The Village Square

July 14: A Rabbi, A Priest, A Pastor & An Imam

Add comment June 29th, 2009

According to Luke: An apple, just as much of a miracle

This afternoon, Village Square intern Luke, an FSU Political Science major, attended a prayer service with me at the Al-Ansar Mosque. This was part of our preparation for the July 14 program “A Rabbi, A Priest, A Pastor and An Imam.” We were warmly welcomed and they were kind and generous about answering our questions. I asked Luke to write about the experience (and being a good intern he did, below…) I will follow this with another blog post about our visit this weekend.

There is a solemn silence in the mosque; the only noise coming from the water running in the background. The speaker stands up and sings a beautiful chant, a hymn. The Imam begins speaking on the importance of prayer, and the role it plays in their lives. Praise Allah, for all is from him.

The commitment to faith the men and women of the Islamic world share is unrivaled. The commitment goes beyond the five prayers they say a day. It is not enough for them to simply have faith, but they must act on that faith. Theirs is a commitment centered on a personal connection to God and his wonders. “An apple growing on a tree is just as much a miracle as chocolate growing on a tree” he says, “for Allah is responsible for both.”

I am a Christian, and this was still an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. There was no judging, no bad looks or whispers. They came to do one thing, pray. They didn’t scream or threaten the country they’ve come to love. They finished and went on with their lives.

We are a lot alike you and I. We both worship the same God, the same prophets and biblical leaders. Why then are you so misunderstood? In a world that is so ugly and hateful, the beautiful song of praise the Muslims sing resonates even louder. Theirs is a religion of peace and love. Sound familiar? Praise Allah, for all is from him.

1 comment June 26th, 2009

Old joke, new conversation.

From the Tallahassee Democrat:

“A rabbi, a priest, and an imam walked into a bar…”

Tallahassee is rewriting the old joke on July 14th by inviting a rabbi, priest, pastor and imam to “walk into a bipartisan forum, eat dinner, and then have a civil conversation despite differences in their faiths.”

The Village Square, a local nonprofit dedicated to improving the civility of the political dialog, completes this year’s “Dinner at the Square” series “Faith, Politics & Neighbors” with a discussion across diverse religious traditions.

“A Rabbi, A Priest, A Pastor & An Imam” offers insight into the unique experiences of Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities, including the African American faith experience.

Panelists include Rabbi Moshe Elbaz, Ph.D. of Temple Israel Valdosta, the Reverend Dr. Julius McAllister of Bethel AME Church, Dr. Necati Aydin of Florida State University and Father Lin Walton of St. John’s Episcopal Church.

The Village Square’s year-long conversation on faith and the partisan divide has yielded a draft of facts and guiding principles around which people of widely differing faith perspectives might be able to come together. This draft will be used as a springboard for discussion for the evening.

The event will be from 5:30 to 7:30 PM on Tuesday, July 14 at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 211 North Monroe. Following dinner, participants may choose to join a continuing discussion with panelists from 7:30 to 8:30.

The theme of the dinner is a “Post-Partisan Picnic.” Find speaker bios and a menu online at www.tothevillagesquare.org. This summer dinner is considered “Bumper Sticker Tuesday.”

Tickets are $25 pre-purchased through Sunday July 12, $35 after and at the door. A limited number of scholarship tickets are available. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling 264-8785.

2 comments June 25th, 2009

blog it all: the fracas in the organic produce section

i have a list of “when i get around to it” blogs to read. a majority of them are people that i highly respect their work, their words, their vision, and their lives. a lot of them are incredibly rational and real Christians. then i can count it as Bible study time when i read their blogs (just kidding-ish).

as you may have noticed i keep finding little quotes and blurbs to send in about being civil and looking beyond the differences that separate, several prominent Christians are trying to find those lost pieces of the puzzle in discourse: civility and grace.

they wrestle with that at times (and i sometimes check in on a time when they are wrestling which i don’t think is a coincidence. i don’t think anything is a coincidence). i know that i wrestle with it often and i am always relieved when someone i respect has a bit of wrestling going on as well.

