald eagle to get the leather or feathers? Would you kill an animal to participate in a religious ritual? If not, do you think it’s okay for people of other traditions to do it? What about animal sacrifices?

We hope that these and other questions will help inspire you to think, change, grow, and consider things in a new light.
Thanks to all for a great conversation! Add your input below!

Real Issues: Water, JRLC, and Interfaith

Today, we’d like to share about real, daily issues in human life. Specifically, last week we talked about water, and this week we will be discussing JRLC’s Day on the Hill!

WATER

Water is a religious, cultural, political, and economic issue. The presence of water in our world ranges from baptism to bombs, from nature to nationalism, from bottled water to protected traditions. Here are some resources we discussed last week:

The Right to Water in Palestine
If Americans Knew: Water in Palestine
The Blue Peace: Rethinking Middle East Water
Flood Legends from Around the World
Talk Origins: Flood Stories from Around the World

We hope you enjoy these, and we hope your conversation keeps going!

JRLC’S DAY ON THE HILL

JRLC, or Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, is an interfaith lobby group. JRLC works with local religious communities and politically active youth to advocate progressive change in government.

Some of you may remember when Joint Religious Legislative Coalition came to Multifaith in the Fall. Two staff members talked about the organization and their big day at the capital called Day On The Hill — Day on the Hill is the centerpiece of their work and a huge opportunity for religious and youth members of society to make change!

Now, that day is approaching and we wanted to give people the opportunity to join us on February 17th! The day begins at 8:30 AM and the last shuttle at the end of the day will be at 4:00 PM. You’ll have the chance to talk to the legislator in your district about issues on poverty, rights to healthcare, and state budgets. For the detailed schedule of the day or if you’re interested or would like more details, visit JRLC’s website at www.jrlc.org. If you’re unable to lobby or stay for the entire day, there are also some volunteer opportunities. These include help during registration, ushering people to buses, cleanup after breakfast, and walking around the capital making sure there isn’t any improper behavior. If you’re interested in anything for the 17th, please contact the Wesley Center so we can get you registered. Get in touch with Rola (ralkatout01@hamlineuniversity.edu) for questions!

That evening, Rola will be facilitating a discussion in Multifaith about JRLC, their lobby positions, the role of religious traditions and the role of government. Join us for some food, conversation, and hopefully some controversy!

Let’s stir things up and get talking! See you there!

J-Term Book Club and Spring 2011 Schedule!

Friends and fans of Multifaith Alliance,

Check out some of our great new plans for 2011! We’re going to kick the year off right with an amazing book club — we’ll be reading Dharma Punx by Noah Levine! Please take a look at our NEW: Multifaith J-Term Book Club page to see the book, read what it’s about, and sign up!

Plus, we’ve also posted our NEW: Spring 2011 schedule! We’ve got some fantastic events lined up for next semester, and we’re really excited to share them with all of you! As always, Multifaith meets on Thursdays at 7pm for food, conversation, and sharing! Newcomers are welcome and dinner is always free!

February 3: Dreams

February 10: The Elements – Water

February 17: Day On the Hill

February 24: Religious Objects

March 3: Food, Food Justice, and Faith

March 10: Atheism in Interfaith

March 17: Luck, Fate, and Fortune

March 24: No Multifaith – Spring Break!

March 31: Women in Religion

April 7: Spring Holidays

April 14: The Chocolate Seder

April 21: Religion and Pop Culture

April 28: The Elements – Air

 

 

Food and Food Justice

Wow – last night’s event was amazing! What a beautiful feast, and what a great group of people to share it with. We had an excellent conversation, including questions like:

• What do religious traditions say about creation and food?
• What are religious customs’ relationships with food? Fastings? Feasts? Holidays?
• How do certain meals or lack thereof relate to you? Your family? Your cultural upbringing?
• How would different cultural, religious, or spiritual traditions approach the issue of food justice? What would Jesus say about the relationship between poverty and malnutrition? What would Mohammed say about the complex relationship between subsidies and unhealthy foods? How do the Upanishads’ creation story speak to business practices and consumption?

Also, food for thought – what do we teach our children about food? About fast food? About corporations? Do we idolize these figures and companies? In this clip from Morgan Spurlock’s “Super Size Me”, American children can immediately identify characters like Wendy, Ronald McDonald, and others, but struggle with identifying other important figures. Watch and learn:

And Robert Kenner’s “Food, Inc.”, we witness an American family struggle with poverty, medical needs, and the necessity of fast food. What can our traditions and customs say to them?

Check out the trailer:

Finally, remember that we are NOT meeting next week due to Thanksgiving! We will meet again for our final Multifaith session on Thursday, December 3.

Multifaith Alliance & National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week: Food and Food Justice

Good morning, friends and fans of Multifaith Alliance!

Just in time for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, this week Multifaith Alliance is discussing food and food justice! How do different cultural, spiritual, and religious traditions engage with food? What can we learn from harvest festivals, holidays, fasts, feasts, and other religious customs? How do different heritages speak to food justice, and humanity’s relationship with nourishment and the earth?

