Islamic Society of North America 2011 Convention
The Peaceable Kingdom 2.0: Young Adults and Quakerism’s Future
Many Quaker Meetings proudly display an iconic and beautiful Edward Hicks painting of the Peaceable Kingdom as described in the Book of Isaiah. In fact, this past weekend, at PYM's annual sessions, there was a giant paper-mache rendition of this scene in the leadership-themed tent. But what does it mean, in 2011, to let our young people lead us into unexpected relationships that transform the world? While at ISNA, I was given a comprehensive understanding of how Muslim young adults are nurtured and engaged by Muslim institutions and expected to develop faithful relationships within the community, from the moment they are born untill the day they assume leadership positions.
In this post-Christendom, post-9/11 country, there is a growing inter-faith youth movement, thanks in part to the ability of new tools to enable communication and relationship. Youth from many backgrounds are represented in this movement, but not Quakers. Why? I believe it is because Friends have not successfully implemented the contemporary structures and new technologies through which this movement functions. We experience a lack of connection both inside and outside of our community due to generational and technological issues. This post will be an exploration of how Muslim, Quaker, and other faith communities pursue work with young adults to achieve a vision for the future of their respective communities.
I spoke with Iman Sediqe, the outgoing President of the Muslim Students Association (which serves individuals ages 18–35) and learned how their structure functions and benefits their Muslim communities:
There is a clear need for Quakers to have a similar structure to empower and engage its young people. Rarely are there yearly meeting structures for college students and young adults, and less and less so these days as three of the most vibrant and far-reaching young adult programs are facing a bleak future. In response to tough economic times, Friends have responded by down-sizing the Youth Ministries staff of Friends General Conference last year, defunding Pendle Hill's Young Adult Leadership Development Program for future years, and eliminating the Young Adult Friends coordinator position at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting this year. I was in attendance at PYM's sessions this past weekend. Most poignant for me was the manner in which the issue was framed. Friends spoke of the YAF position as something nice and generous that the yearly meeting had done for young adult Friends (YAFs), but that YAFs really have the means to take care of themselves for the most part. I find this to be patronizing and extremely short-sighted. I believe it indicates a lack of vision for the future, and an unwillingness to address the dynamics of generational turnover and community cohesion on which the future is built. Quakers don't have the only fruitful approach to faith, and young adults can and will find alternatives. Ultimately, the Religious Society of Friends needs young adults just as much, if not more, than young adults need the Religious Society of Friends.
In our interview, Iman describes an intentional structure and process to weave together rising and established generations. This is not seen as something done primarily for the benefit of the younger generation, but instead as a crucial step in ensuring that their community maintains a wholness of relationship with one another, retains its rising members because of those relationships, and ultimately, years down the line, has leaders who are well-versed and trusted within the community. Within the Quakerism I have experienced, I see no similar practice. There is a patchwork of resources and endeavors, including occasional young adult Friend events, some grants for projects, summer programs to develop leadership, and so on, but these are disjointed, scattershot, removed from the larger Quaker community, and woefully incomplete compared to the intentionally coordinated and consistent offerings of other faith communities. If Friends are experiencing frustrations and a lack of trust with their current leadership (as a fair number at PYM's annual sessions expressed) I would suggest that this would not be as acute had there been intentional approaches to establishing, maintaining, and developing relationships with these leaders when they were younger adults. There would be more trust, a practiced ability to communicate, a deeper understanding of the community's processes and awareness of the important stake-holders in the community. We must live into the fullness of the fact that the future is present and embodied in our younger generations. Considering the declines in membership and corresponding rise in median age, we must live into that soon, or resign ourselves to growing irrelevance and an eventual fading away into the pages of history.
Muslims are not the only faith community to see the importance of this work; most mainline Protestant denominations invest serious time, energy, and money into young adult ministries. They function through student-oriented structures akin to the Muslim Student Association, such as the Lutheran Student Movement.
Friends once engaged in this work through the Young Friends of North America, and were known for their leadership and participation in ecumenical circles, but now without an intentional process and approach to ecumenical and interfaith engagement by our youth, we lack a seat at the table. As Iman says, "Quakers don't even come to mind" as a faith community to partner with.
I have spent the last 3 years researching, leading workshops, holding interviews, and interest groups around these issues and what to do about them (thanks in part to the support of the Clarence and Lilly Pickett Endowment). One report from this research can be found in a paper written for Friends Association on Higher Education's journal Quaker Higher Education.There were five key elements of successful intergenerational partnerships that I noted in my gleanings from Iman, the ISNA event, and in interactions with other communities of faith. These include:
-Accompaniment. Building intergenerational relationships that partner for the sake of one another's growth and the benefit of the wider community is vitally important. This could be some sort of mentoring, eldering, travelling alongside under a ministerial concern, spiritual friendship, serving as a board member for a Quaker organization, or just a cup of tea and some simple discussion every month or as way opens. Without a systematic or intentional process by which we engage younger generations, it becomes especially difficult to pursue mentorship and other forms of intergenerational partnership. It becomes everyone's responsibility and at the same time no one's responsibility and the resources for doing such work are not easily found.
