Irshad Manji comments on the positive power of Ijtihad, the ancient tradition of critical thinking in Islam, and the importance of contemporary Muslim imams in justifying Muslim interfaith marriage.
As we celebrate this Memorial Day weekend and remember those who have died for our country in military service, let's not forget that our young men and women continue to fight to preserve our democratic society and the personal freedoms that define our way of life.
In his new book, The Post-American World, Council on Foreign Relations member Fareed Zakaria reflects on many of the challenges that we face as a country in the 21st century. He also reflects on the strengths that make America unique.
When I describe what makes the Silicon Valley eco-system for entrepreneurs unique and, in my view, exceedingly difficult to duplicate, my description mirrors what Zakaria describes as America's core strength:
" Per capita, it turns out, the United States trains more engineers than either of the Asian giants. ... America's hidden secret is that most of these engineers are immigrants. Foreign students and immigrants account for almost 50 percent of all science researchers in the country. . . . Half of all Silicon Valley start-ups have one founder who is an immigrant or first generation American. The potential for a new burst of American productivity depends not on our education system or R&D spending, but on our immigration policies. If these people are allowed and encouraged to stay, then innovation will happen here. If they leave, they'll take it with them. More broadly, this is America's great-- and potentially insurmountable-- strength. It remains the most open, flexible society in the world, able to absorb other people, cultures, ideas, goods, and services. The country thrives on the hunger and energy of poor immigrants."
I am a first generation American who, by the good fortune of being born and raised and Puerto Rico, was an American citizen before my immigrant parents were naturalized. But for the ultimate sacrifices made by American soldiers against the Nazis in World War II, I would not be here.
This Memorial Day, let's also not forget that the lifeblood of innovation and entrepreneurship comes from many places, but it has found a uniquely fertile soil in an America that embraces and celebrates diversity.
You can’t stretch a shared political identity so far that it becomes overly abstract and therefore impossible for people to articulate in a way that everyone can easily understand it.
Think of this statement in the context of the Presidential debates in the current election. Why is the media obsessively focused on candidate mis-statements regarding their exposure to ‘sniper fire’ or commenting on how social alienation can lead to ‘clinging to guns and religion’. Why does it take 43 minutes into a debate for George Stephanopolous to ask the Democratic Party candidates the first substantive question on the economy, which he acknowledges as the most important issue in the election? Should candidate gaffes be defining elements of campaign momentum and qualifications for Presidential leadership? Not in my view.
American citizens span the spectrum from evangelical Christians to ardent atheists; from observant Muslims to secular and orthodox Jews. Ethnically, American citizens include Mexican Americans, African Americans, Puerto Rican Americans, European Americans, Russian Americans, and many other ethnicities. The definition of family in America now includes traditional marriages, same sex marriages, and no marriages. It is uneasy for societies to live with a complex narrative of citizenship forged from the richness of diversity that has made the melting pot of America historically great.
The rise of Evangelical Christian religious fundamentalism in America and Muslim fundamentalism in the rapidly modernizing societies of the Third World each share a reactive thread in opposition to the forced acknowledgement of diversity highlighted to all of us by the Internet. These movements, which are organized attempts to re-assert a single identity and to fight social complexity, trigger equally negative reactions form those that are left out of the picture. A complex world where differences are heightened because everyone is aware of everyone else requires nations to grapple with a complex narrative of citizenship. America's great historical achievement as a pluralistic society stems from its immigrant melting pot roots and from the strong democratic institutions that have evolved over 232 years to embrace this complexity. Let's not forget this in the 21st century.
Anthony Ramirez of The New York Times published an article on April 5 describing the funeral service at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York for William F. Buckley, who died on February 27th at age 82. One of the most influential American political conservatives of his generation, Buckley is widely respected for his powerful intellect. The founder of The National Review, he is recognized for the central role he played in shaping the blend of anti-communism and libertarian economics that became the core american political ideology of President Ronald Reagan.
Speaking at the funeral service, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger made emotional comments about how Buckley had come to reconcile the gap between objective knowledge and religious faith:
'Over a decade ago,'' he [Kissinger] said, clearing his throat, ''Bill and I discussed the relationship of knowledge to faith. I surmised it required a special act of divine grace to make the leap from the intellectual to the spiritual. In a note, Bill demurred. No special epiphany was involved, he argued. There could be a spiritual and intellectual drift until, one day, the eyes opened and happiness followed ever after. Bill noted that he had seen that culmination in friends. He did not claim it for himself."