Join us at 6:00 pm on Thursday in the Bush Student Center Chapel for a free meal, great conversation, and plenty of questions for the road! Dinner is served and newcomers are always encouraged!

(Also, I’ve heard down the grapevine that Hamline SPROUT might be making an appearance with us! Regardless, please attend and support their “Bring It To the Table” event, a panel on food justice, on Tuesday at 7:30 pm!)

Thanks, and I hope to see you there!

April

Good News and Even Better News

[the good news]

For last night’s Multifaith, we discussed current events in the media, the United States, and the world. We brought forth a lot of critical topics, discussed key issues, shared personal stories, and inspired valuable questions about religion, identity, cultural perception, labels, youth, passion, community, and the future!

On Ft. Hood, the shooter’s authentic or perceived Muslim identity, and cultural response

CNN, Nov 11: Official: Fort Hood suspect asked military to give Muslims an out

Washington Post, Nov 6: On Faith: The murderer at Ft. Hood

We also evaluated a small sampling of comments on the latter article (Dr. Eboo Patel’s editorial, featured in the Washington Post’s “On Faith”).

These are not the views of Multifaith Alliance, but instead the views of various people who commented on the article.

“No one man speaks for a religion (positively or negatively) but each man has the right to his religion. Even a murderer. This man is a Muslim.”

“This event has no deep meaning. An antisocial loner went off the deep end and killed some innocent bystanders. No different from the guy in the Holocaust Museum, except that he was more successful at it… The Muslim-American community has performed a key positive role in the war on terror. They have organized, reported, reformed, counseled and fought the good fight against poisonous religious ideology from overseas. [People who think otherwise] owe Muslim-Americans an apology.”

“Firstly, I am sorry Mr. Patel but, in fact, a Muslim did do this. It is possible to be both a murderer and a Muslim, as we have seen time and time again. Secondly, it is becoming clear that this man was not merely Muslim in name but a devout Muslim who was actually involved in proselytizing.”

“The previous 5 or 10 rampage murderers here in the US, notably in VA Tech, Columbine, and others, were carried out by Christians, or at least people raised in a predominantly Christian culture and environment. However, no one seemed to notice that or damn them from belonging to a religion that condemns mass murder.”

“Show us with your actions, Muslims. Turn in the murderers among you. Turn in your brother, your father or your cousin who plans to kill. Then we, the 300,000,000 non-Muslim Americans may start to take you seriously. Until then: I hate you.”

“If this man was a Christian, the media wouldn’t be describing him as “A Christian American.” Christian groups wouldn’t feel the need to decry his actions. No one would expect them to.”

“”Allahu Akbar” is Arabic for “Kill Innocents”.”

What do these comments mean? What can we learn from them? What can we take from these comments and translate into our positive actions?

On emergent youth culture and new passion for religion, and what it means for faith and religious traditions

CNN, October 30: ‘New Jews’ stake claim to faith, culture

On religious diversity in the Armed Forces, and potential results and possibilities

CNN, October 28: Army allows Sikh to keep beard, turban, uncut hair

On the lines between cults and religions, scams and non-profits, and who decides

WIRED, October 27: France Convicts Scientology of Fraud

It was a fantastic conversation and opened up tons of compelling questions and conversation!

[the even better news]

April Palo, your fearless student leader, is studying abroad in Ireland in Spring 2010. That means Multifaith Alliance needs someone to step up and be a leader! Will anyone come forward?

Lo and behold, our prayers have been answered in the form of… Rola Alkatout!

Rola is a sophomore Psychology major and a RA here at Hamline. She’s outgoing and gregarious, and will make a great leader of discussions! She’s also thoughtful, responsible, and a committed student leader. We’re very excited that she’ll be taking the helm, and we’re thrilled to have such a great interfaith leader working on Multifaith this next semester!

Go Rola, and look out for an awesome Spring 2010!

Atheism

For your viewing pleasure – last week’s video!

Our talk on atheism was wonderful. Defining atheism, agnosticism, non-theism, and atheistic faith systems was a whole conversation unto itself, and exploring social perceptions and labels was the icing on the cake. Thanks for a great discussion!

Be sure to stop by this week for our discussion on politics, the media, and current events!

Service Project Reflection

In addition to our earlier post about Multifaith Alliance’s inaugural service project, please enjoy the following video about Emma Norton’s Residence. Emma Norton’s Residence is the United Methodist-affiliated residence program for women coming from substance abuse, mental illness, and homelessness where we volunteered last week!

What does service mean to you? How does service relate to you? The community? A higher power? How can service bring us together, and how can we utilize service as a framework for religious discussion and pluralism?

Reflect on these questions and more, and look out for next year’s Multifaith Alliance Service Project!

Paganism!

Last night’s event on paganism was awesome! It was a little stressful, but fortunately our group was able to explore a productive and thoughtful conversation, which is really all that matters! (Thanks so much to Ryan, Abbie, Mikayla, and Ellen for being so forthcoming with their stories and thoughts, and thanks to all the rest who attended!)

Want to know what we talked about? Check out these videos, and keep coming to Multifaith Thursday nights at 6pm for food, warmth, and conversation!