-Connection and service to peers and other youth. Bonding with other youth and young adults as Quakers both inside and outside their faith community is vitally important. It reinforces the bonds of community that will keep them involved in the future, helps them define what it means to be Quaker by witnessing other expressions of Quakerism, and gives a testing-ground for being Quaker in the wider world. There is also a great opportunity for weaving back, and focusing young adult energy into the service of children, middle schoolers, and high schoolers. At ISNA, it seemed like half the event was run by young adutls on work grants, especially around tech help and youth work. This is a wonderful moment to develop budding talents, and build cohesion among the relationships of rising generations.
Without a clear approach, the past four years generated an inconsistent series of national events for YAFs that lacked cohesion and failed to cultivate and accumulate the lessons learned over time from each event. Participants are often abruptly confronted with one another's differences in theology, without a foundation of trust that comes through consistent relationships. This is dysfunctional and reinforces the internal disunity of Friends.
Externally, we are absent, as Iman notes. This kind of engagement could create opportunities to improve our understanding of the wider world of faith and the precious gifts of our own tradition. When we come into situations where our beliefs are in stark contrast to those around us, we see our uniqueness more clearly and are challenged to articulate who we are and what we believe to the outside world. Muslims have been forced to do this because of the culture which besieges and painfully misunderstands them, while Quakers have generally accepted being benignly misunderstood for Shakers, the Amish, or others, and have (by and large) stayed out of ecumenical and interfaith endeavors as a faith community.
-Discernment. Probably the most immediate need for young adults, and the clearest area where our communities have the potential to bond and serve, is in figuring out how each young person will engage the wider world now that they have completed their journey through family and school. At ISNA, I noted that there were programs to help individuals discern and work on their vocation, their family and romantic relationships, their relationships to the economy and college debt, and so on. I would add to this list the question of lifestyle and location. What does it mean to be a 20-something Quaker and live "in it, and not of it" in the 21st century? How does that impact one's relationship to place and geographically rooted community?
This need also allows a community to teach the Quaker spiritual tools to these individuals at a very influential time. The most common clearness committees are for membership and marriage, where the clarity sought often comes in a yes or no, proceed or pause fashion. If this is the typical extent of experience that our members have with clearness committees, then we aren't effectively teaching the more difficult and nuanced group discernment that exists not in yes-or-no, but in finding the next step or piece of clarity to guide one's life.
-Vocational and leadership development. Once discernment is clear and a concrete area of vocation is indentified for an individual, the question becomes: How do I find a way to offer these gifts in a manner that is consistent with my values and beliefs? Helping emerging adults identify ways in which their faith and practice can manifest in their everyday work is a powerful anchor for the spiritual life of a young person. Additionally, the potential for leadership within the faith community becomes riper as clarity around one's gifts is achieved. If our community can aid in that discernment, it can also help develop those gifts and channel that leadership into the service of that community.
-Accountability along with support. It is my experience that young people will strive to live into whatever expectations are set for them by those they respect and love as their elders. We can be quick to say yes to any initiative that a young adult presents, regardless of whether they are pulling their weight as a member in the community, or committed to pursuing their initiative faithfully. However, if those elders fail to follow-up and hold individuals accountable, it sends the message that the work of young adults isn't important enough to cause concerns for the manner in which it is done, and the larger role that the young adult plays in the community. In general, young adults need to live up to the challenge of being committed to community and faithfulness, and the community can show its commitment to them by holding them accountable to this challenge, in addition to saying Yes! and throwing money at well-planned projects that YAFs propose.
In discussing the Muslim Student Association with Iman, I was convinced of the importance of ensuring a clear path from infancy to full involvement in a faith community. She talks of the importance of young adults becoming involved in the Muslim community now, so that they will be both present and prepared later on when the community needs them to step up to the highest levels of leadership. In many ways, the idea of being deeply wedded to a faith community goes against the natural tendencies of someone in their twenties. It is a time of transience and a desire to embrace knowing oneself in-of-oneself, without the defining pressures of family and community that have been present up to that point in development. It seems appropriate that there is a need for individuals to serve as shepherds to these lost sheep. This will help us both retain the youth we have invested in since their birth, and capitalize on the opportunity to speak to the condition of others in their cohort (who are many, if you consider the results of the Belief-o-Matic quiz at beliefnet.com).
Yes, "young people are the future," but more importantly, they possess the global awareness and technological skills that older generations so desperately need now in order to be relevant in the future to come. It is the prerequisite to any sustainable existence of a vibrant future. It is clear to me that the undeniable impact of information technologies has presented formidable challenges to Quakers. It has changed how the world communicates and, therefore, how we must communicate with the world. If we are unable to use these new tools, we will find ourselves, our truths, and our witness to these truths, unheard and unseen.
