FAITH HOUSE Manhattan

Less Anti-theism, More Humanism

~ Greg Epstein serves as the Humanist Chaplain of Harvard University. He recently agreed to write his first book, Good Without God, for William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Epstein was the primary organizer of “The New Humanism,” an international conference in honor of the 30th Humanist Chaplaincy of Harvard University, which drew one of the largest and most diverse audiences of any Humanist gathering in North American history. He blogs for Newsweek magazine and The Washington Post, and his work as a Humanist rabbi and Chaplain has been featured by National Public Radio, BBC Radio, Newsweek, The Boston Globe, The Jewish Daily Forward, and more. 

Endorsement of Faith House Manhattan:

"Faith House Manhattan is a really intriguing idea, and quite possibly a necessary one. I would encourage my fellow Humanists, atheists, agnostics and the non-religious to check it out, and to consider getting involved. Samir Selmanovic should be commended for reaching out earnestly, in respect and friendship, to our community. We secularists and freethinkers should do the same to him and to theistically-oriented Christians, Muslims, Jews and other religious people everywhere. Global warming doesn’t care what we believe or disbelieve about a god, and that’s just one of the many dangers that may doom us if we can’t figure out how to work together and care about one another despite differences. I’m hopeful this project can help build common ground and enable us to learn from one another in New York City and beyond."

Following post is adapted for Faith House by Greg Epstein, originally posted on On Faith, an online conversation about religion facilitated by Newsweek editor Jon Meacham and Washington Post journalist Sally Quinn.

Christopher Hitchens, author of the bestselling book God Is Not Great writes that "Religion is violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children."

In this quote, Sally and Jon identify a classic example of the way in which Christopher Hitchens’s approach to religion goes far beyond atheism and is really better understood as anti-theism.

While atheism is the lack of belief in any god, anti-theism means actively seeking out the worst aspects of faith in god and portraying them as representative of all religion. Anti-theism seeks to shame and embarrass people away from religion, browbeating them about the stupidity of belief in a bellicose god.

Anti-theists are often brilliant scientific thinkers. The ones I know tend to be passionately ethical in their personal lives. And as in the case of Hitchens, they can be ferociously eloquent. So why hasn’t anti-theism ever gained any real political or social power?

In most people’s minds, “religion” does not just stand merely for belief in an unseen, all-seeing deity with a baritone voice and a flowing beard. It stands for the things we hold most dear: family, tradition, and community. Memories of lost loved ones and consolation in the face of death. The organized pursuit of social justice. Not to mention music, art, architecture, and I could go on and on.

These things are all good. If you take a rhetorical blowtorch to religion without acknowledging the way it provides them, you get precisely what we have today: a nation and world where despite all our scientific knowledge, 80 to 90 percent of people say they are religious.

Now let me be perfectly clear about myself. I have zero belief in god, gods, goddesses, or any other manner of supernatural spirits. I affirm that there is one and only one world: this natural world. As far as any human being will ever know we get only one life, from womb to tomb.

My conviction that this life is all I have, however, is precisely why I don’t want to spend my days focused on the worst in religion. I prefer seeking the best in each of us. I am not an antitheist, and not simply an atheist, but a Humanist.

Humanism is the non-religious pursuit of all that is best in human life. It is based on reason, compassion, and creativity, and promotes loving and ethical connections with family, community, all human beings, and the natural world surrounding us. It is a progressive lifestance that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment, aspiring to the greater good of humanity.

Simply put, Humanism is being good and living well without god. And that is no small matter, because it is hard to live a good life in this world regardless of what you believe. We human beings are all so imperfect—we are hurt so easily and too quick to hurt others. We get sick and die just when it is least fair and most painful.

Ultimately, we are social animals. We need each other. Our lives are best when we take part in an ethical community that extends far beyond ourselves; for thousands of years, religion has been the best human institution at providing that community. So if all we stand for is anti-theism, we will get nowhere, even though Hitchens is right -- partially -- about the evil religion can do.

Today, the billion of us around the world who are not religious can and must join together to create a humanistic alternative to religion. And let us do so while honoring the good in those of our religious sisters and brothers who are trying to live well according to a belief system we cannot share.

For a Humanist, it is not enough to simply rage, rage against the dying of the enlightenment. Let us get involved in Humanism and make this world, though it will never be perfect, a better place.

