[Applause]
why are you here some people they give
you an eye into that question
differently than we can’t be good
neighbors to one another or love one
another or do good in the world together
I want to tell your story about why I
think we can Reverend dr. Martin Luther
King Jr’s probably the best-known civil
rights leader in the u.s. history while
still in the seminary in 1950 he heard a
sermon on Mahatma Gandhi who used the
Hindu commitment to non-violence as a
tactic to help free India from British
colonial rule but what if King a
Christian had heard about Gandhi a Hindu
in closed his ears instead nine years
later he traveled to India to learn more
about Mahatma Gandhi’s work and to bring
and strengthen that active civil
nonviolent resistance back to the u.s.
to work on racial equality here Rabbi
Abraham Joshua Heschel was born in
Poland in 1910 his sister and mother
were killed in bombings and the
raishin camps of the Nazi regime no one
would have faulted heschel for being
swallowed in his own leaf in January
1963 he and King met for the first time
in Chicago at the conference on race and
religion though they had never spoken
before both preached from the Prophet
Amos that justice roll down like waters
and righteousness like a mighty stream
that day was the first day of a
beautiful lifelong friendship but what
if has shown a Jewish man not born in
this country had decided that he
wouldn’t get involved with the civil
rights movement because it wasn’t
primarily about his community instead as
a scholar and a practitioner of Judaism
he was inspired by the Hebrew prophets
and worked for the liberation of all
oppressed people you’ve probably heard
King’s I have a dream speech it was
given in August 1963 at the march on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom the
March was the brainchild of a Phillip
Randolph an expert labor rights
organizer he was also an atheist who
believed deeply in the dignity of every
human being which started to work for
labor rights and for civil rights so
what if Randolph and Edith had believed
the hype during the presidential
campaign that ultimately elected our
first Catholic president John F Kennedy
people have said that was a Catholic in
the White House they would listen only
to the Pope and not think for themselves
but this atheist
rejected those fears and when he joined
King to talk to President Kennedy after
the march on Washington they urged him
together to fight for strong words of a
right stone the march was co-organized
by way they are dressed in a quaker and
their
for a pacifist Rustin was also opened
the game something which was not at all
widely accepted during his lifetime
what if Rustin knowing that he had King
differed on their thoughts about
sexuality had not extended his skills to
the movement without him that atonic
march on Washington
with more than 200,000 black white and
brown people may not have happened
Pauli Murray was born in 1910 near the
end of her life she became the first
african-american female Episcopal priest
in the US and everything in between is
incredible Polly was born and a Pauline
but she’s questioned her gender identity
her whole life so chose to go by Kali
when she graduated from college as a
black woman in 1933 she was rejected
from law school because of her race
though subsequently it headed to Harvard
on a prestigious fellowship the
fellowship was withdrawn when they
learned that Kali was short for Ana
Pauline that she was a woman
eventually attending law school she
graduated the top of her class she
started and led many civil rights
organizations
she was an intellectual giant and many
of her writings were cited in Supreme
Court cases she was a contemporary of
Rustin and Randolph and King so what if
Polly had said I’m not going to work
with anyone who disregards part of my
identity instead of that she put it
front and center she coined the term
Jane crow to talk about what she and
many were experiencing a
time these multiple layers of
discrimination as a woman as a black
person as a worker in 1963 King was a
Nobel Peace Prize laureate
three years later he nominated the
Buddhist Vietnamese monk tick not Han
for the award tick not Han had written
to King and asked how he could fight for
the rights of his people at home when
the US was at war in Vietnam though they
were incredibly different technical and
connected his own Buddhist commitment to
the value of every living creature to
King’s own sense of the secret in
Christianity upon giving his August 1967
speech beyond Vietnam and the historic
Baptist Riverside Church King honored
technicon work and spoke with a pro core
and anti-war policy when he started that
speech with a nod to Rabbi Abraham dr.
Robert Abraham Heschel who is sitting
right next to him in that Baptist Church
supporting the anti-war movement and so
we come full circle these people all
believe different things about what
happens when you die and more than that
they had Rustin was kept out of public
leadership of the civil rights movement
because many in charge felt that he as
an openly gay man would be a distraction
from the work they were doing Pauli
Murray was highly critical of the male
leadership of the civil rights movement
for relying on women
as organizers but not bringing them to
the table conversations around policy
and public leadership but their
differences and their disagreements
didn’t stop them from listening to and
learning from one another and if it had
a country made with different days so
why do I care about this so much I grew
up in a really loving American Baptist
Church when I was in high school I
watched people that I loved and
respected you can to disagree on some
important issues I came to learn that
not everyone felt welcome in my church
and I knew I didn’t want to be a part of
an organization that hurt people I’m up
so I asked myself a fundamental question
can people who disagree on some issues
still build healthy community together
for me finding interfaith cooperation
work was a beautiful model the dialogue
the listening working together on shared
values on projects that we care about in
our common world so I want to introduce
you to the Interfaith triangle a concept
developed by the Interfaith youth core
based on social science research about
what influences people each side of the
triangle is mutually reinforcing if you
have a relationship with someone of
another religious or secular worldview
you’re more likely to have a positive
attitude about that tradition or
identity it doesn’t mean you believe it
that you agree with the teachings but
that you’re open to learning when you
have a positive attitude about another
tradition you’re more likely to build
appreciative knowledge about that
tradition for instance today is the
first day of Ramadan the holy month
honoring the revelation of the Quran to
the Prophet Muhammad in this country and
around the world for the next month 1.6
billion Muslims will fast
sunup to sundown celebrate together in
community focus on charity and prayer
and serving the poor with that kind of
appreciative knowledge you’re more
likely to want to build relationships
with people who hold that identity and
so it goes now this cycle works both in
the positive and the negative so a few
notes about the Interfaith triangle we
all experience information bias right it
means that we’re more likely to listen
for and hear information that reinforces
a story that we know what we believe
that too works in the positive and the
negative for a lot of different
identities which means if someone has a
negative story plays in their mind about
a religious tradition then sometimes
information and facts own enough to
break through that story which reminds
me where you get your information
matters all religious traditions have
many interpretations so there is no
single authoritative source but if
you’re just getting started
the pluralism project from Harvard
University is a great place to start so
when those facts and information which
are always important aren’t enough it’s
humans that change Fricks in mind have a
conversation with someone you know about
their own religious or secular identity
what is beautiful what do they disagree
with are you ready to share about your
own identity no matter how complicated
it is if there’s a religious community
near you call ahead ask if you can come
and observe a worship service or
celebration or just come to learn more
just like the work of civil rights
continues interfaith leadership is as
important today as ever when we see the
rise and hate
and religious minorities the violence on
black and brown bottoms in our country
our inability to talk around a across
political difference I’m glad that
interfaith leadership continues people
like Valerie Carr who follows the Sikh
tradition and works for civil rights
across the country
orhan maki a muslim american who works
with in her own community and across
communities to build more equitable
relationships would you fit on this map
could you fit on this map in his final
book King said this is the great new
problem of mankind we have inherited a
great world house in which we have to
live together black and white Eastern
Westerners Gentile and Jew Catholic and
Protestant Muslim and Hindu and I would
add atheist agnostic seeker humanist
because we can never again little part
we must learn somehow to live with each
other in peace you have the ability to
learn to build relationships to
encounter difference in disagreement
with respect and openness and it is not
an exaggeration to say that the health
of our schools the health of our
communities and help our country rely on
your doing that thank you
[Applause]
why are you here some people they give
you an eye into that question
differently than we can’t be good
neighbors to one another or love one
another or do good in the world together
I want to tell your story about why I
think we can Reverend dr. Martin Luther
King Jr’s probably the best-known civil
rights leader in the u.s. history while
still in the seminary in 1950 he heard a
sermon on Mahatma Gandhi who used the
Hindu commitment to non-violence as a
tactic to help free India from British
colonial rule but what if King a
Christian had heard about Gandhi a Hindu
in closed his ears instead nine years
later he traveled to India to learn more
about Mahatma Gandhi’s work and to bring
and strengthen that active civil
nonviolent resistance back to the u.s.
to work on racial equality here Rabbi
Abraham Joshua Heschel was born in
Poland in 1910 his sister and mother
were killed in bombings and the
raishin camps of the Nazi regime no one
would have faulted heschel for being
swallowed in his own leaf in January
1963 he and King met for the first time
in Chicago at the conference on race and
religion though they had never spoken
before both preached from the Prophet
Amos that justice roll down like waters
and righteousness like a mighty stream
that day was the first day of a
beautiful lifelong friendship but what
if has shown a Jewish man not born in
this country had decided that he
wouldn’t get involved with the civil
rights movement because it wasn’t
primarily about his community instead as
a scholar and a practitioner of Judaism
he was inspired by the Hebrew prophets
and worked for the liberation of all
oppressed people you’ve probably heard
King’s I have a dream speech it was
given in August 1963 at the march on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom the
March was the brainchild of a Phillip
Randolph an expert labor rights
organizer he was also an atheist who
believed deeply in the dignity of every
human being which started to work for
labor rights and for civil rights so
what if Randolph and Edith had believed
the hype during the presidential
campaign that ultimately elected our
first Catholic president John F Kennedy
people have said that was a Catholic in
the White House they would listen only
to the Pope and not think for themselves
but this atheist
rejected those fears and when he joined
King to talk to President Kennedy after
the march on Washington they urged him
together to fight for strong words of a
right stone the march was co-organized
by way they are dressed in a quaker and
their
for a pacifist Rustin was also opened
the game something which was not at all
widely accepted during his lifetime
what if Rustin knowing that he had King
differed on their thoughts about
sexuality had not extended his skills to
the movement without him that atonic
march on Washington
with more than 200,000 black white and
brown people may not have happened
Pauli Murray was born in 1910 near the
end of her life she became the first
african-american female Episcopal priest
in the US and everything in between is
incredible Polly was born and a Pauline
but she’s questioned her gender identity
her whole life so chose to go by Kali
when she graduated from college as a
black woman in 1933 she was rejected
from law school because of her race
though subsequently it headed to Harvard
on a prestigious fellowship the
fellowship was withdrawn when they
learned that Kali was short for Ana
Pauline that she was a woman
eventually attending law school she
graduated the top of her class she
started and led many civil rights
organizations
she was an intellectual giant and many
of her writings were cited in Supreme
Court cases she was a contemporary of
Rustin and Randolph and King so what if
Polly had said I’m not going to work
with anyone who disregards part of my
identity instead of that she put it
front and center she coined the term
Jane crow to talk about what she and
many were experiencing a
time these multiple layers of
discrimination as a woman as a black
person as a worker in 1963 King was a
Nobel Peace Prize laureate
three years later he nominated the
Buddhist Vietnamese monk tick not Han
for the award tick not Han had written
to King and asked how he could fight for
the rights of his people at home when
the US was at war in Vietnam though they
were incredibly different technical and
connected his own Buddhist commitment to
the value of every living creature to
King’s own sense of the secret in
Christianity upon giving his August 1967
speech beyond Vietnam and the historic
Baptist Riverside Church King honored
technicon work and spoke with a pro core
and anti-war policy when he started that
speech with a nod to Rabbi Abraham dr.
