This Sunday, Dec 16 I gave a talk on "Quakers and the Interfaith Movement" sponsored by the Interfaith Study Group, at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center. When I arrived, I realized that my printer had run out of paper and I didn't have the last ten pages of my talk. So I "winged out." I let people ask me questions about Quakerism and they were so eager that every time I answered a question, half a dozen hands flew up, wanting to know more. It was a teacher's dream!
I was also pleased that Jill was able to share her reflections about Quakerism and about an interfaith program to help homeless families called "Family Promise." I was so happy that Jill and I are working together as a team.... thereby fulfilling our wedding vow that "the Prince of Peace has brought us together for a purpose greater than either of us can imagine..."
Here's a draft of what I intended to say:
I want to thank Betsy Perry for inviting me to
speak at this occasion, and I want to thank the Pasadena synagogue for hosting
this event. I admire very much Rabbi Grater’s deep commitment to peace and
justice work and I know several members of this congregation are active
supporters of my wife’s concern, affordable housing, and have gone to City
Council meetings to raise this issue. Betsy and I met at All Saints this spring
during the series on nonviolent activism, “A Force More Powerful,” led by Rev
James Lawson. Betsy is delightful person and has come to my home to take part in
discussion groups relating to peacemaking and the bible. I love the work that
All Saints is doing, like hosting the MPAC conference—I hope it went well. If I were not a Quaker, I’d probably be
attending All Saints. In fact, when the IRS began hassling All Saints because
of George Regas’ controversial sermon on “Who would Jesus vote for,” I became a
solidarity member of All Saints. I am
delighted to be able to share with you something about the Quaker approach to
interfaith peacemaking.
I’d like to begin by sharing how I became an
interfaith Quaker twenty five years ago (not coincidentally, my email address
is “interfaithquaker@aol.com). What I mean by an interfaith Quaker is simply a
Quaker who is open to the wisdom and religious practices of other religions,
but is nonetheless deeply rooted in Quakerism.
I first became a Quaker in Princeton, NJ, my
home town, in 1984. I was drawn to Quakerism because I love the Quaker practice
of silent, open worship. I also love the Quaker commitment to peace and
justice. And I love the Quaker belief that each of us can have direct inward access
to God, or Truth, through the Inward Light. This is the Light described as the
Logos in the Gospel of John: “the true Light that enlightens everyone was
coming into the world.” Quakers believe that the Inward Light is present in
everyone, and indeed, in every living creature, since the Gospel of John also
says: “Through him (the Light of Christ, the Logos) all things were made, and
without him was not made anything that was made.” In other words, the Logos
created and is present in every person and in everything—including every
religion—to some measure.
I found this Universalist approach very
appealing since I have been deeply interested in other faiths ever since having
a profound experience of Christ in 1971. I became a seeker and learned much
from people of other faiths—Hindus, Buddhists, Bahais—as well as Christian
denominations like the Congregationalists and Presbyterians. Soon after
attending Princeton Friends Meeting in 1983, I met Quakers who were involved in
a magazine called “Fellowship in Prayer,” now called “Sacred Journey.” This
magazine was founded in 1949 (the date of my birth) by a missionary named Carl
Evans who believed that war would end if people of different faiths prayed
together for peace.
Evans was ahead of his time, a pioneer in
interfaith peacemaking. Thanks to my Quaker friends Ed Miller and Herymon
Mauer, I became editor of “Fellowship in Prayer” magazine and had the
opportunity to meet and interview spiritual leaders and teachers from various
traditions—Jewish, Sufi, Buddhist, Native American, etc. This was the beginning
of my interfaith journey as a Quaker.
Herrymon Maurer, my first Quaker mentor, became
interested in Taoism when he went to China to teach in the early 1940s, just
before World War II broke out. Herrymon wrote an imaginative biography of Lao
Lzu and translated the Tao Teh Ching with a commentary based on quotations from
the Bible, the Quaker anti-slavery activist John Woolman, and Martin Buber’s
Hassidic tales. Herrymon saw the Tao as a profoundly prophetic work—one that
called for social as well as personal transformation. I owe Herrymon a huge
debt of gratitude for helping me see the links between Quakerism and Taoism, as
well as the universality of the Way.