Links to explore:

The New Humanism
American Humanist Association
Institute for Humanist Studies
International Humanist and Ethical Union

While atheism is the lack of belief in any god, anti-theism means actively seeking out the worst aspects of faith in god and portraying them as representative of all religion. Anti-theism seeks to shame and embarrass people away from religion, browbeating them about the stupidity of belief in a bellicose god.

Anti-theists are often brilliant scientific thinkers. The ones I know tend to be passionately ethical in their personal lives. And as in the case of Hitchens, they can be ferociously eloquent. So why hasn’t anti-theism ever gained any real political or social power?

In most people’s minds, “religion” does not just stand merely for belief in an unseen, all-seeing deity with a baritone voice and a flowing beard. It stands for the things we hold most dear: family, tradition, and community. Memories of lost loved ones and consolation in the face of death. The organized pursuit of social justice. Not to mention music, art, architecture, and I could go on and on.

Reflections: The World We Want to Live In

~ by Rathi Raja

Rathi Raja is president of the Arsha Vedanta Center of Long Island and executive director of the Young Indian Culture Group. She has been featured extensively on PBS in their “Asian Indians in America” and in The New York Times. She is an active member of the Herricks Clergy Coalition, an interfaith group based in New Hyde Park, engaging in educating through programs in the community, schools and colleges. She has been a Hindu spiritual teacher for the past 17 years, sharing the teachings of the Vedic vision with youth and adults. She is an ethnographer and storyteller of Asian Indian heritage, and a founding trustee of Young Indian Culture Group, Inc. Rathi served as a panel member of the New York State Council on the Arts for 2003-2005, was named the Long Island Traditions’ Honoree of the Year, and received the Nassau County Community Service Award in 2000. (Recently we had the privilege of sitting down with this effervescent woman, and found her views most insightful and energizing as we continue to make plans for Faith House. Here is her contribution to our blog.)

Healing starts by knowing ourselves and then allowing the powers of desire and action to do their work. Inter-religious or inter-group dialogue without self-reflection takes us nowhere. That vital first step of knowing oneself facilitates every other progress. Without self-awareness, a dialogue is a nonstarter.

Our relationships should be far more than tolerant, but a true spirit of tolerance matters. Not one based on law, for that will be short lived, rather one rooted in compassion. Tolerance without compassion is barren.

Every religious tradition builds on the cornerstone of compassion, because this is a key aspect of what it means to be truly human. No matter what our religious tradition, we can find compassion there. It may be buried under layers of distrust, anxiety, hatred, anger and jealousy, but when we rediscover this compassion, tolerance will happen!

And out of these two—tolerance and compassion—will come trust in each other. Lack of trust is the most eroding thing in our lives today, at a personal level, in our families, community, and country. Without getting that trust back, we will never know how to speak of and live out peace.

Faith that comes from restored trust, when expressed through our personal lives or organized religion, can douse the flames of hatred and anger, and dismantle the rigid boundaries we sometimes erect for self-protection. In contrast, a faith that encourages its followers to draw rigid boundaries will lead to deepening distrust and fear, and a sense of hopelessness about ever being able to establish peaceful human relationships.

We spend so much of the world’s resources on biological diseases, but what about the spread of hatred? Unfortunately distrust and hatred spread as fast as biological diseases and are most destructive in terms of loss of human life. Like restoring human health, restoring human trust will bring with it unmeasurable good.

What is key in this process of rediscovery of what we can be? Forgiveness! We must forgive ourselves first, for our past fears and for our hatreds. And we must forgive others for the pain and sorrow they have caused us. We must forgive society for our collective ignorance and forgive history for its wide swath of painful, violent events. Justice without forgiveness is an empty vessel that will not quench our thirst or heal our social ills.

The only antidote for this epidemic is to realize there is a larger force, a bigger order to this universe, and to take the journey forward to re-learn to trust this grace for all and this order. That is how people change—true trust, one person at a time. And when these individuals find one another and become friends, the movement can multiply exponentially.

Just as our physical environment needs immediate attention if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences, our social and religious environments need immediate attention if we are to quell the spirit of violence, mistrust, and hatred engulfing so many areas of our world. The path away from the brink begins with the steps of self-exploration, compassion, forgiveness, and trust. These are the essential healing qualities we must share with every person we meet.