I was struck by these comments, both because of the speaker and the context. Secretary Kissinger, himself a man of powerful intellect and a German Jew whose parents fled the Holocaust, has clearly considered deep questions of God and religion and was touched by the loss of a long-time friend. It is interesting to me that he focuses on the notion that, for individuals who are intellectuals and very data driven, perhaps an epiphany or revelation of some kind is necessary to bridge the gap between faith in the existence of God and knowledge of objective reality.
As I think of this perennial debate, the oft-repeated motto of the New New Atheists comes to mind-- "I don't need to believe in God to have a moral conscience." The atheists, in my view, totally miss the irony of their own assertion. That little voice in your head that tells you the difference between right and wrong is evidence of a little bit of God that's inside every one of us. No epiphany required. 
The New York Times reported today on the latest Pew Research Center demographic survey on religion in America.
Highlights from the report--
* Over 16 percent of American adults say they are not part of any organized faith, which makes the unaffiliated the country’s fourth largest "religious group."
* In the 1980s, the General Social Survey by the National Opinion Research Center indicated that from 5 percent to 8 percent of the population described itself as unaffiliated with a particular religion.
* In the Pew survey 7.3 percent of the adult population said they were unaffiliated with a faith as children. That segment increases to 16.1 percent of the population in adulthood, the survey found.
* The unaffiliated are largely under 50 and male. "Nearly one-in-five men say they have no formal religious affiliation, compared with roughly 13 percent of women," the survey said.
*Protestantism has been declining, from two thirds of the U.S. population in the '70's to about 51% today-- with evangelicals accounting for a slim majority of Protestants.
*Catholics have remained steady at 25% of the population, but the influx of Catholic Latin Americans into the U.S. is largely responsible for what looks like stability in this group.
*Affiliated Jews have declined slightly to 1.7% from 1.9%
So what does this mean? The New York Times article quotes a Pew researcher who concludes that these religious affiliation changes do not mean that Americans are becoming less religious: "Contrary to assumptions that most of the unaffiliated are atheists or agnostics, most described their religion "as nothing in particular." I'm sure that the new-new atheists will conclude differently.
Over the past three years, I have posted multiple times on the subject of religious discrimination and intolerance BETWEEN JEWS in Israel. In America, this is a widely under-reported problem which, in my view, strikes at the heart of the socio-religious problems in the State of Israel and also threatens the future of Judaism in mainstream society. In America, where tolerance and pluralism are central pillars of our society, it is a given that there is more than one way to be a Jew. In Israel, which heretofore has only recognized Orthodox Judaism, there are the Orthodox and Ultra-Othrodox (which account for roughly 15% of the country's Jews vs. 6% of Jews in America), there are emerging Conservative and Reform Jewish congregations that receive no State support, and then, of course, there is the vast majority of unaffiliated or so-called 'secular' Israeli Jews.
I suport a vibrant Jewish State of Israel that embraces religious pluralism-- and we can now score a major victory for the forces of pluralism in Israel, thanks to the Israel Religious Action Center ("IRAC"). The following excerpts are from IRAC's most recent weekly newsletter:
"In Israel, where there is no separation between religion and State, the government cultivates and supports Jewish life and Jewish institutions. From the beginning of the State, and in fact up until last month, the government of Israel had granted land and buildings to hundreds of Orthodox synagogues, but never to a Reform or Conservative congregation. Kehilat YOZMA, a vibrant and rapidly growing community in the modern suburban city of Modi'in, is the first in a group of young Reform congregations who will now, thanks to IRAC, receive synagogue buildings from the State.
The year 2008 marks the beginning of a change in the attitudes of the National Authority of Religious Services, the Ministry of Construction and Housing, and several municipalities with respect to the rights of non-Orthodox Jews. ... In 2008, at least four non-Orthodox congregations will proudly erect their synagogues with the help of governmental funds. This is the first time since the establishment of the State of Israel, that the State is funding the construction of non-Orthodox synagogues. This is a groundbreaking accomplishment which sets a precedent for future cases of similar background. Public funding is an irrefutable sign of recognition by the State, which indicates a desire, however restrained, to move forward towards reconciliation between the various streams of Judaism in Israel.
The importance of this event can not be underestimated - the transportable synagogue in Kehilat YOZMA is the very first non-Orthodox synagogue being subsidized by the state in all of Israel's history."
Babar Ahmed is a talented up-and-coming movie director ("Royal Kill") and the son of Professor Akbar Ahmed, who first taught me about the history of Islam at the Aspen Institute's Socrates Society. Babar recently spoke about Islam at a gathering in Palm Beach. The Palm Beach Post reported on his remarks:
"And so why are we seeing suicide bombings if Muslim history is so good?" he asked.