Within younger generations, there is a strong desire to take their Quakerism seriously, to live into it as their primary identity, however they can find themselves caught between worlds, not knowing how to apply their Quaker faith and practice to these new digital realms of existence. They have grown up on keyboards, on instant-messaging, online. They are "digital natives". They need older generations to impart wisdom as to what it means to be a Friend "friending" on Facebook, just as much as older generations need younger generations to teach the hard skills around using these new tools. We are incomplete without one another, and won't share in the work of each other's lives unless we are operating through the same mediums of communication. Part of any successful generational dynamic is a union of wisdom from older generations, with new knowledge and skill in younger generations.
In that sculpture scene of the peaceable kingdom at PYM's sessions, there was a notable and perhaps telling absence: there was no sculpture of a little child leading them. We need each other more than ever before, and there is only mutual benefit in ensuring that the gifts and energies of rising generations are properly nurtured, mentored, harnessed, and led into their own leadership for our community. We are meant to be members, one of another. The Muslim community is ardently pursuing this work in response to persecution; can we tackle this work without the prompting from such pressure? John F. Kennedy once noted that the Chinese character for "crisis" is composed of two symbols: danger, and opportunity. More than for Quakerism alone, but for the wider world of faith, justice, and the vision of the Kingdom, we could take this moment of financial crisis as an opportunity to pivot in a new direction. We can transform by fearlessly investing in new degrees of relationship with one another, the world, and the tools and structures through which it operates. Let us not be short-sighted nor moved from a sense of scarcity. We are blessed with an abundance of ability to unite wisdom and tradition with knowledge and innovation, young with old, and together forge a future in the spirit of Isaiah 11:6 where,
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them."
Will the Real America Please Stand Up?
As Quakers, we certainly witness (and occasionally participate in) the inflated rhetoric and sensationalism of our mainstream media, but typically we are not the victims of it in any way that causes serious detriment. The same can not be said for Muslims. While we are made out to be Amish oatmeal-makers and parrot-breeders (really, google "Quaker parrot"), our Muslim brothers and sisters are made out to be terrorists and theocrats, trying to force the rest of the world to live under the most extreme interpretations of Islamic law.
The Peter King hearings, Qur'an burnings, legislation prohibiting sharia law, the international spread of veil-banning laws, and questionable Transportation Security Administration (TSA) training techniques have been making the headlines all year. Less discussed is the fact that hate-crimes against Muslims are growing along with the number of non-Muslim extremist groups in the United States. It is understandable then, that this year ISNA chose to focus on the heart-felt humanity of Islam and it adherents in the US. This was expressed through dispelling myths, educating about hot topics (jihad, madrasas, sharia, veils, etc.), and discussing the importance of religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
Here is a video-collage of various individuals discussing this theme, including the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Susan Johnson Cook; General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, Rev. Michael Kinnamon; Content Director of the Islamic Networks Group (ING), Ameena Jandali; Executive Director of the Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Ahmed Rehab; and Outgoing President of the Muslim Student Association, Iman Sediqe.
It is clear that there is a problem with the portrayal of Islam in popular culture, and the response at ISNA was admirable. However, there was a missing piece for me. At times, I could detect hints of Anti-Jewish sentiment and heard little if any denunciation or distancing of "real Islam" from the fringes of "extremist Islam." Also disappointing was that, at times, presenters expressed, from the plenary stage even, comments that were overtly anti-LGBTQ. I can understand the cultural distance that many of the first-generation American-Muslims in the community are stretching to make it through their lives, but at times it seemed as though ISNA was catering to this lowest common denominator of inter-cultural acceptance rather than challenging everyone to something greater and more tolerant. Overall, it further impressed upon me the importance of Quakers remaining in relationship with this community to help bear one another's burden and share our witnesses for justice, peace, and equality.
It can feel distant and not a part of one's current, immediate reality to discuss these national trends and events, but this is manifesting in small ways all around us. As I returned from my trip and went back to work, a co-worker of mine, Josh Birchard, happened to tell me of an incident that he witnessed this past Thursday morning. Here's Josh's experience, in his own words:
July 7, 2011
Taking on the July heat, I pushed through yet another city block, finding my legs damp and my brow a tributary to my face. The pedestrians that surrounded me were undoubtedly feeling similar sensations and I imagined for a moment that, stripped of their individual busy lives, each was merely on a quest to find air conditioning. Their heat-hazed forms brought to mind the endless variety of human life, and I was reminded, as I occasionally am, the precious depth of diversity in the broadest sense of the word.
My musings were cut short as I neared my place of work, my previous concept of the harmony of things was smashed and choked with doubt. I noticed two young black women dressed in burkas and long, flowing, single-color dresses walking in the same direction I was, five or six steps ahead. Such-dressed women are familiar to me and, my initial kaleidoscopic awareness wearing off, I positioned myself to pass them without much notice.
