What You Should Know About Religious and Spiritual Activism (Another CSJ Event Preview)

As we begin Critical Social Justice: Baltimore 365, Pope Francis’ timely recent visit to the U.S. – specifically his remarks to Congress, helps us explore the ways that religion, faith and spirituality can inform what we do in the public sphere, not just in our private lives.  Like so many religious figures and leaders have shown us – Mother Teresa, Saint Francis of Assisi, Mahatma Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Martin Luther King, Jr., Amma Mata Amritanandamayi, and Rev. Dr. Heber Brown, III to name just a few – religious faith, spirituality, belief systems and social justice activism are often interconnected.  For example, here are some of the social justice topics and calls to action shared by the Pope in his Congressional Address:

Anti-Violence, Anti-Hatred and Dangers of Polarization

“But there is another temptation which we must especially guard against: the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or, if you will, the righteous and sinners. The contemporary world, with its open wounds which affect so many of our brothers and sisters, demands that we confront every form of polarization which would divide it into these two camps…”

“To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place. That is something which you, as a people, reject…Our response must instead be one of hope and healing, of peace and justice.”

Defense of Liberty, Human Rights and Justice

“A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty as Lincoln did, when it fosters a culture which enables people to dream of full rights for all their brothers and sisters as Martin Luther King sought to do, when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.”

Sustainability and Environmental Activism

“I call for a courageous and responsible effort to ‘redirect our steps’, and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity. I am convinced that we can make a difference…”

See the full transcript of Pope Francis’ remarks to Congress on Sept. 24, 2015 here.

All of this and more will be explored further in our Oct. 22^nd Critical Social Justice event, From Belief to Action: An Interfaith Dialogue.  This moderated roundtable discussion features religious and spiritual leaders engaged in social justice activism in Baltimore followed by a facilitated audience conversation. Read on to learn more about our invited panelists:

Cara Behneman, Director of UMBC Hillel and Chair of the UMBC Religious Council 

Cara Behneman, originally from southern Maryland, has lived in Baltimore for the past 7 years while working with UMBC Hillel.  She is passionate about bringing together different faith communities and has spearheaded interfaith dialogues here on campus.

Rev. Dr. Brad Braxton, Senior Pastor, The Open Church of Baltimore

Dr. Brad Braxton is the Founding Senior Pastor of The Open Church in Baltimore, Maryland.  His publications have explored how religion can sponsor either injustice or positive social transformation.  His lectures and sermons have addressed topics such as racial reconciliation, social justice activism, interfaith dialogue, and collaborative economic partnerships with developing countries.

Ashley Bryner, Senior Druid of CedarLight Grove, ADF and Member of the UMBC Religious Council

Ashley is the current Senior Druid of CedarLight Grove, ADF, and has been heavily involved in community projects there for seven years. She has organized and taken part in projects relating to building tolerance in a spiritual setting, demystifying Paganism/Druidry to the general public, environmental activism, raised funding to support local charities ranging from women’s shelters and homeless vets to homeless animals and wildlife sanctuaries.

Asma Inge-Hanif, Executive Director of Muslimat Al Nisaa, INC

Responding to the stigmas associated with violence and rape within the community, in 2007 Asma Hanif opened her H.O.M.E. to shelter homeless Muslim women and children as well as Muslim women victims of Domestic Violence. She was the 2006 & 2013 recipient of “Community Service Award” for Social Activism and the 2007 recipient of the Freedom Foundation’s Humanitarian Award.

Historic and present day race and class-based inequities plaguing Baltimore show us now more than ever that there is a need for our personal faith and belief systems to uplift where, with whom and how we live publically.  Freddie Gray’s killing and the subsequent Baltimore Uprising didn’t happen in a vacuum as this week’s Baltimore 101: Why Baltimore Matters kickoff session by Dr. Jodi Kelber-Kaye illustrates.  With the help of our panelists, we hope to learn, dialogue and expand our knowledge and skills for engaging in faith and belief system-based activism and social change making in and beyond Baltimore by:

• exploring how we work in and on behalf of our communities across social identities like gender, race, socioeconomic class, national origin, spirituality/religion, and educational status;
• naming and revealing the ways our privileged and marginalized identities show up in how and when we act on our beliefs;
• reflecting on the role of spiritual and religious institutions during the past and current civil rights movements; and
• unpacking the meaning of justice and equality from a diverse range of spiritual and religious perspectives.