of course NO one wrestles with civility on the scrapsmack blog that i read sometimes as well. it is a blog that smacks (criticizes) famous scrapbookers. yes, there really is such a thing as a “famous scrapbooker” and there really are people that smack them. and there are people that read that sometimes. sigh, and i am really one of those readers. or the other blog that i sometimes read that bashes the jon & kate + eight television show on the learning channel (one wonders what i am learning from it).

one must have her vices to make her virtues shine brighter… or is it that my vices start to dim my virtues when they outnumber them…. yeah, i think it might be the second of the two choices.

and so i thought that this was a point to note for myself and my civility issues:

that c.s. lewis quote is spot on to the whole jon and kate nastiness. i am referring to the nastiness coming from the general public/myself. it might be the problem of their own marriage nastiness, but i am no marriage therapist but i did live next door to a christian sex therapist for 10 years and that make me qualified to throw that little neighbor fact out at dinner parties where everyone is shocked to hear the words “christian” and “sex therapist” linked together but it does not make me qualified to judge someone’s marriage lest i be judged on mine.

i think i was doing that same thing c.s. lewis wrote about “thinking your enemies as bad as possible” to jon & kate.

and how did they get the auspicious job of being MY enemies? it was jealousy as much as anything (and isn’t it usually jealousy?). i mean what does “jon & kate + eight ” have over “adam & lea + three”?

our names rhyme with the # of children that we have! why isn’t tlc filming ME?!?!? where is my new HUGE house?!?!??! where is my ski trip?!?!? trip to hawaii to renew my vows?!??! where is my nanny?!?!? my public relations person?!?!? my book signing?!?!? hey, i was in CELEBRITY high school musical shouldn’t i have all of those perks?!?!??!?!?!

and as i watched the show with that attitude i began to see their gray areas as black. and blacker and blacker… i saw EVERYTHING jon did as wrong and everything kate did as wronger and those kids were in NO way as cute as MY kids and not nearly as well behaved as mine were at that age. not that i really remember exactly how they were and there weren’t 8 of them, but in the photos in my scrapbook my kids look MUCH better behaved.

and then i went further into that dark night. i started reading online gossip about the show. i was picking up people magazine and reading the articles quickly in the check out lane while waiting for the cashier to ring up my groceries (speed reading is a wonderful skill). and i had the attitude of “they made their bed of fame, let them LIE/LAY in it”. (wish i knew whether it was “lie” or lay”). anyway i was the one laying or lying in a whole heaping stinkin’ pile o’ judgement and painting them with a darker and darker brush until EVERYTHING kate or jon said was a point for me to criticize. and everything their kids did was evidence of all their wrong choices (yet, please NEVER judge me by what my kids may say or do)…

yes, i can be civil to liz, a democrat, and count her among my dearest adoring fans and friends. i can pick up atheist AND liberal, john marks, at the airport and drive him around town all day and love doing it and see the good and right in him…

but had i seen kate grocery shopping in publix… well, it would have made the news with and this line would have been in there, “also injured in the fracas was the organic produce section”.

oh, civility is a slippery thing to hold on to when it comes to politics and pop culture and pretty much everything else in our lives. and when we see the world as BLACK/WHITE, US/THEM, LOOK WHAT THEY DID/I WOULD NEVER, THEY DON’T DESERVE/I SHOULD HAVE we end up losing sight of who we are (imperfect and sometimes wrong), who they are (imperfect and sometimes right), and who God is (perfect and always Righteous)….

amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. i once was lost but now am found. was blind but now i see (dimly through a glass darkened mostly by my own painting of black).

kate… call me. i can now be civil and gracious. and i know the phone number to a GREAT christian sex therapist.

