Tuesday, August 31 - 6:30 pm
Congregation Beth Israel - 3901 Shoal Creek Blvd. Please RSVP to participate
A Heartfelt Response to Fear
by Tom Spencer, CEO of AAIM
Finding
acceptance has never been easy for religious minorities in America, and
it comes as no surprise that recent Muslim immigrants as well as
American born Muslims would be dealing with suspicion and anxiety. Add
to that, the toxic brew of religious extremism and terrorism afoot in
the world and the situation could easily turn ugly. Well, that moment
has arrived. It is a moment that AAIM, (Austin Area Interreligious
Ministries) the organization I lead, has been working to prevent.
Almost two years ago, when AAIM was creating our new dialog program, The Red Bench: Interfaith Conversations that Matter,
we faced a challenge. We wanted to focus our dialogs on points of
commonality between the world’s great faith traditions, but we needed
to decide what those points were. Our planning team was composed of
people from multiple faiths and I posed the question, "What do all of
the traditions share in common?"
One of the participants answered, "We all believe in God."
I countered that that was not really true, that Buddhism certainly
counts as one of the great religious traditions and is non-deistic. So,
I pressed the group for more ideas.
A few awkward moments of silence followed, and then one of the Muslim
participants spoke up, “All of our religions try to help us become
better people.”
This simple yet very powerful insight led to a year’s worth of
transformative conversations on topics such as compassion, forgiveness,
balance, duty, and gratitude – behaviors or ways of being that are
collectively known as “virtues.” Don’t we all recognize these as the
hallmarks of what it means to be a “better person?” As they unfolded, The Red Bench
dialogs generated rich explorations as the participants shared their
personal struggles to become the “better people” they aspire to be.
They also learned a great deal about the faiths (and sometimes the
doubts) of the other participants.
On Tuesday, August the 31st, we will be holding a special edition of The Red Bench program that will focus on a very different trait shared by all humans: fear. Specifically,
as we gather in small groups to listen to and share with one another,
we will be addressing the following question: “How do we deal with the
fear of Islam and the consequences of our own fears?”
The heated rhetoric and fear mongering surrounding the proposed Muslim
community center in New York has now spread across the nation. In
communities large and small planned mosques are being protested and
some zealots are even organizing “Koran burnings.”
Americans have faced fearful times before, and we have always, in
Lincoln’s words, found a way to allow “the better angels of our nature”
to prevail. Austin Area Interreligious Ministries is filled with
“better angels,” individuals who are committed to building healthy,
respectful relationships between the faith traditions. We do this work
not because it is the “nice” thing to do, but rather because it is
essential. Any honest accounting of the threat to our children’s future
would place inter-religious strife near the top of the list.
The name of our dialog program, The Red Bench,
was inspired by Dr. Betty Sue Flowers, the former Executive Director of
the LBJ Presidential Library. Dr. Flowers once made the point we should
have designated places for “conversations that matter.” She suggested
placing red benches in public places that would have plaques suggesting
that sitting on the bench meant that you were open to a genuine
heartfelt conversation.
This is the time for a heartfelt conversation about the fear that so
many people are feeling. American Muslims are afraid of a violent back
lash sweeping the nation. Many others are afraid that we are playing
into the hands of extremists when we turn our backs on our heritage of
tolerance. Still others are simply afraid of a faith they do not
understand and of a people they do not know.
All of us, perhaps most especially our Muslim brothers and sisters,
need to overcome our fears at this moment. This will involve engaging
one another, not retreating into our respective shells. I ask that
Austinites of all faiths (and those with none) to join us Tuesday
evening at 6:30 PM for a conversation that will truly matter.
This special edition of The Red Bench: Interfaith Conversations that Matter
will take place at Congregation Beth Israel a Reform Jewish community
at 3901 Shoal Creek Boulevard. (Special provision will be made for
Muslims who are observing Ramadan - an area will be set aside for
evening prayers and light refreshments will be served following sunset.)
Charter for Compassion
Please join AAIM in signing the Charter for Compassion. On December 31, 2009, the
names of all affirmers will be sent along with the
Charter for Compassion to 5 world leaders whose countries are engaged
in conflict. By signing, we affirm that we will dedicate the next decade to building Compassion.