The two women were abruptly approached by a white man, face contorted in what I guessed was a message of mocking. I wore headphones and so could not hear the outside, but I observed this man's mouth moving as he barged his way between the two young women, thrusting his shoulder into the small amount of space between them. Their faces turned and I saw expressions of disgust and I instantly was sure of what had happened. The white man had uttered something vulgar to these two burka-wearing women, while at the same time invading their personal space. I thought for a moment of confronting the man, but, an experienced recipient of thrashings, I did not want violence. I thought of offering words of support to the women, but I second-guessed myself, and walked off without making any kind of gesture or verbal reparation following the harassment. Disgusted with myself and with the assailant, I entered my work place reeling from the experience.I will admit that at other socio-sidewalk moments I have placed such women in an "other" category, and have experienced a peculiar anxiety at the unknown, and then anxiety at the fact of having this type of discomfort at all. At such moments I seek to fix my mild phobia, for don't I know better? I believe in reflexivity as a sociology graduate, a Quaker, an earnest self-appraiser and I have been trained in, and have practiced, rigorous social acceptance. Yet still, at times, I must manage my own feelings, for they stray from my ideals and create dissonance.
Let us pray that we can learn from Josh's experience, and have the boldness to confront moments like these with creative responses that can re-humanize the situation. It is easy to think that our time to respond comes when these micro-moments grow into national movements of hate, prejudice, and violence (such as has become the case in the United Kingdom, with the English Defence League). However, that approach has us committing the same mistake I noted in my previous post regarding our sudden vocal response to the outbreak of war, while beforehand we are complicit with the conditions contributing to it.
True pacifism is always beautiful, but rarely grand.
Concerning responses to my last post ("You Say You Want A Revolution . . . "):
Understandably, some eyebrows and questions were raised in response to my last post which supported the existence of a draft. I should clarify that I hold no illusion that such a prospect is actually politically viable at this moment, nor that such a system should look anything like our past systems of conscription. My central point is that, without a system of this sort, there is a general lack of accountability and no inherent feedback system between the populace and the military that represents their democracy. Time will exacerbate this disconnection, and lead to the further decay of a democratic system. Though I can understand why it would seem like a step backwards to those in our community who worked admirably to end the draft and the Vietnam War, I believe the point stands when one considers the long-term concern for democracy and popular government.
I believe that if we were to achieve something on the order of a draft, it should function like a system of mandatory national service, with options to suit all value systems. This would also require the creation of "selective conscientious objection"; individuals (such as those at Centurion's Guild) who embrace concepts of "Just War Theory" and conditional Pacifism, could refuse to participate in wars that they find unjust, immoral, and/or unChristian.
Lastly, I want to acknowledge that I am inspired towards these ideas because of my family's history of service, both militarily and also in civil service and humanitarian efforts. Most influential is my grandfather and middle-namesake, Lt. Col. Willis E. Schug, who advocated for mandatory national service after his experience serving as Dean of Students at Columbia Law in 1968 (when the riots occurred); this was his first civilian post after serving as a lawyer for the military in Vietnam, Korea, and the Pentagon.
You Say You Want A Revolution, Well Ya'know . . .
Stephen Dotson at ISNA: Full CoverageA Friend at the Annual Convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) |
It was on Jan. 28 that I registered for this ISNA event. I also happened to find myself watching TV while waiting for a flight to Los Angeles in the Philadelphia airport. It was on this day that the Egyptian revolution unexpectedly materialized into a serious movement. The question at hand was whether the military would side with the people of Egypt, or president Mubarak, whose dictatorial regime had enjoyed the support of the United States, Israel, and others for many years. Part of that support had come in the form of the United States training the generals and high officers of the Egyptian military. This military was distinct from the police force, whose techniques and tendencies towards torture and brutality were known the world over. The army ended up siding with the people, in a relatively bloodless revolution, where even some of the notorious police force eventually joined the people of all ages who called for Mubarak to leave.
Here is the account of Ahmed Rehab, a well-known Egyptian-American writer, activist, and media commentator who was in Cairo and Tahrir Square during the Egyptian revolution:
Fast forward a month, and I am home for a day off from my (real) job when I learn about the uprising in Libya. Being a news junkie, my day became frequently interrupted by a lingering curiosity to "check-in" on the possible revolution. The events of the world have never been so immediate and accessible as they are today.
By noon I found myself watching the insane and incensed rantings of Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi live, and rapidly sharing the link with Friends through instant messaging on Gmail and Facebook. Qaddafi was the epitome of megalomania and denial, insisting that the revolution was nothing more than a small group of young men who had been fed hallucinogenic pills by foreigners plotting against him. He insisted the country still loved him, and that he would crush anyone who dared to say otherwise!
