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Beyond our life of Pi: Encountering multiple religious belonging and comparative theology with Francis Xavier Clooney, S.J.

Enver Rahmanov, State of Formation, Mar.29

I remember reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel several years ago and how my heart would resonate with each experience of the sacred by the story’s brave protagonist, a Tamil boy from Pondicherry, through his adventurous openness to spirituality beyond the borders of one religion. This story that became the Oscar-winning movie is more than the fantasy adventure. It is a beautiful interpretation of our reality, of human imagination, and of hope, deliverance and salvation. Today, multiple religious belonging is not just a concept and an interreligious dialogue may no longer remain an event that we approach as a token of recognition for the other’s religion.  We do not need scholars to notice a rapidly increased human migration across the borders that have brought us closer to experience the religious other. Yet prominent scholars and wise religious leaders, who dedicate their lives to a deeper understanding of faith beyond one’s tradition, can help us with insight into our neighbor’s religion through their comparative and contextual understanding. Recently, I participated in the XIth Engaging Particularities conference at Boston College and met several young emerging scholars from the United States, Germany, Austria, South Africa and Rwanda, dedicated to what some of us may call theology for and of interreligious dialogue.  The presence of professors Francis Clooney, S.J., and Catherine Cornille, two leading voices in the contemporary field of comparative theology, was truly a gift for many of us who have been influenced by their revolutionary work.  I have to admit that reading Clooney’s Comparative Theology: Deep Learning Across Religious Borders[1] in our class on Christian-Muslim dialogue with Sr. Marianne Farina at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley has opened to me a new and exciting world of opportunities to know the other, including their devotional practices. It has also helped me understand my own identity, as someone who is taking a great but rewarding risk of trying to “live on the border of the holy”, to borrow Rev. William Countryman’s phrase, by entering what Catherine Cornille calls “many mansions” of multiple religious belonging.

I invite every student of theology and religion to read Clooney’s book Comparative Theology, which I am quoting below, so we can better engage with the complexity and beauty of various religious identities. He moves away from previous methods of comparativism, such as Replacement, Fulfillment and Mutuality models. Clooney does not claim his solid definition of Comparative Theology nor does he require one to have a PhD in order to pursue it, but argues that it is a discipline that has ethical implications and, therefore, takes “wise practitioners who know by experience the power and limits of words.” He emphasizes that it requires our individual choices, honest study, broad curiosity in religion and yet narrow focus in such comparative undertaking, humility and courage “to find a way to be unthreatened by what is new, unsettled and unsettling, without being enamored by novelty or disrespectful toward tradition.”

Read the complete article here.

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US Promotion of International Religious Freedom

Katrina Lantos Swett, Zenit, Apr.03

At this time of global change, when questions of religion and state relations are being redefined, the universal right to freedom of religion or belief has never been more important.  The upcoming TEDx ViaDellaConciliazione focusing on religious freedom is both timely and welcome.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent U.S. government advisory body established by Congress to monitor religious freedom worldwide and make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress.  The only such entity in the world, USCIRF is led by Commissioners, appointed by the President and leaders of Congress, who bring a variety of professional experiences and faith perspectives.    The Commission is staffed by a professional staff of expert analysts to monitor religious freedom globally.

Read the complete article here.

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In the Middle East, not America, Christians are actually persecuted

Jonathan Merritt, Religion News Service, Apr.03

American Christians have a persecution complex. Whenever a public figure criticizes the Christian movement or offers believers in other faiths an equal voice in society, you can bet Christians will start howling. Claims about American persecution of Christians are a form of low comedy in a country where two-thirds of citizens claim to be Christians, where financial gifts to Christian churches are tax deductible, where Christian pastors can opt out of social security, and where no one is restricted from worshipping however, whenever, and wherever they wish.

But for many Christians, the “war on religion” is no laughing matter.

Let’s be clear: protecting religious freedom is a serious concern, and believers should speak up whenever they feel the free practice of any faith—not just their own—is threatened. But what is happening in America is not “persecution.” Using such a label is an insult to the faithful languishing in other parts of the world where persecution actually exists—places like the Middle East.

