WASHINGTON (ABP) — Sharing, responsibility and teamwork figured prominently into Eboo Patel's speech June 27 at the New American Foundation.
Patel, executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core, wasn't teaching proper playground etiquette; he was discussing the importance of establishing religious pluralism instead of religious totalitarianism.
The New American Foundation is a non-profit, self-described “post-partisan” policy institute based in Washington. Patel spoke there to promote his new book, Acts of Faith.
Traditionally, totalitarianism and pluralism are associated with government regimes. Totalitarian regimes rule with absolute control, and pluralist regimes allow minority groups to participate fully in the dominant society while maintaining their cultural differences.
But Patel applied the terms to religion instead of governmental regimes: “The 21st century will be the century of faith line — a line that does not divide Christians and Muslims or Hindus and Jews but religious pluralists and religious totalitarians.”
In his presentation, Patel made a point to specify that groups with conservative or exclusive theologies are not necessarily totalitarians. His strictly narrow definition of religious totalitarianism is based on the question, “If this person or group gets power will they attempt to suffocate others?”
Patel said Baptists, Mormons, Muslims and others who want to convert people can be pluralists.
“What I find most striking is people who have a very strong evangelical personal credo, but are very strong public pluralists,” Patel said.
Patel said he borrowed the term “faith line” from the late civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, who talked about a “color line.” Where Du Bois's line divided race, Patel's line divides religion. Patel said he hopes religious groups will avoid the temptation to deal with other religions through totalitarian mindsets but instead find a centrality similar to what Martin Luther King Jr. sought for different races.
“The better angles of the 20th century were not about one race over another race,” Patel said. “They were about recognizing the centrality of race in people's lives and realizing the need for building societies where people of different races can live together.”
Patel said most people in the world stand on the faith line — very few people are genuine religious totalitarians, and too few people stand on the side of religious pluralism. Patel said the vast majority of people on the faith line lean toward pluralist ideals, but a movement can pull them fully across the line.
Patel said the Interfaith Youth Core will be the catalyst for that movement.
“The structures that we build have to not only focus on young people but have young people as its leaders,” Patel said.
According to its Web site, the Core has involved 10,300 youth in its programs over the past seven years. Its mission is to “build a movement that encourages religious young people to strengthen their religious identities, foster inter-religious understanding and cooperate to serve the common good.”
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