My other Quaker teachers during this period were
Joe and Teresina Havens. Joe was a psychologist and Teresina earned a doctorate
in religion from Yale in the 1930s. Her specialty was Buddhism. The Havens were
an amazing couple and modeled for me what it meant to be a genuine Quaker. They
lived simply and devoted their lives to spirituality and social activism. When
they retired, they started a retreat center near Amherst where I often went for
spiritual renewal. Teresina believed that Nichiren, a thirteen-century Buddhist
monk, had many affinities with Quakers since he strongly opposed war. She was
right. Followers of Nichiren formed the Sokka Gakkai branch of Buddhism and
became ardent advocates for peace.
In 1986, while I was editor of “Fellowship in
Prayer,” I became intrigued by a Korean Zen Buddhist teacher named Soen Sa Nim.
I went to live and study in his Zen center in Providence, RI, for nine months. The
Quakers of Princeton Meeting were very supportive. When I had the opportunity
to lead a group of Tibetan monks on a concert tour in New Jersey, Princeton
Meeting warmly welcomed them. My first published article in a Quaker journal
described the incredible multi-tonal chanting of these tantric monks and was
called “Listening to the Light.” I have subsequently published an article about
my experience studying tantric Buddhism with the Dalai Lama.
In 1988 I spent a year at Pendle Hill, a Quaker
Center for Study and Contemplation, where I met and courted my wife Kathleen
Ross, a Methodist minister. A year later, we were married at Claremont Friends
Meeting and began a twenty-year ministry together which I sometimes called a
Methodist-Quaker alliance. Kathleen deepened my understanding of liberal
Christianity which is very open to dialogue and working with people of diverse
faiths. During this time, I saw myself as a Methodist Quaker.
My commitment to interfaith peacemaking began in
earnest on 9/11. At that time, like many people, I felt enormous fear and
anxiety about where our country and world was headed—so I decided to undergo
self-purification through fasting and prayer. To reach out to my Muslim neighbors,
I decided to fast during the month of Ramadan and went to visit local mosques. When
my Muslim neighbors heard I was fasting and reading the Quran during Ramadan,
they were incredibly appreciative—some even invited me to their homes. My heart
opened up to them and I became hooked on interfaith peacemaking. I started
regularly attending interfaith events and soon found myself on the board of
various interfaith organizations—the South Coast Interfaith Council, Interfaith
Communities United for Justice and Peace, and the Parliament of the World’s
Religions.
I also became a kind of Quaker ambassador to the
interfaith community. I wrote a pamphlet called “Islam from a Quaker
Perspective” which was published by Wider Quaker Fellowship and circulated
around the world. There was even an edition published in German! I began giving
talks and workshops about Islam and interfaith peacemaking at various Quaker
gatherings. Finally, I was given a letter of support by my Yearly Meeting,
affirming that I have a calling to do interfaith ministry.
In 2011, I published a book called “Quakers and
the Interfaith Movement,” which was intended as a handbook for Quakers
interested in becoming involved in this work. It contains chapters on the
Interfaith Movement and Compassionate Listening as well as various theological
perspectives by leading Quaker scholars. It describes what Quaker institutions,
such as Friends Committee on Legislation and the American Friends Service
Committee, are doing to promote interfaith dialogue peacemaking. It has a
chapter on Quakers and Muslims, and Quakers and Jews and Israel/Palestine—the
most challenging issue for the interfaith movement.
I’d like to share with you with you some of the
highlights of my book. But first, a little background about Quaker theology.
One of my favorite quotes is by William Penn,
who was a Universalist Christian. Unlike the Catholics, who at that time
believed that only Catholics would go to heaven, and unlike the Calvinists, who
believed that only Calvinists would go to heaven, William Penn thought that
people of good will and good action—whether they were Christian, or Muslim, or
Jewish—belonged to “one religion” and were kindred spirits:
“The humble,
meek, merciful, just, pious and devout souls everywhere are of one religion and
when death has taken off the mask, they will know one another, though the
diverse liveries they wore here make them strangers.”