In truth, this event had been triggered by popular protests that demanded answers regarding the disappearances of over 1,000 Libyan political prisoners in one notorious detainment center. Following the initial uprising, high-level diplomats including ambassadors to the United States and UN resigned in protest of the Qaddafi regime, and in support of the revolution. In the last four months, France has armed the rebels, NATO has engaged in an extensive bombing campaign against Qaddafi, and most recently Qaddafi is now charged with murder and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC). This corners him and gives him little ability to negotiate a retreat elsewhere as an end to the situation.
Qaddafi is now not only hiring mercenaries from other parts of Africa, he is also attempting to move Ukranian snipers into the fight. Here is the former Libyan Ambassador to the United States,Ali Sulaiman Aujali, sharing this news and his account of the revolution:
Though unpredictable, Qaddafi (and by degree, high-grade Libyan oil) found improved relations with the United States ever since he renounced terrorism (abroad) and gave up his ambitions to develop nuclear weapons. This led to closer economic ties (such as with Donald Trump!), removal of Libya from the "state-sponsors of terror" list, and greater access to the United Nations. Upon having his first invitation to speak (for 11 minutes) he provided a deluded 90 minute rant to the General Assembly. Most notable in this speech is his proposal to solve the Israeli/Palestinian conflict by shmushing the two countries and peoples together and calling the whole thing "Isratine" (no joke). Sounds like a Middle Eastern flavor of Ovaltine, right?
It is clear that "America the free" has repeatedly failed to support freedom abroad, generally due to a desire to maintain control of strategic interests that were initially established post-WWII and during the Cold War. As North American Friends and Christians we must witness for peace and stand up in opposition to the violence that NATO, and by degree the United States, contributes to in Libya. However this is perhaps a lesser point to me.
I'd like to pose the question: what did we not do to remove the causes for this violence that is now spiraling into civil war and risking stalemate? How can we hold ourselves responsible and become the change? How did we allow ourselves to be partnered with this guy, and help him find a place to pitch his tent? Without being proactive, I find it self-indulgent and almost irresponsible to become newly vocal about the emergence of war, when we were generally mute on (or in the worst case, complicit with) the softly violent conditions leading up to it.
To be pacifist means much more than we Friends (myself included) have generally embraced. Though lifting up the witness of peace during conflict is important, it is far less important than the work of preserving a "just peace" prior to conflict, and ending the cycle of violence afterward through reconciliation efforts. Though somewhat ironic, Obama emphasized this point in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech by saying that, "Only a just peace, based upon the inherent rights and dignity of every individual, can truly be lasting." We must make our idealism practical in order to be effective; we need to ensure that our witness is not removed from the reality of the situation and silently tolerant of the insidious violence of systemic injustice nor seduced suddenly by the sensational emergence of war.
This is one reason why I support a draft. People in the United States have been divorced from the consequences of their lifestyle, and these consequences have become both greater and harder to see as the economy has continued to globalize. I also don't believe we will ever have an effective peace movement without having a draft-based military, because a majority of the people will remain with the impression that they are generally unaffected by the foreign policy (and the systemic violence) our country enacts. There is a critical disconnect that needs to be fixed. We enjoy the privileges without an awareness of the connected responsibilities. Forgive us, for we know not what we do!
I believe that nothing would create the new awareness and concern for the conditions leading to war, short of having the question put to all U.S. citizens: Would you send your sons and daughters to fight the wars that are the logical consequence of your lifestyle? Otherwise, we risk perpetuating an army whose foundations are built on the backs of the poor, aspiring immigrants, the under-privileged, and under-educated.
One of the most infamous sociologists of democracy and America, Alexis de Tocqueville, wrote in support of this principle in 1830:
"Democracies crave peace; however, their armies are staffed with people who cannot advance without war. Thus, it is important that values of the general society and not just the professional military (mercenaries) flow through the military to keep it both wary of war yet, at the same time, able to wage war if absolutely necessary."
Monsieur de Tocqueville named the demise of "conscription," or the draft, as a symptom of downfall for democracy. I would disagree that war can be absolutely necessary, or that it is fair to call all career soldiers "mercenaries," but it does seem curious that we now hire record numbers of official mercenaries (Blackwater, Xe Services, etc.) and other contractors in addition to having moved to an "all-volunteer" force. Whose democracy should I be more concerned about, those in the Arab Spring countries or my own?
Also present and active at ISNA were Syrian Americans. There was a great deal of discussion regarding the aggravated state of the uprising in Syria. This country's upheaval has been one of the most violent, resulting in a brutal response from the government of Bashar al-Assad, which has killed over 1,100 people. Of all the U.S. politicians to be protested at this gathering, Congressman Dennis Kucinich was the last I could ever have expected. However, Kucinich had recently visited with the Assad regime and publicly stated his faith in Assad's government. If I were to speculate, I would say that this is not because the Congressman thinks Assad is a real swell guy, but rather that the stability of the region and, specifically, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict would be greatly affected by the removal of the current government in Syria. This doesn't excuse his hypocrisy however, as he is elsewhere a strong advocate of human rights, including an end to the war in Libya. Meanwhile, Syria remains on that state-sponsors of terror list, has tried to go nuclear with the help of North Korea, and has tortured and killed children in response to this popular protest.