Robert Abraham Heschel who is sitting
right next to him in that Baptist Church
supporting the anti-war movement and so
we come full circle these people all
believe different things about what
happens when you die and more than that
they had Rustin was kept out of public
leadership of the civil rights movement
because many in charge felt that he as
an openly gay man would be a distraction
from the work they were doing Pauli
Murray was highly critical of the male
leadership of the civil rights movement
for relying on women
as organizers but not bringing them to
the table conversations around policy
and public leadership but their
differences and their disagreements
didn’t stop them from listening to and
learning from one another and if it had
a country made with different days so
why do I care about this so much I grew
up in a really loving American Baptist
Church when I was in high school I
watched people that I loved and
respected you can to disagree on some
important issues I came to learn that
not everyone felt welcome in my church
and I knew I didn’t want to be a part of
an organization that hurt people I’m up
so I asked myself a fundamental question
can people who disagree on some issues
still build healthy community together
for me finding interfaith cooperation
work was a beautiful model the dialogue
the listening working together on shared
values on projects that we care about in
our common world so I want to introduce
you to the Interfaith triangle a concept
developed by the Interfaith youth core
based on social science research about
what influences people each side of the
triangle is mutually reinforcing if you
have a relationship with someone of
another religious or secular worldview
you’re more likely to have a positive
attitude about that tradition or
identity it doesn’t mean you believe it
that you agree with the teachings but
that you’re open to learning when you
have a positive attitude about another
tradition you’re more likely to build
appreciative knowledge about that
tradition for instance today is the
first day of Ramadan the holy month
honoring the revelation of the Quran to
the Prophet Muhammad in this country and
around the world for the next month 1.6
billion Muslims will fast
sunup to sundown celebrate together in
community focus on charity and prayer
and serving the poor with that kind of
appreciative knowledge you’re more
likely to want to build relationships
with people who hold that identity and
so it goes now this cycle works both in
the positive and the negative so a few
notes about the Interfaith triangle we
all experience information bias right it
means that we’re more likely to listen
for and hear information that reinforces
a story that we know what we believe
that too works in the positive and the
negative for a lot of different
identities which means if someone has a
negative story plays in their mind about
a religious tradition then sometimes
information and facts own enough to
break through that story which reminds
me where you get your information
matters all religious traditions have
many interpretations so there is no
single authoritative source but if
you’re just getting started
the pluralism project from Harvard
University is a great place to start so
when those facts and information which
are always important aren’t enough it’s
humans that change Fricks in mind have a
conversation with someone you know about
their own religious or secular identity
what is beautiful what do they disagree
with are you ready to share about your
own identity no matter how complicated
it is if there’s a religious community
near you call ahead ask if you can come
and observe a worship service or
celebration or just come to learn more
just like the work of civil rights
continues interfaith leadership is as
important today as ever when we see the
rise and hate
and religious minorities the violence on
black and brown bottoms in our country
our inability to talk around a across
political difference I’m glad that
interfaith leadership continues people
like Valerie Carr who follows the Sikh
tradition and works for civil rights
across the country
orhan maki a muslim american who works
with in her own community and across
communities to build more equitable
relationships would you fit on this map
could you fit on this map in his final
book King said this is the great new
problem of mankind we have inherited a
great world house in which we have to
live together black and white Eastern
Westerners Gentile and Jew Catholic and
Protestant Muslim and Hindu and I would
add atheist agnostic seeker humanist
because we can never again little part
we must learn somehow to live with each
other in peace you have the ability to
learn to build relationships to
encounter difference in disagreement
with respect and openness and it is not
an exaggeration to say that the health
of our schools the health of our
communities and help our country rely on
your doing that thank you
[Applause]
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