–Lea Marshall

Add comment June 24th, 2009

C.S. Lewis: Wishing that black was a little blacker

For this quote, hat tip to Lea*, who somehow seems to know when anyone discusses civility on any blog across America at the same time as she drives her kids around town in endless loops, takes beautiful pictures of everyone she knows and pursues her career as a thespian in Young Actors Theatre’s Celebrity Edition of High School Musical (tired just writing all this)…

From C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity:

“Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one’s first feeling, ‘Thank God, even they aren’t quite so bad as that,’ or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies are as bad as possible? If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally we shall insist on seeing everything — God and our friends and ourselves included — as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred.”

The liberal Washington Monthly blogger who brings us this quote continues:

If you give in to “the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies are as bad as possible”, it’s easy to see how you could end up thinking things about them that it is implausible to think about any group of human beings.. Your opponents become cartoons in your mind, and the normal duty to be charitable and generous, or even realistic, in your views about other people seem not to apply to them. You stop thinking of them as fellow human beings, and start thinking of them as enemies…

No one — not liberals, not conservatives — should forget that their opponents are human beings. And no one can afford to start down the road Lewis describes, in which you allow yourself to be disappointed when your opponents aren’t as bad as you first thought, or want them to be as bad as possible. And no one should get so wrapped up in political fights that in focussing on the mote in someone else’s eye, they lose sight of the beam in their own.

Worth noting is that Lea originally saw this post echoed on a Christian blog Cranach: The Blog of Veith. An iconic Christian author quoted on the blog of a cornerstone left-leaning publication (that I should add my sister used to work for); the left-leaning blog subsequently quoted on a Christian blog.

If you really think about it, all of this makes black a lot less black, eh?

*In the vernacular of this ugly political war we’ve found ourselves in, Lea is my “enemy” and I hers. If you find it impossible to believe that we’re dear friends, you really need to get out more.

6 comments June 24th, 2009

The Unlikely Disciple: A sinner’s semester at America’s holiest university

I’m just going to toss this one to Meghan Greene, who did a Village Square-ish review of Kevin Roose’s The Unlikely Disciple. She liked the book because:

1. He made a bold move- lead by his own curiosity. Born into a liberal Quaker family- this free-spirited, fair-trade coffee drinking, anti-war protesting Brown student decided that after a visit to Thomas Road Baptist Church with A.J. Jacobs (while doing research for The Year of Living Biblically) that he wanted to see more. To understand what it really meant to “go to Liberty”, he decided to enroll.

2. He gave it a fair chance. When something seemed crazy or unsettling. He went deeper. He longed to know and to understand. He joined Bible studies, had regular meetings with professors, played intramurals, sang in the choir and dated Liberty gals. Above all, he was open to Liberty changing him. His way of thinking, his perspective. He was open. (Even to The Liberty Way…. a 46 page Code of Conduct that even makes me cringe. Enough said.)

3. He hasn’t abandoned ship. It would be easy to say that he is done. He, after all, has the last print interview with Jerry Falwell… who wouldn’t hang up their hat? And his book is now published (and it is no longer banned from Liberty’s bookstore). What more is there? But Kev is continually involved in understanding evangelical culture. Namely at Liberty. He is continually seeking the common ground.

Add comment June 22nd, 2009

Sunday at the Square: Uh, Friday at the Square

Last Friday found me in an unlikely place for a big city Episcopal girl: It was sundown, on the Jewish sabbath and I was in Valdosta, Georgia in the Temple Israel synagogue. I was there to meet Rabbi Moshe Elbaz, the second panelist I’ve met for our July program A Rabbi, A Priest, A Pastor & An Imam. (Read about Pastor Julian, the first panelist I met, here.)

The cadence of the ceremony was different, but it too had its own lilting beat. The faces largely a different color than at Bethel AME, the welcome just as warm. But I felt the reach of history as deeply, as ancient ancestors echoed through the traditions of their liturgy. I could also feel the reach of Israel firmly into the heart of those assembled. The Rabbi’s son was planning a trip to Israel, readying his passport, describing the land of his forefathers in “milk and honey” terms.