Here is video of both the Kucinich protest and the largest pro-Syrian people's rally (outside of Syria) that occurred in downtown Chicago the next day:
The message at ISNA has continuously been one of standing up loudly for democracy, freedom, and self-determination. This has been consistent no matter whether it pertains to domestic issues and the freedoms of speech and religion, or the replacement of oppressive govenrments abroad. They are tirelessly trying to demonstrate a commitment to combatting extremism and calling for justice. Just today, a press release came out as a joint statement from ISNA, Muhammad Ali, and other muslim leaders calling for Iran to free two U.S. hikers currently detained. Sadly, throughout the entire event, I did not ever run into any other press who weren't Muslim-affiliated, so I'm not confident that the message will reach many new ears.
Overall, I feel I have witnessed the Muslim community asking the rest of America whether they truly believe in their nation's founding principles of self-determination by the people, of the people, for the people, or whether our strategic self-interest has made such principles mere decoration. My next post will examine the state of religious freedom and Islamophobia, and argue that this question is relevant not only on the international stage, but in local communities all across the United States.
Being the Change with our Muslims Brothers and Sisters
I hold a strong opinion that positive and sustainable social change almost always involves three common traits: youth, faith, and diversity. One of my inspirations in being here at the ISNA convention is that I will better understand how these dynamics function in this community and be able to foster sustainable social change by engaging in interfaith relationship, dialogue, and action. Young people, and particularly students actively studying the issues of the day, have often been the catalyst and fuel for different movements throughout history. The Arab Spring has been no exception. I could speculate and say that this is because they have the free time, the untempered idealism, and the energy to be defiant and demonstrative, but the whole truth is certainly more complex than that. Faith undergirds the ideals that social change is based upon, and provides a sense of identity (all of us as brothers and sisters of one God) that transcends the man-made distinctions and prejudices that foster injustice. Lastly, diversity manifests true social change because it is only when an issue cuts across a multiplicity of communities that a collective response occurs and structural changes can occur with the power of a majority. The absence of any one of these three main ingredients often leaves a movement without critical mass or sustainability.
The next national movement for constructive social change will most likely be an interfaith one. Curently, I think we are seeing the beginning of this coalition-building around environmental/energy/food issues, and to a lesser degree, issues of gender and sexual orientation equality. During the Civil Rights Movement, the coalition was primarily ecumenical (consisting of a diversity of Christian denominations that cut across the racial divide), though this isn't to demean the contributions of Jewish communities and leaders like Abraham Joshua Heschel and the hard resistance of the Nation of Islam. At this point, however, that coalition would not be enough to affect change in the United States. I believe if we are to confront environmental and energy crises, we must stand side-by-side with Muslims, Jews, Evangelicals, Humanists, Catholics, Hindus, Buddhists, Protestants, Atheists, and other partners.
Though in theory, I think many liberal Friends would salivate at this vision, I think too often we Quakers are committed to only doing it our way with our process, described in our language. Certainly there is exceptional value in practicing our way, however I think it should not be taken as far as to think that our approach is superior. We do not have grounds to be prideful because of our history, and self-righteously separate in how we pursue change; this only prevents us from being a part of larger initiatives and coming into new, growthful relationships. Partly, it seems that our universalism, and (occassional) allergy to Christianity and our own Christian roots creates a crevasse in the path of faith relationships that lead into coalitions of interfaith work. By this I means, when we (for one reason or another) fail to identify our own Christian roots, and don't partner with other Christian traditions ecumenically, we find ourselves on our own and left out of the endeavors that that community then engages in with Muslims and others. I spoke with Rev. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, about his experience doing interfaith work, and how Quakers might be more involved and effective.
In an effort to explore the relationship between Muslims and the Green movement, I attended a session titled, "Food, Health, and Environment: The Responsibility of Muslims," which had representatives from Good Tree Farms, Inc., an interfaith sustainable farming endeavor started by a Muslim; Green Muslims, which seeks to re-emphasize the unique role and responsibility for environmental stewardship that all God has entrusted us with; and Green Faith, which developes environmental leadership in various faith communities.
The discussion was persuasive and passionate in its claims for advancing efforts at conservation, energy efficiency, supporting organic and local agriculture, and partnering with other faiths communities towards green ends. However, the group generally glossed over issues of energy sourcing and the advocacy of clean energy techniques. I was left wondering if this was, in part, due to the relationship between petroleum wealth in the Arab world and the financial support the Islamic community in America receives from Arabs. This is just conjecture, but I was left wanting to hear a stronger message about energy policy and sourcing.