Thank you for Faith House dream. Your enthusiasm and openness is based on strength and a desire to reach beyond the tried, tested and failed sequence of steps. You are curious and will surely discover that people are waiting for that spark to know they have nothing to fear, only something to gain!

Count me in friends!

________________________________________________

Truth is one: sages call it by different names
It is the one Sun who reflects in all the ponds;
It is the one water which slakes the thirst of all;
It is the one air which sustains all life;
It is the one fire which shines in all houses;
Colors of the cows may be different, but the milk is white;
Systems of Faith may be different but God is One.
As the rain dropping from the sky finds its way towards the ocean,
So the prayers offered in all faiths reach the One God, who is supreme.

    —Rig Veda

Introduction to Muslim Spirituality: The Sufi Way

SUFISM MAY BE POWERFUL ANTIDOTE TO ISLAMIC EXTREMISM

(an article by Jane Lampman, staff writer of the CSM, Dec 5, 2007)

Images of Islam have pervaded the news media in recent years, but one aspect of the faith has gotten little attention – Islamic spirituality. Yet thousands in America and millions in the Muslim world have embarked on the spiritual path called Sufism, or the Sufi way. Some see its appeal as the most promising hope for countering the rise of extremism in Islam.

In recent weeks, celebrations in cities on several continents have marked the "International Year of Rumi." Sept. 30 was the 800th anniversary of the birth of Muslim mystic Jelaluddin Rumi, who is a towering figure in Sufi literature and, paradoxically, the bestselling poet in the United States over the past decade.

. . .

to continue reading the article click HERE (Thank you Sylvia for the link!)

What Is Jewish Renewal Movement (Part 2)

~ by Marcia Prager

NOTE: to read Part 1 of this article click HERE

In a deep way, Jewish Renewal is built on the idea that we live in a transformative moment in time, in which a new paradigm for spiritual life is being developed. Jewish Renewal draws heavily on the thought of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, which is a loving critique of the limitations of traditional Rabbinic  Judaism and a call to continue the ongoing renewal of Jewish life in our time, as the Talmudic rabbis did in theirs.

Jewish Renewal actively seeks a relationship with God as the immanent reality that sources and suffuses all creation, and can call to us from beyond creation as well. This changes how we view the earth, the human race, the Jewish people, the relationship of human beings to the rest of creation – everything.

Jewish Renewal is neither "halakhic" (a word usually translated as Jewish Law, but which more literally means "walking the walk") nor anti-halakhic but "neo-halakhic." Just as Rabbinic Judaism involved transcending the halakhah of Temple sacrifice, so Jewish Renewal seeks to go beyond the limitations of traditional Rabbinic Judaism to forge a new halakhah in which Judaism is conscious of its place in an interconnected world. This new halakhah, for instance, includes expansion of the practice of kashrut to include ecological and ethical  criteria, a new exploration of the concept of work as it applies to both the personal and societal Shabbat, and re-examination of intimacy and intimate relationships.

Jewish Renewal has long been committed to a fully egalitarian approach to Jewish life and welcomes the public and creative input of those who were  traditionally excluded from the process of forming the Jewish tradition.

In Jewish Renewal:

- women and men are fully equal and participatory in shaping the future of Judaism;

- those who have often been marginalized in Jewish life are welcomed and honored;

- we are committed to evolving a Jewish path accessible to all who seek to explore and learn;  we welcome all who awakened to spirituality within Jewish tradition and all who experienced that awakening while traveling other paths;

- there is respect for and often learning from other spiritual paths (e.g., Buddhism, Sufi, etc.);

- music, movement, chant, meditation, dance, and drama are encouraged as ways of connecting with God & Torah;

- our gatherings for prayer and celebration are lively,  participatory and engaging of mind and heart; we approach God most often in a circle, because we find we can amplify our prayers through each other's supportive presence;

- we desire to embody wisdom rather than etherealize or intellectualize it;

- we strive to personally sense God as suffusing the world with Divinity;

- we seek to heal the earth and society through seeking peace, justice, and ecological wholeness; we engage in Tikkun Olam, the healing of brokenness in the world through mitzvot and acts of caring.

- we are committed to a deep love of Israel, striving to realize our vision of peace between the children of Isaac and the children of Ishmael in the promised land of our ancestors.

Jewish Renewal is "maximalist" about Judaism – that is, Jewish spiritual practice is undertaken joyously and Jewish values are applied in many down-to-earth life dimensions (food, money, sex, health, politics, etc.) rather than restricted to prayer, holidays, or Torah study.

ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal is a national organization that came into existence to develop,  encourage and promote outreach focused on Jewish renewal. ALEPH is the umbrella for many exciting Jewish renewal projects.

Here are some important Jewish Renewal websites to keep handy:

ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal
www.aleph.org

Elat Chayyim Jewish Spiritual Retreat Center
www.elatchayyim.org

OHaLaH: Agudat HaRabbanim L'Hithadshut HaYahadut - Association of Rabbis for
Jewish Renewal
www.ohalah.org

Rabbi Marcia Prager is Director and Dean of the ALEPH Ordination Programs and rabbi of the P'nai Or Jewish Renewal communities of Philadelphia PA, and and Princeton NJ. She is the author of The Path of Blessing and the P'nai Or Siddurim for Shabbat. Her work as a teacher of Jewish spiritual practice includes developing and co-directing the Davvenen Leadership Training Institute at Elat Chayyim, and teaching widely in Jewish and interfaith settings.

What Is Jewish Renewal Movement? (Part 1)

~ by Rabbi Marcia Prager who is Director and Dean of the ALEPH Ordination Programs and rabbi of the P'nai Or Jewish Renewal communities of Philadelphia PA, and and Princeton NJ. She is the author of The Path of Blessing and the P'nai Or Siddurim for Shabbat. Her work as a teacher of Jewish spiritual practice includes developing and co-directing the Davvenen Leadership Training Institute at Elat Chayyim, and teaching widely in Jewish and interfaith settings.

I learned about Faith House recently at the Innovation Conference in Ohio. After I introduced the Jewish Renewal movement to a largely Christian audience and led them in experiencing the dynamics of Jewish spirituality, Samir closed our meeting with a prayer and a sweet poem from a Palestinian poet, Naomi Shihab Nye. For those few moments, the whole family of Abraham became one. Later, during a conversation with Samir, I felt a clear resonance with the Faith House project in Manhattan. I believe it will give fresh hope to our largely polarized Abrahamic family as it slowly unfolds along with other renewal movements. This is my report on what is happening on the Jewish side of these developments. I invite you who are Christians and Muslims that are seeking renewal in your own faiths to teach the rest of us about God’s renewing presence in your midst.

Jewish Renewal is the ongoing creative project of a generation of Jews who are seeking to renew Judaism and bring its spiritual and ethical vitality into our lives and communities, and at the same time embrace a global vision of the role of all human beings and spiritual paths in the transformation of life on this precious planet. 

Jewish Renewal is dedicated to revealing Judaism's inner spirit and nurturing our spiritual lives. In Jewish renewal we draw significant inspiration from the legacy of Jewish mystical and Hassidic traditions, which is expressed in the cultivation of traditional practices such as meditation, chanting, and davvenen' [the uniquely Jewish prayer practice that blends light body- movement, modal chant and sacred text] and the study of traditional Kabbalistic and Hasidic sources to enhance both individual and communal practice.

Jewish Renewal as a movement seeks to transform and renew the kavvanah (spiritual intention) with which we practice a revitalized and joyous Judaism.

Jewish Renewal is a phenomenon, not a denomination. It resembles Reform Judaism in some ways, Reconstructionism in other ways, and even Orthodoxy – especially Hasidism – in some important ways. But it is not a formal denomination with an organized hierarchy or structure. Jewish Renewal is a "movement" in the sense of a wave in motion, a grassroots effort to discover and re-discover the modern meaning of Judaism as a profound, self and world-transformative spiritual practice.

Jewish-renewalists see "renewal" as a process reaching beyond denominational boundaries and institutional structures, more similar to the multi-centered civil-rights or women's movements than to contemporary denominations. This renewal process is happening in Jewish music, liturgy, midrash, education, politics . . . and in all kinds of synagogues as well as havurot (smaller, less formal constellations of Jewish community), and even in secular settings.

Jewish Renewal sees itself as transdenominational, a movement that transcends the boundaries of the various Jewish denominations. Its membership includes people who are active in the Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Orthodox worlds as well as many others whose only religious/spiritual affiliation is Renewal.

In a deep way, Jewish Renewal is built on the idea that we live in a
transformative moment in time, in which a new paradigm for spiritual life is being
developed.

. . .