Rather than asking pastors to abstain from endorsing presidential candidates from their pulpits in exchange for tax-exempt status, persecution looks more like the recent experience of Saeed Abendini. The American pastor was sentenced to eight years in Iran’s Evin prison, where it is suspected that he is undergoing beatings, torture, and brainwashing techniques.

Read the complete article here.

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Canadian prisoners sue over lack of chaplains

Ron Csillag, Religion News Service, Apr.02

Inmates in British Columbia have filed suit to overturn a decision by the Canadian government to cut part-time prison chaplains, alleging that the policy has nearly eliminated prison ministry to minority faiths.

“Prisoners do not lose their right to freely express their religious and spiritual beliefs by virtue of their incarceration,” said the lawsuit, which asks the court to declare the policy a violation of Canada’s Charter of Rights and to reinstate minority faith chaplains in British Columbia.

The suit was triggered by Ottawa’s announcement last October that it was canceling the contracts of all part-time prison chaplains to save an estimated $1.3 million. The non-Christian chaplains ministered to Muslim, Sikh, Jewish, and Buddhist inmates, and those who follow aboriginal spirituality.

Read the complete article here.

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Islamist militancy quietly makes inroads in post-revolution Tunisia

John Thorne, Christian Science Monitor, Mar.28

Tunisia has been spared most violence since ousting its longtime dictator. But Islamist extremism is growing, and young Tunisian men are heading overseas to fight.

One night last December, national guardsmen burst into the hospital emergency room in this mountain town leading a young man, handcuffed and shot through the right buttock.

“I am a mujahid on the path of God,” he proclaimed, but disclosed no more, according to a hospital worker who asked not to be named because he wasn’t allowed to speak to media.

The young man, Saifeddine Chagroun, was shot and arrested while trying to sneak into Algeria en route to Syrian battlefields, says his lawyer. He is one of many would-be fighters signaling Islamist militancy that is increasingly spanning borders.

The Arab Spring has brought new freedoms, but also instability. Libya is swamped with weapons, which fueled an Islamist takeover of northern Mali last year. In Tunisia, revolution has weakened security and allowed a hardline conservative Salafi current to emerge.

For North Africa’s militants, that makes Tunisia a good place to traffic arms and recruit fighters. Authorities want to crack down harder, but lack resources. Lawyers warn that what they describe as scapegoating and alleged abuse of Salafi suspects could inflame an already tense situation.

US and Tunisian authorities are increasingly worried. This week Gen. Carter Ham, who heads the US Army’s Africa Command, said Al Qaeda was trying to get a foothold in Tunisia, while Tunisia’s interior ministry said it was creating “crisis cells” to watch for terrorist activity.

On March 17, North Africa’s premier militant group, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, called on supporters to work against local secularists or fight government forces in Algeria and a French-led intervention in Mali.

Meanwhile, the families of young men like Mr. Chagroun are still groping for an explanation.

Read the complete article here.

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Pope extends hand of friendship to “Muslim brothers and sisters” during Good Friday rite

Washington Post, Mar.29

Pope Francis reached out in friendship to “so many Muslim brothers and sisters” during a Good Friday procession dedicated to the suffering of Christians from terrorism, war and religious fanaticism in the Middle East.

The new pontiff, who has rankled traditionalists by rejecting many trappings of his office, mostly stuck to the traditional script during the nighttime Way of the Cross procession at Rome’s Colosseum, one of the most dramatic rituals of Holy Week.

With torches lighting the way, the faithful carried a cross to different stations, where meditations and prayers were read out recalling the final hours of Jesus’ life and his crucifixion.

This year, the prayers were composed by young Lebanese, and many recalled the plight of minority Christians in the region, where wars have forced thousands to flee their homelands. The meditations called for an end to “violent fundamentalism,” terrorism and the “wars and violence which in our days devastate various countries in the Middle East.”

Francis, who became pope just over two weeks ago, chose, however, to stress Christians’ positive relations with Muslims in the region in his brief comments at the end of the ceremony.

Read the complete article here.