The central foundation of Muslim environmentalism seems to be the idea of istikhlaf or vice-gerency. For more background, check out this article explaining the Muslim concept of vice-gerency. The closest western concept would be a kind of divine stewardship. Not a sense of dominion that justifies any use of God's creation by humans, but more a deep and heavy responsibility for which we will be held accountable. To understand the connection between Muslim scripture, vice-gerency, and environmentalism explore this article connecting vice-gerency with modern-day environmentalism.
Moving beyond the theological basis for Muslim Greenery, the presentation underscored how Muslims need to act on such beliefs. One speaker cited a Hadith (Islamic teaching) emphasizing the importance of putting faith into action:
"The Almighty Allah sent some angels to destroy the people of a particular town. When the angels reached there, they found a worshiper engrossed in worship. The angels said, 'O our Lord! Your particular slave is busy in worship, how can we send punishment on this town?' The reply came, 'Do not care about this man because he has never been angry for Our sake and never behaved curtly with the sinners.'"
Though perhaps a bit more stern and Old Testament-like than the God that most liberal Friends identify with, the point is clear. Praying for the sake of the Earth and discussing the issues among ourselves is certainly important, but we must get out and educate others, and put ourselves on the line next to those others. I appreciated this encouragement, as I sometimes feel I sit in too many committee meetings, and too few jail cells.
The last few months have seen a bevy of activism in the Muslim world, and this conference was filled with discussion pertaining to that. My next post will focus on the Arab Spring discussions that occurred at the event. I have video of Ali Sulaiman Aujali the former Libyan Ambassador to the United States.
who was part of the initial wave of governmental resignations that were the catalyst for the uprising in Libya, also Ahmed Rehab, an Egyptian-American activist who was there in Tahrir Square during the peaceful revolution, and footage of the largest Pro-Syrian People's Rally outside of Syria.
I have been trying to secure interviews with the leaders of the Muslim Student Association of the United States/Canada, and would like to include them in the next post (since young people have been so deeply involved in the Arab Spring), but I'm unsure whether or not the opportunity will pan out. All this and more coming soon. In the words of my Muslim friend from Kentucky, "Insha'Allah and the creek don't rise."
First Impressions: Faith Galvanizing a Community Towards Reform
What happens first at a Quaker conference? Someone gives a talk about how good it is to see everyone, reflects on the last year, and how exciting the program is this year, right? This is not what happens first at a Islamic conference. First, they eat and pray together, receive a "khateeb" (sermon). The resulting sense of being anchored in unity as humans with worldly needs, but also as children of the one God is palpable.
I can’t express the deep humility and reverance I felt as I stood aside in observation as a non-Muslim during the "Jummah prayer" or Friday prayer service. The incoming president of the Islamic Society of North America, Imam Mohamed Magid, will serve as the Khateeb (prayer leader) and deliver the Khutbah (sermon) for the opening program. Imam Magid is the Imam of the All Dulles Area Muslims Society (ADAMS) Center, right down the road from where I spent my highschool years. Recently, Imam Magid has received a lot of press for building unlikely partnerships to try and overcome the stigmas and negative portrayals of Muslims in the media and politics.
He has even sat down with the likes of the FBI and Donald Trump in order to try and shift such stereotypes. His message during the Jummah was that Muslims in America must above all else be the ambassadors of peace and service to their communities. Very heartfelt and moving.
With the arrival of the annual conference has come HUGE crowds of people in all sorts of dress and skin-tone (though I am definitely in the minority as a shirt and tie wearing white guy). The official estimates say about 40,000 people will be in attendance for the event. The main program is rich and confronts some of the hot issues as well as inwardly focused topics regarding faithfulness and practice as one might expect. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see the breadth and depth of other outwardly focused topics (food and environmentalism, the role of Muslim chaplains in American society, morality and technology, and more). There are supplemental programs that these topics could have been parlayed into, but instead they were included in the main program. Speaking of supplemental programs, I can’t keep track of them all! There’s an entertainment program, extensive youth programming, a basketball tournament (!!!), a Qira’at competition where individuals recite different parts of scripture, regional programs, programs for Muslim professionals, a film festival, a bazaar, and an art exhibition.
Most impressive to me, however, is the fact that there are two sub-conferences happening as well, dedicated just to the youth and young adults of the Islamic community. Now I don’t mean that a lounge or set of basement rooms has been set aside for youth programs. The Muslim Student Association (MSA) and the Muslim Youth Network Assocation (MYNA) have stages, break-out rooms, and are not an afterthought in the least.
Compare this to the largest liberal Quaker organizations (PYM and FGC) who are eliminating staff and program support for young adult and youth ministries during these hard times, and there seems to be entirely different understandings of what kind of value there is in investing in rising generations. In my future adventures here, I will attempt to sit down with the leaders of the MSA and the MYNA, and explore what their organizations do across faith communities, why they believe their organizations and rising generations are important to Islam in America, and what they are doing to live into that greater future.
