When the forces of intolerance rear their ugly heads, the forces of inclusion go into action.
Consider Freedom Summer, the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964, when more than 1,000 out-of-state volunteers -- mostly college students from the North -- spent a summer in Mississippi, the state with the lowest black voter registration, then at less than 7 percent. These volunteers risked their lives to work alongside black residents in an effort to register voters. Tragically, several students were killed during the 10-week initiative, dozens and dozens were beaten, and more than 1,000 volunteers and locals were arrested.
This is just one example of an important American tradition. College students in America have a history of making an impact on critical social issues. Fifty years ago, the forces of intolerance targeted the African-American community. Today, the forces of intolerance direct their venom toward Muslim Americans.
From the controversy around the Park51 Islamic center in lower Manhattan to the proposed Quran burning on 9/11 to random acts of violence, the demons of division have begun to rear their ugly heads with increasing frequency. National religious leaders have been at the forefront of the forces of inclusion, writing and speaking about the rising anti-Muslim bigotry. And once again, college students and recent graduates are eager to be part of the forces of inclusion.
Last spring, President Obama's faith council -- the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, on which I served with 24 other religious and civic leaders -- recommended strengthening and scaling interfaith service projects on 500 campuses nationwide. To help achieve this goal, theInterfaith Youth Core (IFYC) worked with the White House to sponsor an interfaith leadership training institute in October. We expected 200 applications from students and staff at various colleges across the country, but we received more than 500, which was a strong indication of the motivation of college students to play a role in this movement.
The students had a chance to hear speeches from administration officials and then were trained to run the Better Together campaign, an initiative of the IFYC, on their campuses. The fall component of this campaign was a series of Speak Up! events where these student leaders encourage discourse on religion as a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division.
In the spring these students will organize large-scale interfaith service projects. We've already heard from students who are planning to run fast-a-thons and large Habitat for Humanity builds, using those projects as an opportunity to bring people from diverse religious backgrounds together and having conversations about how their various religions inspire them to serve others.
This year hundreds of students will run the Better Together campaign and involve more than 10,000 of their fellow students. Imagine a day where 10,000 college students are trained to be interfaith leaders and are operating on 1,500 of the nation's campuses in campaigns involving hundreds of thousands of their fellow students.
That's a country where the forces of intolerance dare not raise their heads again.
Originally published in Sojourners Magazine.
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Paul Brandeis Raushenbush: Dear Religious (And Sane) America
Interfaith Youth Core | Facebook
Despite multiple faiths, we are 'better together' - RocNow.com
Some years ago I attended an ecumenical service at the Washington National Cathedral and I saw just about every religion there. Certainly I may not believe like the other religions but I can respect there history and the followers of other religions as a people. They are my neighbors no matter how many miles seperate us.
The Qur'an does not call for such things. It enjoins Muslims to defend their community if attacked, which is the same teaching given to the Jews in the Old Testament. The easiest way to understand Islam is to read the Qur'an itself, rather than rely on what you have heard.
I am certain the out come is positive. This is the so call scientific approach whereby, seemingly conflicting and confusing ideas, believes and attitude are objectively observed , analysis, hypnotized with theory proposed and validated through feedback through the interfaith community,
the very proven approach that the secularism is based to dominate and "persecute" the religious groups. Religious extremist is only successful if the public is ignorance of their belief and values.
When horses and asses crossbreed they produce mules which can't reproduce unless they back breed with one or the other. Crossbred man ethnic's offsprings can reproduce without back breeding showing man's ethnics are family. Muslims and Hebrews, biblically, are Abraham (European) and Hagar's (African) children and see how they've reproduced, therefore existence have proven we're family.
Recognizing that require eliminating segregating man from man by ethnics, genders, age or social classes, we are family. The Constitution's Preamble encourages us "form a more perfect union" which demands recognizing man of this nation as family. The media and governors encourages separatism, "divide and conquer," but religions should practice unity into family to prevent being conquered by the rulers.
Governments preach peace through force; students and religions should preach peace through acceptance of differences, inquiry into why the differences and see how it's possible to eliminate the traditions to meet the needs of each other. Once control of others is eliminated from our teachings, cultures can be overcame and we can recognize the manness of each other.
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will live with them and walk among them and I will be their God, and they will be my people.' Therefore,'Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.' And, 'I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.' "
- 2 Corinthians 6: 14-18
This is a great secular humanistic approach to spriituality. I can't see how a Christian can participate in this when there exists polar opposite beliefs on God and His manifestation to Man.
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Jesus drew a line in the sand and we'll all be accountable for what side of the line we chose:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6
“The person who has seen me has seen the Father!" - John 14:9
“the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” - Luke 10:16b
How can CHristians possibly operate "Better Together" when their non-Christian associates will flatly reject these core statements from Jesus. As a Christian, in order to operation "Better Together" you would have to abandon Jesus.
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and concerning the love of God, you would need to refer to the core purpore of Jesus:
"By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the world so that we may live through him. " - 1 John 4:9
It would be impossible to have "interfaith unity" by inviting Jesus into the movement because of the very things Jesus said about himself. Hence, you have remove who Jesus is and secularize his teaching - sanitize them for the sake of "unity"
If you consider exclusvely following Jesus as "bias and judgementalism" then I disagree completed. That is following the teaching of Jesus.
The problem with that is this is a straw man argument. It does not deal with the concept of God but rather with another concept - a "sky fairy" - that is clearly does not represent anything having to do with religion as understood in most religious texts.
Fair enough: oppose religion. But at least deal with the issues rather than escape through straw-man arguments.
Interestingly, scientists often use such terms to disparage rival theories.
Love thy neighbor as yourself is the central value, God or no God, Quran, New Testament or the Torah do not make any difference, IS THE FINAL MESSAGE
Can you predict the response/judgment of the God who would let a murderer and adulterer, King David went on killing and taking his faithful servant's wife ; and murder a baby for his transgression ??
Perhaps, the only sin the baby had was the deed of his father, David? Please take note that, this was not an force abortion. David, the man after God's own heart, "waited for the punishment of his son's dead from God, to take the woman." ( paraphrase of Biblical verses)
If you understand the questions, you would begin to understand why you are the minority out side of the church.
It was the Catholic churchman trying to dominate the believers by purging the notion of human being gods that created this false teaching..