Older IRENICA (Archived)

The Interfaith Observer – March Edition

The Interfaith Observer – March Edition, Mar.15

From Toddlers to Millennials – Reimagining Interfaith Community

Learning to Be a Good Neighbor
At What Age Should Interfaith Education Begin? by TIO Correspondent Ruth Broyde Sharone

A New Kind of Interfaith Family
Advice, and a Community, for Interfaith Families by Jennifer Kogan

The Transforming Power of Hospitality
Faith, Food, and Creating Interfaith Community by Tahil Sharma

Tumbling For Interfaith
Building Community One Microblog at a Time by Hafsa Arain

Creating Interfaith Community in San Francisco
Interfaith Young Adults in Urban Community by Krithika Harish

Safety, Hospitality, and Engagement Nurture Leadership
Cultivating the Next Generation of Interfaith Leaders by Rachel A. Heath

A New Generation of Social Justice Activists
Boomers & Millennials Compare Interfaith Action by Joshua Stanton

Building Bridges Among D.C.’s Faith Leader
Interfaith Millennials Organize in Washington D.C. by Jack Gordon

Muslim and Jewish Young Adults Forge Community in Los Angeles
Listening and Achieving the Impossible Dream by Abigail Barash

Older IRENICA (Archived)

Religious liberty in crisis

Terry Mattingly, Patheos, Mar.11

Here’s a tough question for American pastors: If local school officials voted to limit the freedom of Muslim students to publicly practice their faith, would you urge your flock to protest?

Those who believe in religious liberty must answer “yes,” according to the Rev. Rick Warren, leader of the 20,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.

“If a school district tells me that a Muslim girl can’t wear a headscarf to school, I’m going to oppose that rule,” he said, during a recent forum held by the Religious Freedom Project of the Berkley Center For Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University.

“If they say she can’t wear a headscarf to school,” he said, then “tomorrow they’re going to say that I can’t wear a cross and carry a Bible.”

This raises another question: If the leader of one of America’s most prominent megachurches headed to the barricades to defend the rights of Muslims, would the press coverage say that he is taking a “liberal” or a “conservative” stand?

Read the complete article here.

Older IRENICA (Archived)

Pope Francis calls for intensified dialogue with Muslims

Alessandro Speciale, Religion News Service, Mar.22

Pope Francis on Friday (March 22) called for more intense dialogue between religious leaders, particularly Muslims, as he tries to recalibrate relations between the world’s two largest religious groups.

Speaking in the Vatican’s majestic Sala Regia, the Argentine pontiff said that part of his mission is to connect “all people, in such a way that everyone can see in the other not an enemy, not a rival, but a brother or sister.”

In a meeting with Vatican diplomats and foreign leaders, Francis also reaffirmed the church’s commitment to protect the poor and the environment, an early theme in his young pontificate.

“Fighting poverty, both material and spiritual, building peace and constructing bridges: these, as it were, are the reference points for a journey that I want to invite each of the countries here represented to take up,” the pope said.

Read the complete article here.

Older IRENICA (Archived)

The hardline Buddhists targeting Sri Lanka’s Muslims

Charles Haviland, BBC News, Mar.25

After a series of attacks on mosques, wild rumours about animal slaughter and an attempt to outlaw the halal system of classification, the BBC’s Charles Haviland investigates how Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority is being targeted by hardline Buddhists.

On a January morning a crowd of Buddhist monks storm a law college, yelling, chanting and even hitting one or two seemingly random people and pushing back the police. Furiously they shout that the exam results have been distorted to favour Muslims.

A few weeks later, apparently abetted by the police, monks attack a slaughterhouse in Dematagoda, Colombo, alleging that calves are being slaughtered inside (illegal in the capital) or the meat is improperly stored.

Both are incorrect, but the monks spread rumours that the facility is Muslim-owned as most of the truck drivers are Muslim.

Sri Lankan monks are now taking this so-called “direct action” every few days. It is part of a growing wave of anti-Muslim activities in Sri Lanka carried out by new hardline Buddhist groups – a trend that is making many people anxious, even fearful.

Read the complete article here.