In the end, my first impressions are the following: a lot of money was thrown at this, it means a lot to a lot of people, these people are trying to confront some hard truthes with boldness, they are dedicated to serving every generation of their community and especially the young, and clearly this community has been galvanized towards reform by an undue amount of persecution and prejudice in the last ten years. The result of this last observation is that in a time of crisis, this community has responded by naming its center, accepting leadership, and making new efforts to communicate with the world that so often mis-frames its heart. They are committed to build the trust and relationships necessary to create a better reality not only for "their own" but for all people who believe in a just and diverse Kingdom of God on Earth.
Jumping in the Deep End
As-Salāmu `Alaykum, Friends! The Annual Convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is the largest gathering of American Muslims to happen each year. I’ve been feeling the need to stretch outside my comfort zone, so while many Friends will be at the FGC Gathering in Iowa, it seems fitting that I will be in Chicago eating Halal, and sticking out like a sore thumb in my capacity as an amateur journalist for Friends Journal.
I’ve read most of the Qur’an, along with books by Karen Armstrong, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Eboo Patel. Still, there’s no chance that I am fully prepared and equipped to grapple with and understand what awaits me. I hope that these thoughts and offerings can be a space for my learning to become a starting point for others' learning and that my relationships can be the catalyst for others.
I have always had an interest in inter-faith work, ever since travelling in India and Sri Lanka and learning about the role that acts of inter-faith cooperation (such as the Sarvodaya Shramadana Social Movement of Sri Lanka) and conflict (such as the Hindu-Muslim partition of India and resulting conflict in Kashmir) have played in the region. My desire to pursue inter-faith and ecumenical work has sent me deeper into my study of Quakerism and Christianity (particularly the early church, pre-Constantine). I wanted to better understand who Quakers were so that I could better understand what unique gifts and service Quakers can offer in partnership with other communities of faith. The more ecumenical work and interfaith work I do, the stronger I identify as a Quaker, and the more I understand what is unique about Quakerism. I have worked closely with Buddhists; Ba Ha’is; Christians of all stripes, collars, and creeds; less with the Jewish community; and very little with Muslims. Islam is my clearest growing edge, and one could say that it is America’s most dire growing edge as well.
I believe the Quaker and Muslim communities face some similar challenges. One that feels most pressing is the challenge of being rightly understood and overcoming a significant degree of enculturation. Though technically English-speaking, I feel sometimes as though Quakers might as well be speaking Arabic. Once used as a way to distinguish and make evident the different lifestyle choices borne out of Quaker theology, these days our language generally comes off as ambiguous, confusing, and obstructive. For instance, the phrase “I felt Led to attend a Friends Meeting” contains serious implications pertaining to Divine guidance (being “Led”), the inclusivity of the Kingdom of God (“Friends”), and the insignificance of bricks and mortar (“Meeting”), but only if you’re Quaker and know the lingo. To the average Jane, you just sound like you’re passively trying to nose your way into on someone else’s get-together! As I complain, I should also say that our being misunderstood for Oatmeal makers is much more benign that being conflated with terrorists, the subjugation of women, and so on.
Here is Guilford Professor of Religion, Parveen Hasanali discussing the parallels and connections between Islam and Quakerism.
In his book, What’s
Right With Islam Is What’s Right With America, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf
speaks of a necessary shift coming within Islam, something akin to Vatican II
and the reformations within Judaism during the early 20th century.
This shift, he says, will be led by Muslims in the Western world (just as it was
with Judaism and Catholicism). This will strengthen American principles of free
speech, religious tolerance, and the separation of church and state, while
creating new openness within Islam, and integrating principles of democracy and
just economy. I wonder if American Quakers have something similar coming, a turning
that makes Friends’ theology and practice more plainly understood,
self-evident, and relevant in a new and profound way. Perhaps by coming into
better relationship with the non-Quaker world we can underscore the importance
of contemplation, simplicity, a personal relationship with the Divine, and
other Friendly values in American culture.
Other questions I wish to reflect on during my time at
ISNA:
What do Quakers have to learn from Muslims and vice-versa?
What are areas in which we may be able to work together?
What privilege do we as Quakers enjoy that our Muslim brothers and sisters lack? How can these privileges be put into the service of justice and equality for all?
As the most universalist of all the Abrahamic faiths, how does Islam identify what is at its center? On what grounds might someone be told they are not Muslim, though they may claim to be?
Similar to Quakerism, the process of recognizing wisdom and lifting up the equivalent of “ministry" and "ministers” is generally informal and non-hierarchical in the Islamic community. How is authority created? How are leaders identified? And lastly, how are they supported and held accountable?
The “Arab Spring” has truly changed the face of geo-politics, and this shift has been deeply informed by generational politics (large generations of unemployed young people, specifically) and the new technologies that younger generations are native to. How are Muslims in the United States dealing with generational politics and the influx of technologies that are changing the ways we connect with one another?
I welcome suggestions for questions to bring to the people and discussions at this event! Please post in the comments section below.