Exciting?  Learn much more about Jewish Renewal next week in (Part 2)

My Discovery of Islamic Renewal (Part 2)

In the Part 1, Dr Mark Carr shared the story of his visit to Turkey with a group sponsored by the Gülen movement.  As a most welcome guest in several Muslim homes, he saw the healing power of being open to dialogue with Others of differing faith. What are the goals of the Gülen movement? Read on.

If I read things correctly, there is a foundation in Islam for engaging the Other in fruitful dialogue. Fethullah Gülen is leading many sincere Muslim people into a renewed (not new) emphasis of interfaith dialogue and peaceful coexistence. It is difficult to say how many people would consider themselves significantly influenced by his interpretation of Islam for our time. Suffice to say, however, there are millions who have been positively influenced. When asked by his supporters, what he would like them to do, his consistent answer is two-fold: build schools and engage in dialogue with Others.

As a result, those influenced by him have built and operate the equivalent of our K-12 schools in at least one hundred countries. They are not parochial, sectarian, Qur’an only schools. They are schools that follow the secular educational guidelines of the countries in which they are located. Organizational structure and oversight is in the hands of local people dedicated to Islam and the Gülen movement.

While touring Turkey I visited the city of Antalya, and found our local guide had been touched by the Gülen movement. A Muslim, raised in Bosnia with a Turkish mother, Lachman Kurt told us how he came to support this movement. In his ’30s and in the military in and around Sarajevo, Lachman had the duty to protect and translate for a small group of people from Turkey who had simply shown up on the borders of the city during the war. As he described the personal impressions this group made, he told of his own descent into the barbarian ways of fighting that swept the city and its people. He broke into tears as he described this small group of Gülen supporters. These dedicated Muslims proposed to build a K-12 school that would teach peace in war-torn Sarajevo. The influence of this little group teaching peace in their school grew in Lachman’s heart and in the community in which they served. They continue their work to this day.

Ibrahim Barlas, the leader of our trip, is now president of Pacifica Institute  which works in Southern California in support of the Gülen movement. Pacifica Institute, formerly known as Global Cultural Connections was established in 2003 with the express purpose of helping to “establish a better society where individuals love, respect, and accept each other as they are.” They sponsor conferences, panel discussions, public forums, and art performances in an effort to bring people together. While they are particularly supportive of enhancing interfaith dialogue, their main goal is to “serve their communities,” strengthen “civil society,” and promote the “development of human values.”

It has been true joy getting to know Ibrahim. He is a Kurd by ethnicity and a Turk in national pride. He is an international businessman who lived for years in Singapore where he married a local woman and started a family. Now he lives in Los Angeles and has a vivacious passion for sharing the beauty of Islam with Others. We also enjoy sharing Baklava together!

The Pacifica Institute is one of some fifteen associations of Gülen supporters in the U.S. and around the world. Despite the international reach of this civic movement and the vast numbers of those affected, there is no structural connections among the various groups and schools. Our trip, as well as seven others this summer involving about one hundred people, was sponsored by these people. We each paid our airfares, but the rest of the trip was paid for from the generosity of those who believe in this effort.

The sponsors were incredibly hospitable. We enjoyed many delicious meals in their homes and stayed one night in their homes as well. In each home visit we were given gifts from our hosts in an effort to share their delight of our visit. On one beautiful morning in the city of Izmir, we were hosted for breakfast by a group of local businessmen, supporters of Gülen and these interfaith dialogue trips. We shared stories around the breakfast table. One of them told the fable of the ant trying to put out a fire. When asked by another creature just what the ant thought he would be able to do to the fire with one single drop of water, the ant replied, “I am at least able to proclaim what side I am on.” The man telling the story, like the ant, wanted to be known as firmly planted on the side that advocates peace and tolerance in a global society that seems bent on cataclysm.

~ by Mark F. Carr whose love of earth and its physical beauty is surpassed only by an unquenchable desire for intellectual and emotional exploration of ideas. He loves his job as a director of the MA program in biomedical and clinical ethics for the faculty of religion, and Theological Co-Director for the Loma Linda University Center for Christian Bioethics in California. Mark has PhD in Religious Ethics from Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia. He is married to Colette and has two children, Tyler (19), and Melissa (16).