In Valdosta it’s much easier to feel the minority status of Judaism than it is in the big northeastern city I come from. This is the only synagogue in southern Georgia. If you are Jewish in Valdosta, you have to work at it. Rabbi Elbaz says they swing the doors of Temple Israel open for a special event during the year, an event attended by far more people that there are Jews in Valdosta. This little Temple, filled with those who practice a faith unlike the majority, apparently is simply and thoroughly a part of this traditional southern town.

Shabbat Shalom.

Add comment June 21st, 2009

With bold humility: Meet Luke, Part 1

Luke is a Florida State graduate student in Political Science and an intern with the Village Square. I’m sure you’ll agree, whatever side of the aisle you fall on, that with 22 year olds who think as deeply as Luke, we’re probably going to be OK…

There is an old saying that goes: mixing the church and state is like mixing ice cream with cow manure; it may not do much to the manure, but it sure messes up the ice cream. Over 70% of Americans claim Christianity as their religious affiliation. The second group most common religious belief, at nearly 15%, consists of nonbelievers or agnostics.

What role does the church play in our lives? Certainly for me, as for so many Christian Americans, it is a guiding light. What then do we say about other religions? When compared to all the religions of the world Christianity makes up about 33% with Islam close behind at 25%. Is the Christian way necessarily the right way?

When discussing issues that evoke serious emotion on both sides of the aisle, I believe it is very important to consider our faith. Abortion is still one of the most contentious issues of our time. In some ways, personal beliefs on a question like abortion are deeply rooted in tradition, morality, faith, and science, and may be essentially unchangeable. It’s certainly plausible though that we can find common ground in believing that stopping pregnancies before they happen is a goal everyone can live with. What is so wrong about loving someone of the same sex? Why can’t evolution and science coexist?

Religion certainly can provide a basis for many of these answers, but religion alone cannot answer them. We must attack these questions, in the words of David Bosch, with “bold humility.” Bold humility shares as well as receives, speaks as well as listens, serves as well as accepts hospitality, and transforms as well as modifies all things for sake of the extension of our glorious world.

Add comment June 18th, 2009

How is 1848 like 2009?

“It’s hardly possible to overstate the value, in the present state of human improvement, of placing human beings In contact with other persons dissimilar to themselves, and with modes of thought and action unlike those with which they are familiar. Such communication has always been, and is peculiarly in the present age, one of the primary sources of progress.”

—John Stuart Mill, 1848

Add comment June 17th, 2009

Using the words that make you feel good

I promised commentary on the post two down on a Wall Street Journal piece about why America might just split up.

First, I have to confess that I give the piece good marks on a couple of points:

1. It is civil. Forgiving the “King Obama” reference, on the whole, it is serious and thoughtful writing. By being (mostly) civil, it is light years ahead of the standard rant-fest.

2. It gives due deference to the concept of governance closest to the people being the best governance. So fundamental is this belief to what we have built as Americans, I can’t help but like part of what he says.

But – borrowing from Mr. Shakespeare – “therein lies the rub.” I suspect that this too is what many movement conservatives – a la the tea parties – might find appealing about the secession movement… the surety that they are recapturing the real America, the Founders, the roots.

I too, as a middle-ish Democrat, love the roots. I revere the Founders in ways that defy mere words. But I think that in the political right’s stampede to give the Founders their due, they’re running right over them.

Chief among my concerns is that we have entirely stopped trying to communicate with each other. We’ve replaced this old fashioned concept with a self-stimulatory feedback loop of just how gosh darn right we are.

Last I knew, communication was the art of trying to make your perspective heard. (How quaint.)

Our Founders – if they believed nothing else – believed in the world of ideas, the world of knowledge. They stretched. They had to.

Our long tradition of a capacity to maintain connection despite straining disagreement, I believe, is what America has to offer this broken world of ours. That these 250 years later we’re still a nation speaks to the power of their legacy, the very legacy secessionists are ready to blow up in their determination to honor it?

Huh.

Photo credit.

Add comment June 16th, 2009