Pacific Yearly Meeting—the
branch of Quakers to which I belong—agrees with Penn and affirms that the
Inward Light is universal, though not easy to put into words:
“The Inward
Light is a universal light given to all men [and women], religious
consciousness being basically the same wherever it is found. Our difficulties
come when we try to express it. We cannot express; we can only experience God.
Therefore, we must always remember tolerance, humility, and tenderness with
others whose ways and views may differ from ours.”
My friend and colleague
Sallie King, a professor of philosophy and religion at James Madison Univeristy,
makes it clear that just because all
people are illuminated by the Inward Light, not all people and religions are
alike. We must honor differences as well as commonalities. As Sallie points
out:
“This is not
to say that all religions are one. The religions are indeed different. While
Friends avoid creeds, our Testimonies—Truth, Nonviolence, Equality,
Simplicity—are clear and not to be compromised, as is our practice of
submitting to the guidance of the Spirit. These give us the guidance we need in
our relating to other religions.”
This in a
nutshell is the theological basis for Quaker peacemaking. What about its
practical application?
As I note in
my book, “one of the most Quakerly methods for encouraging interfaith dialogue
and understanding is to listen deeply to those of other faiths, without
judgmentalism” (p. 24). My teacher and friend Gene Hoffman pioneered in this
approach and I had the privilege of editing a book of her writings. I also had
the opportunity to go to Israel/Palestine with the Compassionate Listening Project,
which was inspired by Gene’s approach and led by brilliant Palestinian and
Jewish women. As we visited refugee camps, kibbutzim, and various organizations
in Israel/Palestine, we learned how to listen to people who had strongly
opposing perspectives. It was a life-transforming experience. I received
training in compassionate listening and have shared it in many venues,
including at the Parliament of the World’s Religion in Melbourne, Australia,
Closer to
home, I have facilitated interfaith cafes that use a compassionate listening
approach. Kay Lindahl, founder of the Sacred Listening Center, developed the
interfaith café model which has been widely used in many places, including here
in Pasadena. In September of this year, I helped organize an interfaith café at
Orange Grove Meeting, sponsored by the Parliament of the World’s Religion.
Around 30 people showed up. We met in small groups and shared our spiritual
experiences by responding to open-ended questions like: “What does your religion say about peace? How
does your religion help you to deal with conflict nonviolently in your family,
workplace, and community? How does your religion affect how you take a stand on
issues relating to social justice and peace? What do you think is the biggest
misperception people have about your religion? How have your views about
religion changed over the years, and if so, how and why?”
These
questions have no right or wrong answers and open up dialogue based on
experience, not dogma. The beauty of the interfaith café approach is that it
creates a safe space where people can talk about their faith and hear about our
faiths in a f/Friendly way. This model has become very popular in the Long
Beach area, thanks to the South Coast Interfaith Council. I hope that we can
have more interfaith cafes here in Pasadena, perhaps right here in this
synagogue! Please let me know if you’re interested.
My
book also describes what Quaker organizations are doing to promote interfaith
peace and understanding nationally and globally. For example, the Friends
Committee for National Legislation, a Quaker lobby started in 1943, called on
Friends to become more engaged with the Muslim community and its efforts to
promote peace and justice. When conservatives tried to prevent a creation of an
Islamic Center in lower Manhattan, FCNL circulated a petition that garnered
8,000 signatures and presented it to Faisal Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan of the
Cordoba Center.
I
recently went to Washington, DC, to take part in a Quaker lobby day. 325
Quakers from across the USA gathered in DC to call on our elected officials to
reduce the military budget by a trillion dollars over the next decade. We were
encouraged to set up meetings with our elected officials in their home offices.
I have organized an interfaith delegation to meet with Adam Schiff’s aide here
in Pasadena last week. If you’d like to be part of an interfaith delegation to
meet with our new Pasadena representative Judy Chu and argue for cuts in the
Pentagon budget, please let me know. I’d love your support!
