Christian-Muslim Relations in America Today
Christian-Muslim Relations
in America Today
An Interdisciplinary Symposium
Marquette University
27-29 March 2017
“Pope Francis calls on us to be in dialogue with religions, ‘to discover the profound truth of their mission in the midst of humanity, and to contribute to building peace and a network of respect and fraternity’…. Our…Christian-Muslim Relations Symposium is an ideal way for us to live the Pope’s words.”
Marquette President Dr. Michael Lovell
Monday, March 27, 2017
Alumni Memorial Union, Ballrooms AB
3.30-3.45p
Introduction: Dr. Richard C. Taylor, Professor, Department of Philosophy
Opening Remarks: Dr. Michael Lovell, President, Marquette University
Welcome: Dr. Richard Holz, