Jeffrey Pan, Honorable Mention
Bringing Religions into the Public Square
Advancing Interreligious Understanding at Georgetown
Georgetown has long lauded itself as a religiously diverse community. Any campus tour guide can tell you that Georgetown has seven chapels, regularly holds retreats for the major faith traditions, actively promotes interreligious events, and historically was the first American university to have a full-time Muslim chaplain. But despite these efforts, Georgetown has not been exempt from the interreligious conflict and tension so prevalent in today’s society and politics. With the Pope prepared to challenge Georgetown’s Catholic identity and others criticizing the university’s center for Muslim-Christian understanding, it seems that there continues to be a need for interreligious understanding at Georgetown. The university should begin with the recent report issued by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs titled “Undergraduate Learning and Interreligious Understanding.” This report reveals that while most Georgetown students can correctly answer basic questions about Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, many of those students cannot discuss these religions with regards to human rights, social justice, and conflict resolution. In light of this, efforts to advance interreligious understanding at Georgetown should begin on the level of exposing stereotypes and sharing basic beliefs, but then must extend to exploring the ways in which different religions interact with the public square.
First, on the level of perceptions, religious groups and individuals at Georgetown should actively promote events that emphasize their values and break down false stereotypes. For example, evangelical Christians and Catholics have often been labeled as anti-gay. However, a hateful attitude towards gay people is never seen in the Bible, especially not in the person and actions of Jesus. Thus, Christian groups at Georgetown such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship or The Knights of Columbus should partner with LGBTQ in speaking out against discrimination of gays. Perhaps this partnership could even extend to volunteering at local HIV/AIDS clinics in DC. Only through taking such steps and creating such partnerships can Christian groups begin breaking down stereotypes and helping people to see the true nature of their religion.
Secondly, Georgetown should provide opportunities for members of different religious groups to discuss similarities and differences in how their religious beliefs play out in the public arena and one unique way to do this would be through the lens of Mahatma Ghandi’s life. Ghandi, a devout Hindu, was deeply influenced by the teachings of Jesus and Mohammed. He recognized Islam as a religion of peace and he often quoted Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Ghandi observed the concept of nonviolent conflict resolution in all three of these religions. In memory of this legacy, it would be fitting for Georgetown to promote interreligious understanding on Ghandi’s birthday, the International Day of Non-Violence, by inviting speakers from all the major faith traditions to hold a panel discussing how Ghandi embodied ideals of their respective religions.
Third, on an academic level, Georgetown should continue to provide theology classes on different religions, consider expanding its theology requirement to promote interreligious learning and explore the idea of creating a religion and politics requirement within the School of Foreign Service. Regarding the two course theology requirement that all Georgetown students must fulfill, Georgetown should consider requiring students to take classes from two distinct religious traditions. Within the School of Foreign Service, the registrar should additionally require students to take a course that encourages them to think about how religion interacts with the public square: a course such as John Esposito’s Islam and Global Terrorism, Jacques Berlinerblau’s Bible in Contemporary Politics, E.J. Dionne’s Jr.’s Religion & Politics or Thomas Farr’s The Politics of International Religious Freedom. These types of courses will not only open students’ eyes to the political and social views held by different religious communities, but also they will deepen students’ understanding of the important role that religion currently plays in world affairs.
What will Georgetown look like if and when it chooses to take these steps towards advancing interreligious understanding? One would hope that it will at least begin to look like a community of students and faculty who respect each others’ religious differences, who understand each other’s religious beliefs and who are willing to stand up against stereotypes when they hear them. Advancing religious understanding does not mean advancing a universalist viewpoint that equates or blends all religions, nor does it mean discriminating against religions that claim to be the only way to God. However, it does mean admitting that truth exists outside of one’s own religious tradition, acknowledging that followers of other faiths can also be moral, and most importantly, realizing the central role that religion plays in the lives of many people. Obviously Georgetown will never reach perfection in its quest for interreligious understanding: there will always be religiously apathetic students and there will always be misunderstandings between religious groups. But if Georgetown takes these steps and others to advance interreligious understanding, perhaps in ten years when the Berkley Center does another survey on the religious literacy of undergraduates, the results will show a significant increase in the percentage of students that understand religious traditions outside of their own.