I
serve on the Christian and Interfaith Relations Committee of Friends General
Conference, a national Quaker organization. Christian and Interfaith Relations
Committee of Friends General Conference, or CIRC, was started so that Friends
could have a presence at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 1893. CIRC
sends Quaker representatives to the World and National Council of Churches. I
do a lot of interfaith work on behalf of CIRC. They sponsored my trip to the
Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia.
Among
other things, CIRC wrote a response to an historic statement issues by Muslim
scholars to Christian scholars called “A Common Word.” This unprecedented Muslim
outreach to the Christian community began in October 13, 2007, when 138 Muslim
scholars sent out a letter (entitled “A Common Word Between Us and You”) to
leaders of the Christian faith, calling for peace and understanding. (Since
then, there have been more Muslim signatories, bringing the total to over 300.)
These noteworthy signatories represent a broad range of nationalities and
theological perspectives. According to its author, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammud of
Jordan, this letter represents a “normative Ijma [consensus] by the Ummah’s [Muslim
community’s] scholars,” that must be taken seriously by Muslims everywhere.
Just to be clear, this exchange
was meant to be the beginning of a theological conversation that will
eventually include Jewish scholars. You can read about this exchange in a book
entitled A Common Word: Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbor
(Eerdman: Grand Rapids, MI, 2010). It is fascinating to see how finely trained
theological minds explore the intricacies and complexities of such a seemingly
simple statement as: “Love God and love your neighbor.” What is meant by
“love”? What is meant by “God”? Or “neighbor”? Do Muslims and Christians mean
the same thing by these words?
CIRC’s response to “A Common Word” called on
Christians and Muslims to dialogue together to explore ways to promote peace. I’d
love to broaden this discussion to include ALL the religious leaders in Pasadena.
How might we cooperate to put into practice the commandment to “love thy
neighbor?”
I
currently serve on the board of the local chapter of the Parliament of the
World’s Religion and I encourage you to become involved. Last spring at the Sokka Gakkai Center in Santa Monica,
the Parliament sponsored a gathering in which teachers from various religious
traditions gave instruction on prayer and meditation. This program was called
“Seeds of Peace” and we plan to have a similar event in the spring of 2013. I
feel we are continuing the work of the Christian missionary Carl Evans, who
believed that if people of different faiths prayed for peace, we could end war.
I recently went to Claremont Lincoln University to attend
an event sponsored by the Parliament of the World’s Religion called “Educating
Religious Leaders for a Multi-Religious World.” As you probably know, Claremont
School of Theology has been transformed into the first interfaith seminary in
the nation, thanks to a 50 million dollar grant from the Lincoln family. It is
now called the Lincoln Claremont University and its mission is to train young
people to become Christian pastors, Jewish rabbis and Muslim imams in one
institution rather than in several. Claremont Lincoln isn’t interesting in
promoting a one-size-fits-all religion. Rather it is committed to nurturing
religious leaders who are clear about their own faith and comfortable working
and studying together in a multi-religious, pluralistic community. I was
pleased to learn that the Provost of the Claremont Lincoln University, a
brilliant and prolific theologian by the name of Phil Clayton, currently
attends the Claremont Meeting and considers himself a Quaker. I was also
pleased that one of the leading professors of Claremont Lincoln University, a
Muslim scholar named Najeeba Syed-Miller, studied at Guiford, a Quaker college
in North Carolina, with my friend Max Carter, the director of the Quaker
studies program. When I told Najeeba I detected Quaker elements in one of her
talks, she smiled and told me about her Quaker educational background. I love
the fact that people of different faiths are learning from each other how to
become better peace makers.
Here in Pasadena, Professor Glen Stassen, an Evangelical
Baptist, has been an integral part of a movement called “Just Peacemaking.” He
argues that the debate between pacifism and “just war” cannot be resolved, and
isn’t particularly helpful. He believes that all Christians, and indeed all
people of faith, should do all they can to prevent war. He was involved in the recent publication of
a book entitled “Interfaith Just Peacemaking,” edited by Susan Thisthethwaite.