Because Islam is divided into three groups, Ahmed theorized, the conservative, the moderate and the extremist, the latter of which is "growing every single day."
In the aftermath of the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan, Ahmed said, orphans were driven over the border to Pakistan, where they were taken in and educated by the most primitive tribal schools, run by illiterates who could not read or properly interpret the Koran.
"In driving the Soviets out of Afghanistan," Ahmed said, "the United States developed relationships with military dictators which continue to this day. That may have worked in the short term, but it left the orphans poor, desperate and angry, without any skills except how to use a gun."
The current movie, Charlie Wilson's War, makes the same point, he noted.
The solution, Ahmed said, is education, because the majority of Muslims are young. In Pakistan alone, he said, 40 percent of the population is under 16, and more receptive to radicalism.
"One half of the world's population is Muslim, Christian or Jewish," Ahmed said, "and if we don't start finding this common ground, we are going to be heading for a very turbulent century."
Babar is right on point. One of the few successful models of bilingual interfaith educational success in the Middle East is Hand in Hand in Israel-- the madrassas have a long way to go, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and we can act to make sure that it is not on oncoming train...
On February 7th, 300 people attended the third annual gala breakfast hosted by the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation's Business Leadership Council (BLC) to hear Warren Hellman, chairman and co-founder of Hellman and Friedman, and Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce.com, speak about the power of business leaders to produce positive social change.
The speakers moderated their own discussion, which focused on the positive role that the proactive advocacy of corporate philanthropy can play throughout an organization. In response to a question from the audience as to whether promoting corporate philanthropy is inconsistent with creating sharholder value, Benioff forcefully replied that "doing good" absolutely builds shareholder value. I strongly agree.
Warren Hellman, who serves on the board of Salesforce.com's charitable foundation, asked Marc to talk about the 1:1:1 model which he established at the early inception of Salesforce.com. 1:1:1 represents a pledge of 1% of the company's equity (when it was still private); 1% of profits (once you have them); and 1% of employees' paid time (6 business days per year) to charitable purposes. Today, the Salesforce.com foundation employs 16 full-time staff and manages "tens of millions" of dollars.
The Business Leadership Council (BLC), which I currently chair, reaches out to over 1,500 Jewish professionals in the Bay Area through close to a dozen events each year. We host smaller seminars (30 to 80 people) on topics ranging from current trends in real estate to protecting intellectual property; and larger networking events (200+ people) designed to bring people together to meet in a community that shares both business and philanthropic goals. We have barely scratched the surface in reaching out to the 6th largest Jewish community in America. If you want to learn more about the BLC, go to www.sfjcf.org and click on the Business Leadership Council.
Amin Khalaf, co-founder of Hand in Hand, the groundbreaking, highly successful, bilingual Jewish-Arab school system that educates close to 1,000 students in Israel, reports on the achievement of several major major milestones:
"*A dream came true on January 13th when students, teachers, and staff moved permanently to our new Max Rayne campus in Jerusalem. The journey has been a long one, and we will take many fond memories of the old campus with us as we settle in at the state-of-the-art Max Rayne School. A two-story library, a large indoor gymnasium, improved computer connectivity, and dedicated spaces for the arts and music are among the many highlights of the new campus. My thanks go to the Jerusalem Foundation for assisting Hand in Hand to construct the multimillion dollar facility.
*Hand in Hand worked with Merchavim and the Abraham Fund to prepare a position paper advocating the strengthening of bilingual education that was presented at a special conference held in Jaffa on December 27, 2007. Among those present was Education Minister Yuli Tamir, who expressed her personal support for expanding bilingual education options in the country.
*In February, Hand in Hand will organize Israel’s third annual conference on bilingual education in the multicultural city of Haifa. The international event, to be realized in cooperation with the University of Haifa, will bring together experts to discuss the mechanics and theory of bilingual education, one of the fundamental pillars of Hand in Hand’s work.
*Hand in Hand’s new fourth school in Beer Sheva has been operating with great success. Our 49 students in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten are enjoying their studies, and we are currently planning an expansion to the first grade next year. Kudos to the Hagar parents’ group for helping make the Beer Sheva School another Hand in Hand success."
The continued growth of this educational organization in a highly segregated society that experiences emotional stress and turmoil on a daily basis shows the integrity of the vision that inspired it over a decade ago. Bravo!
Recent Comments