Advancing Interreligious Understanding at Georgetown
Georgetown has long lauded itself as a religiously diverse community. Any campus tour guide can tell you that Georgetown has seven chapels, regularly holds retreats for the major faith traditions, actively promotes interreligious events, and historically was the first American university to have a full-time Muslim chaplain. But despite these efforts, Georgetown has not been exempt from the interreligious conflict and tension so prevalent in today’s society and politics. With the Pope prepared to challenge Georgetown’s Catholic identity and others criticizing the university’s center for Muslim-Christian understanding, it seems that there continues to be a need for interreligious understanding at Georgetown. The university should begin with the recent report issued by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs titled “Undergraduate Learning and Interreligious Understanding.” This report reveals that while most Georgetown students can correctly answer basic questions about Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, many of those students cannot discuss these religions with regards to human rights, social justice, and conflict resolution. In light of this, efforts to advance interreligious understanding at Georgetown should begin on the level of exposing stereotypes and sharing basic beliefs, but then must extend to exploring the ways in which different religions interact with the public square.
First, on the level of perceptions, religious groups and individuals at Georgetown should actively promote events that emphasize their values and break down false stereotypes. For example, evangelical Christians and Catholics have often been labeled as anti-gay. However, a hateful attitude towards gay people is never seen in the Bible, especially not in the person and actions of Jesus. Thus, Christian groups at Georgetown such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship or The Knights of Columbus should partner with LGBTQ in speaking out against discrimination of gays. Perhaps this partnership could even extend to volunteering at local HIV/AIDS clinics in DC. Only through taking such steps and creating such partnerships can Christian groups begin breaking down stereotypes and helping people to see the true nature of their religion.
Secondly, Georgetown should provide opportunities for members of different religious groups to discuss similarities and differences in how their religious beliefs play out in the public arena and one unique way to do this would be through the lens of Mahatma Ghandi’s life. Ghandi, a devout Hindu, was deeply influenced by the teachings of Jesus and Mohammed. He recognized Islam as a religion of peace and he often quoted Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Ghandi observed the concept of nonviolent conflict resolution in all three of these religions. In memory of this legacy, it would be fitting for Georgetown to promote interreligious understanding on Ghandi’s birthday, the International Day of Non-Violence, by inviting speakers from all the major faith traditions to hold a panel discussing how Ghandi embodied ideals of their respective religions.
Third, on an academic level, Georgetown should continue to provide theology classes on different religions, consider expanding its theology requirement to promote interreligious learning and explore the idea of creating a religion and politics requirement within the School of Foreign Service. Regarding the two course theology requirement that all Georgetown students must fulfill, Georgetown should consider requiring students to take classes from two distinct religious traditions. Within the School of Foreign Service, the registrar should additionally require students to take a course that encourages them to think about how religion interacts with the public square: a course such as John Esposito’s Islam and Global Terrorism, Jacques Berlinerblau’s Bible in Contemporary Politics, E.J. Dionne’s Jr.’s Religion & Politics or Thomas Farr’s The Politics of International Religious Freedom. These types of courses will not only open students’ eyes to the political and social views held by different religious communities, but also they will deepen students’ understanding of the important role that religion currently plays in world affairs.
What will Georgetown look like if and when it chooses to take these steps towards advancing interreligious understanding? One would hope that it will at least begin to look like a community of students and faculty who respect each others’ religious differences, who understand each other’s religious beliefs and who are willing to stand up against stereotypes when they hear them. Advancing religious understanding does not mean advancing a universalist viewpoint that equates or blends all religions, nor does it mean discriminating against religions that claim to be the only way to God. However, it does mean admitting that truth exists outside of one’s own religious tradition, acknowledging that followers of other faiths can also be moral, and most importantly, realizing the central role that religion plays in the lives of many people. Obviously Georgetown will never reach perfection in its quest for interreligious understanding: there will always be religiously apathetic students and there will always be misunderstandings between religious groups. But if Georgetown takes these steps and others to advance interreligious understanding, perhaps in ten years when the Berkley Center does another survey on the religious literacy of undergraduates, the results will show a significant increase in the percentage of students that understand religious traditions outside of their own.