As a Quaker, I am thrilled that people of diverse faiths agree that “war is not
the answer.” Did I mention that Glen Stassen went to a Quaker school and has on
the door of his office an FCNL sticker that reads “War is not the answer.”
Isn’t it marvelous when peace makers work together and learn from each other?
I’d like to close by discussing the final two chapters of
my book: one relating the Quakers and Islam, the other relating to Quakers and
Israel/Palestine.
The chapter on Islam contains not only my pamphlet but
also excepts from the translation of the Quran by Michael Sells, a Quaker
professor of Arabic studies who used to teach at Haverford and now teaches at
the University of Chicago. I highly recommend his book
The chapter on Israel/Palestine deals with the thorny
issue of how we can create a just peace in this troubled region nonviolently. It
contains an essay by a Quaker of Jewish background who went to Israel/Palestine
with the Compassionate Listening project. It also has an essay by Guiford
College professor Max Carter, Najeeba Syed-Miller’s teacher, who frequently
takes students from Guilford to Ramallah, where a Quaker school was established
over a hundred years ago. This school has trained many leaders in the
Palestinian community who have acquired many Quaker values while still
preserving their identity as Muslims. This chapter also describes the work that
the AFSC is doing to encourage young Palestinian leaders to work for justice
nonviolently.
Interfaith work in the Middle East can be very difficult,
and it isn’t always easy here at home. My Jewish friend Ruth Broyde Sharone has
written a lively memoir about her interfaith reconciliation work called
“Minefields and Miracles: Why God and Allah Need to Talk.” She recounts many
inspiring stories of interfaith cooperation, and also of painful
misunderstandings.
We may not agree on theology, and we all have very
different religious practices, but we can agree that we are called to “love our
neighbors.” This is the heart and the essence of the Torah, the Gospel, and the
Quran—and most other faiths have a similar teachings.
The three major
Christian organizations—the Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue (PCID), the World Council of Churches (WCC) an ,the
World Evangelical Alliance (WEA)—met during a period of five years to discuss
how Christians could witness to their faith in a multi-religious world. I
highly recommend downloading and reading this historic document, which was
published in 2011, since it is the first time that Catholics, mainstream
Protestants and Evangelicals have agreed on guidelines for interfaith dialogue
and cooperation within the context of Christian witness. Among other things,
this document encourages Christians to engage in
respectful interreligious dialogue, to build relationships of trust with those
of other faiths, to reject violence, to speak truthfully about other faiths, to
refrain from all forms of material “allurements” to gain converts, to work for
freedom of freedom, and to cooperate with people of other faiths for the common
good.
I think we can all agree it’s important to cooperate with
people of other faiths for the common good. That’s why I want to lift up a relatively
new interfaith service organization that has come to the San Gabriel area. It’s
called Family Promise and it’s part of a nation-wide network that has helped
thousands of homeless families to become housed. My wife Jill does recruitment
for this interfaith organization, and I’d like to invite her to say a few words
about it. See http://web.fpsgv.org/
My
wife and I met last spring at a Peace Parade here in Pasadena, and we were
married last fall after a whirlwind courtship. I proposed to Jil after only
three weeks. I guess it’s what my Jewish Friends call beshert, meeting your
soul mate: we just knew God had brought us together.
Jill
and I come from very different backgrounds. She is an Evangelical Chistian and
I am a liberal Quaker, but we agree on deeply held values—like peace and
justice, helping the poor, and loving our neighbors. And we have discovered you
don’t need to agree with someone’s theology to love them and work with them and
have a wonderful relationship.
When we
got married, we invited people of diverse faiths to be part of our wedding
party. Muslims, Jews, Evangelicals, liberals, conservatives people of color,
the affluent, the homeless, and even a stranger from China who happened to be
in town and wanted to see an American wedding—all came to our wedding and were
welcome.
“Love
God and love your neighbor as yourself” is a commandment we need to take
seriously and embrace wholeheartedly. It’s part of our DNA as well as our
religious heritage. What the interfaith movement calls us to do is to love ALL
our neighbors, no matter what their race, religion or ethnic background. It
isn’t always easy, but it’s worth it!