My Discovery of Islamic Renewal (Part 1)

~ by Mark F. Carr whose love of earth and its physical beauty is surpassed only by an unquenchable desire for intellectual and emotional exploration of ideas. He loves his job as a director of the MA program in biomedical and clinical ethics for the faculty of religion, and Theological Co-Director for the Loma Linda University Center for Christian Bioethics in California. Mark has PhD in Religious Ethics from Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia. He is married to Colette and has two children, Tyler (19), and Melissa (16).

The apartment was modest for a family of such material wealth.  However, I saw something on the credenza that gave the impression they had traveled to Sydney, Australia. I asked if they had frequent opportunities to travel. Without hesitation the father spoke of seven of the world’s great cities where he had taken his family, in part because he felt they needed to learn of Others and the way they live.

Dinner was delightful, but at one point I embarrassed myself when I burst out laughing. In the middle of the conversation around the dinner table, his phone rang. Not uncommon these days, regardless of time or place, to be interrupted by a cell phone. What struck me was the ring tone, “Oh Susanna!” Here we were in Antalya, Turkey, having dinner with a Muslim family and the reach of another culture came right into the house and interrupted our dinner conversation.

During my visit to Turkey with a group sponsored by the Gülen movement I realized that no one, it seems, at any place on the globe today, can escape the reality of the interplay of culture and religion. Nor do we want to avoid it—at least most of us.  For bioethics as an academic discipline and clinical skill consulting in difficult decision making, we must pay attention to the radical new context in which we live. For those of us engaged in education and healthcare, our cloistered sectarian ways are a vestige of the past. But are we prepared for the new mix of faith and culture into which we step in our work?

In my experience of conversion to Christianity, I was taught, appropriately, an apologetic approach to all Others. While at the University of Virginia for my doctoral studies in religious ethics, I sat in the class of Abdulaziz Sachedina, professor of Islamic theology and ethics, a devout Shi’ite Muslim with whom I bonded, in part because of his belief and encouragement for the idea that God is involved in the lives of all human beings. While sitting in his class listening to his portrayal of Islamic theology, I found myself exhausted, tired of sifting all he said through the apologetic sieve of my interfaith training. Not that it wasn’t informative and enjoyable comparing and contrasting my faith with this Other. But I just couldn’t keep up the pace of this sifting process. While in class I decided to hear what my teacher felt was important to learn about Islamic theology and ethics. It was a turning point in my interaction with the Other. It was the end of an era for me; the end of the idea that the end goal of all interaction with Others was to convince them to join my Christian faith and community.

It was also the beginning of a time when I could find satisfaction in dialogue that simply brought understanding. I was finally able to discard the opinion of one of my Seminary instructors: “If the person you are visiting is not open and moving toward a positive decision to join our church, stop wasting your time and move on to someone that is.” I understand that mindset, and do not condemn it. But in the current mix of faith and culture in the global society, I had to find a place short of that in which to rest, a place where I felt sure of having made a positive contribution to the Other and our mutual society. Should the Other find joy in my belief in Jesus that would be wonderful!  But it is okay if they do not.

One of the realities for those of us who seek interfaith dialogue and cooperation is that we have little encouragement from the history of our church. Yet currently there are many positive examples of formerly opposed religions working together for the positive benefit of our global community.

One example is Centura Healthcare in Colorado. This faith-based offering of healthcare is a cooperative effort of Roman Catholic and Seventh-day Adventist hospitals and their professional care providers. As the stewards of some twenty facilities in Colorado, they looked across the gulf that separated them and realized that if they did not work together to find a positive financial way forward, they would fail and have to close their doors. They formed a central administrative office for all of their facilities. In this central office they named executive vice-presidents for “mission and ministry.” In each case, these vice-presidents cared for their side of things and continued working closely with each other. I’ve been privileged to work for them in educational sessions for their ethics committees and concerns.

Another fine example is Faith House Manhattan. I have little doubt that those of us encouraged by the mission of Faith House Manhattan will find ready reference with the supporters of Fethullah Gülen’s teachings. Although Gülen movement is just a small part of the emerging Islamic renewal movement rumbling in the background across the globe, it is an excellent place to start learning about the contours of what is to come. A good place to be introduced to Imam Gülen is a website that posts many of his essays and talks: www.fgulen.org. As I understand the nature of his work, he is focused less on writing books and more on prayer and teaching.

(to be continued, Part 2 next week)

Check out:

Books by Abdulaziz Sachedina
Books by Fethullah Gülen