Why would an explicitly Christian university go out of its way to bring Muslim and Jewish scholars to its campus to teach entire courses and interact every day with students?
That鈥檚 what is happening at 草莓社区.
鈥淚nteracting with people of other faiths builds friendship and understanding 鈥� something we sorely need in this world,鈥� says , PhD, director of , 鈥渁nd interfaith dialogue strengthens our own faith.鈥�
This semester a Muslim professor from Iran is teaching 鈥淚slamic Spirituality鈥� and a Jewish rabbi from New York City is teaching 鈥淪piritual Writers and Spiritual Writings.鈥� Both of them join an instructor from to lead a class on 鈥淐omparative Monotheisms: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.鈥�
Focusing on the three Abrahamic religions
EMU is focusing on the three world religions that worship one God 鈥� Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Over the centuries Christians, Muslims and Jews have fought each other savagely. Millions have died in the name of their God. But the three religions share a common birthplace 鈭� the Middle East 鈭� and a common ancestor, Abraham. And they have enjoyed periods of peaceful co-existence.
CIE鈥檚 logo features Abraham鈥檚 tent, which the center 鈥榮 website describes as 鈥渙pen to the four winds, a safe place of hospitality towards strangers and engagement with them.鈥�
鈥淚n today鈥檚 world and in a pluralistic society like ours, it is important that our students learn to know people of other faiths,鈥� says Martin. 鈥淥ur students will be going to places 鈭� both in the United States and abroad 鈭� where they will encounter people of other faiths.鈥�
Martin says the historic differences between the three religions are exacerbated today by the Israel-Palestine conflict, the rise of Muslim extremism, and the United States鈥� counter-attacks after the terrorist attack on New York City in 2001. He decries the prevalence of 鈥淚slamophobia鈥� in the United States.
Course co-taught by Muslim, Jewish and Christian scholars
CIE, which is funded entirely by foundation grants and private donations, offers several courses each semester by visiting scholars. The team-taught 鈥淐omparative Monotheisms鈥� course this semester draws two dozen undergraduates, graduate students, seminarians and members of the community.
鈥淪tudents ask all sorts of questions, from theology to history, ancient or contemporary,鈥� says the Muslim scholar, Amir Akrami, PhD. 鈥淗owever, the focus of our work is on prayer, scripture, reasoning, politics and action.鈥�
Akrami, who has taught at EMU since September 2012, is from the in Tehran. He was a regular participant in the internationally respected Building Bridges Seminars around the world.
Akrami鈥檚 wife, Sheida Shakouri Rad, PhD, joined him at EMU a year ago. She is teaching Farsi, the language of Iran, this semester. Last semester she taught 鈥淲omen in Islam.鈥� She is on leave from the University of Tehran, where she has been a professor for 15 years.
The two other professors for the comparative-monotheism course are Niles Goldstein, an award-winning author and ordained Reform Jewish rabbi, and Reuben Shank, an EMU adjunct faculty member who is Mennonite and studying for a doctorate in religion at the University of Virginia.
Films, interfaith peace camp, lessons from disaster work
The fifth CIE course this semester is 鈥淭he Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Film,鈥� taught by Bob Bersson, PhD, a retired professor of art and art history at James Madison University in Harrisonburg and founder of the local .
In addition to bringing scholars to campus, CIE offers an each summer, which includes trips to the local mosque and synagogue. Other events have been a Wednesday film series and Thursday forums.
CIE鈥檚 director likes the way that interfaith engagement sometimes emerges from work on the ground at disaster sites, both at home and abroad. 鈥淧eople of different faiths find themselves working together,鈥� says Martin, 鈥渁nd they get to know each other.鈥�
One result of Martin鈥檚 interest is an upcoming speech at EMU on how 鈥渄isasters blow down fences and make good neighbors鈥� by a federal government official, who is a former Mennonite pastor. He is David Myers, and he will speak on March 20. He is a senior advisor at the in Washington D.C. and works in faith-based and neighborhood partnerships for both the White House and the .
Martin experienced the connection between disaster relief and interfaith engagement first hand when a major earthquake hit Iran in 1990, killing more than 35,000 people. He worked at the time as program director for central and southern Asia for , a North American relief, development, and peacebuilding agency that works in about 60 countries.
MCC exchange welcomed in Iran
MCC wanted to respond to a country considered a U.S. enemy, 鈥渢o demonstrate that we would respond to human need wherever it occurred, irrespective of the religion and politics of the country,鈥� Martin says. But the United States and Iran had no diplomatic relations (and still don鈥檛), making travel to Iran difficult, and MCC wondered whether the hardline Muslim government would welcome an overtly Christian aid agency.
鈥淚t turned out, however, that Iran was more comfortable with an explicitly Christian organization than with secular agencies,鈥� says Martin. 鈥淭hey understand the motivation that comes from religious faith.鈥� So MCC was able to establish a long-term relationship with the Iranian Red Crescent Society on disaster relief and reconstruction as well as assistance to refugees.
The post-earthquake work then led to interfaith dialogue in the form of student exchanges and Muslim-Christian conferences every two to three years. The sixth conference will be held this May in Qom, an Iranian city known for being a center of Islamic scholarship. Martin will attend, along with some EMU students.
Under the direction of Dr. Ed Martin
Martin was a program director with MCC from 1989 to 2007, based at its headquarters in Akron, Pa. After that he went to the , an international Quaker organization, in Philadelphia. He helped build connections between Iranian institutions and the United States and advocated for better relations between the two countries.
He started his career as an MCC volunteer in Nepal, where he met his future wife, Kathy Yoder. Later he worked at the in Sri Lanka. A graduate of Stanford University, Martin earned graduate degrees at Cornell University 鈥� a master鈥檚 in public administration and a doctorate in agricultural economics.
The vision for interfaith engagement at EMU grew out of conversations among faculty, resulting in a formal proposal to the Board of Trustees, which it approved in 2009. The center opened later that year in the seminary building, with seminary professor Gerald Shenk, PhD, as part-time director. Martin was appointed director in 2010, serving part time and commuting from Pennsylvania.
Near and far support
CIE鈥檚 largest donor to date is the of New York City, which has given $355,000 over three years.
A major local supporter is John Fairfield, PhD, co-founder of the Rosetta Stone language-software company and professor emeritus of computer science at James Madison University. 鈥淚 enjoy getting inside the head of someone who thinks very differently than I do,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like travel to a foreign country 鈭� makes you notice things in your own country you鈥檇 taken for granted.鈥�
He adds: 鈥淐IE is where we Mennonites meet other kinds of Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, liberals, conservatives and all kinds of people who challenge our understanding, because we value their critique and insights. And of course we think we鈥檝e got something to offer, and we challenge them pretty deeply too. They seem to appreciate it. We need each other.鈥�
And that鈥檚 why EMU goes out of its way to bring people of different faiths together.