This event is free and open to the public.  All are invited to participate in Critical Social Justice: Baltimore 365, Oct. 19-23. For a complete list of the week’s events, visit critsocjustice.wordpress.com.

Productive Discomfort

One thing I think we need to see and hear more of is people feeling uncomfortable. While there is a time and a place for the principle of “safe space” it has now become somewhat of a crutch to not have to face challenging issues. I will acknowledge that my introduction to this idea was through this concept of Brave Space (that is hyperlinked, so please check the article out). Last year’s theme for Critical Social Justice introduced this topic to the UMBC community and offered a social justice lens and I hope to take this a little further and throw a little Jewish spin on it as well.

In Judaism we have these things called Torah, Mishnah, and Talmud. Everything talked about in these three books is not always cut and dry. One of the things the Talmud specifically is known for is the debate that occurs between the different rabbis. Even several thousand years ago the rabbis knew that in order to grow you must be challenged. I remember talking with a colleague about studying texts and they said they missed the buzz of a Beit Midrash, a room where people study and struggle with text. Then, I wondered why have we become so content with making everyone pacified, instead of asking someone to acknowledge their bigotry and evolve.

We have begun to fall into a trap of believing that all spaces must be safe spaces. This is a very dangerous trap. This misuse of safe space weakens the understanding of where the need for a safe space came from. If left unchecked more and more people will feel ostracized and shamed any time they learn they offended someone. There is a similar issue with the idea of political correctness. It is a faulty attempt at trying to make people feel better by creating “appropriate language” to put people into boxes and not feel guilty about it. The problem here is that we are trying to equate someone’s identity with boxes and the tension that ensues is electric.

In Judaism we have this principle called lashon hara (evil tongue). What this basically means is that we are not to speak ill of another person. This principle does not differentiate rumors from the truth, you are to never speak ill of another person. At first this may seem as if we have to ignore the faults that others have. I disagree. I believe is actually charging us all to do our part in being investing in bettering our community by trying to strengthen all the members of it. By talking about someone behind their back we prevent them from having the opportunity to learn. No, not everyone wants to learn or better themselves, but some do. You might be surprised by the fact that some people have good intentions and just did not know how to express themselves. Do not let them become Elphaba, someone who unintentionally caused harm by attempting to do good. Someone who almost completely lost faith in acts of loving kindness.

The goal of most educational institutions is to produce graduates that will become productive members of society. In ancient Greek and Roman societies, being a productive member of society meant that you were involved in the public discourse. (I do acknowledge that these debates/political processes did prohibit certain groups from participating, namely women and slaves.) However there was such an emphasis placed on being a part of your community that there were consequences for something like not voting.

While I am not advocating for whipping those who chose not to exercise their right to vote, what I am saying is that we need to engage more in public discourse. Challenging systems that are not fair to others. Being okay with being uncomfortable because that is how we learn. Something the most important question to ask is not “how did this happen?”, it is “why did this happen?” Once we understand why, we can begin to challenge it and fix it.

To bring this topic home let’s look at Baltimore. Now more than ever we need to revel in our discomfort and tackle these issues in our community. In order to affect change we have to take this discomfort we feel and create an opportunity for productivity. This practice will allow us to rebuild our community from the inside, to tackle the discrimination and oppression that exists in our community. The theme for Critical Social Justice this year, Baltimore 365, aims to do just that. We hope that by bringing in people that are doing this valuable work year round we can keep this conversation elevated in all our lives and keep you inspired you for action. 

Adapted from: Musings by Joe