The Bigger Calling
by Frank Fredericks,IFYC,Chicago.Submitted by adrienne on April 28, 2014
Recently,
I had the blessing to speak on an interfaith panel at St. John’s
University, in Queens, New York. Having lived in Queens for five years
now, I’ve passed by the campus many times over the years. However, it
wasn’t until Amber from Interfaith Youth Core sent me the invite, as a
member of the IFYC Speaker’s Bureau, that I actually got to visit the
campus.
St John’s is an unusually vibrant campus. Never before have I visited a university that’s both dedicated to social justice, while also remaining deeply entrenched in its Catholic heritage. Many of the students come from the very communities they seek to serve, which gives it a certain practical realness to their social justice, rather than merely the abstract.
During the question and answers after the panel. One student, clearly disturbed by what I was saying, emphatically questioned, “but in the name of this safe space, are you asking to take what’s most important to me and just push it aside to play nice for others?”
It was a fair question. For those unfamiliar, creating a safe space means agreeing to standards of conversation that are inclusive and welcoming to others. Proselytizing, for instance, is highly discouraged. To me, this has always logically made sense, in the basic “I don’t want to be proselytized to by you, so I agree not to do the same.” However, in my own faith community of evangelical Christians, this has often been a difficult commitment to make. From his own Catholic perspective, he similarly felt that in engaging with religious others without advocating for what he believes is Truth would require him to inauthentically hide part of himself.
I pondered this issue for moment. I responded with this:
“I think it is sometimes easy for us to miss the bigger calling. Many of us feel compelled to believe and act a certain way by faith, but is that the only thing that’s important? Is it most important?
“Imagine that you believe that your faith tradition is explicitly against same sex couples. This is so important to you that you support laws that permit renters to discriminate against same sex couples in housing. Then one day you have neighbors who move in next door who are a same sex couple, which you also oppose, but ultimately can do nothing about. If, a week later, their apartment caught on fire, would you not help? Would you not do whatever you could to put out the fire and help your fellow humans?
“This is the challenge. No matter how you feel about this moral issue, no amount of disagreement warrants the dehumanization of another, whether based on moral convictions or religious identity. You don’t have to change your moral opinions, but should be religiously compelled to help them. That should be the bigger calling.
“And that is how we should work across faith communities. As long as there’s poverty, inequality, and violence in this world, we should be willing to recognize that our bigger calling is to work together on these challenges, not isolate ourselves in a way that impedes our potential for progress.”
It may not have been the best answer, and I’m sure those with a deeper theological understanding could provide more light. However, afterward the student came and spoke to me, and it was clear that he felt challenged in a positive way to explore the space of interfaith collaboration further. I have since reflected on this as a model to answer this tough question for those of more religiously conservative leanings. Remember that we may not agree, and it may at first seem difficult to step back from ourselves when we work together. But when we do, there’s no limit to how much God-inspired good we can do. Remember that we’re better together. Remember the bigger calling.
The content of this blog reflects the views of its author exclusively. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
St John’s is an unusually vibrant campus. Never before have I visited a university that’s both dedicated to social justice, while also remaining deeply entrenched in its Catholic heritage. Many of the students come from the very communities they seek to serve, which gives it a certain practical realness to their social justice, rather than merely the abstract.
During the question and answers after the panel. One student, clearly disturbed by what I was saying, emphatically questioned, “but in the name of this safe space, are you asking to take what’s most important to me and just push it aside to play nice for others?”
It was a fair question. For those unfamiliar, creating a safe space means agreeing to standards of conversation that are inclusive and welcoming to others. Proselytizing, for instance, is highly discouraged. To me, this has always logically made sense, in the basic “I don’t want to be proselytized to by you, so I agree not to do the same.” However, in my own faith community of evangelical Christians, this has often been a difficult commitment to make. From his own Catholic perspective, he similarly felt that in engaging with religious others without advocating for what he believes is Truth would require him to inauthentically hide part of himself.
I pondered this issue for moment. I responded with this:
“I think it is sometimes easy for us to miss the bigger calling. Many of us feel compelled to believe and act a certain way by faith, but is that the only thing that’s important? Is it most important?
“Imagine that you believe that your faith tradition is explicitly against same sex couples. This is so important to you that you support laws that permit renters to discriminate against same sex couples in housing. Then one day you have neighbors who move in next door who are a same sex couple, which you also oppose, but ultimately can do nothing about. If, a week later, their apartment caught on fire, would you not help? Would you not do whatever you could to put out the fire and help your fellow humans?
“This is the challenge. No matter how you feel about this moral issue, no amount of disagreement warrants the dehumanization of another, whether based on moral convictions or religious identity. You don’t have to change your moral opinions, but should be religiously compelled to help them. That should be the bigger calling.
“And that is how we should work across faith communities. As long as there’s poverty, inequality, and violence in this world, we should be willing to recognize that our bigger calling is to work together on these challenges, not isolate ourselves in a way that impedes our potential for progress.”
It may not have been the best answer, and I’m sure those with a deeper theological understanding could provide more light. However, afterward the student came and spoke to me, and it was clear that he felt challenged in a positive way to explore the space of interfaith collaboration further. I have since reflected on this as a model to answer this tough question for those of more religiously conservative leanings. Remember that we may not agree, and it may at first seem difficult to step back from ourselves when we work together. But when we do, there’s no limit to how much God-inspired good we can do. Remember that we’re better together. Remember the bigger calling.
The content of this blog reflects the views of its author exclusively. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
0 comments:
Post a Comment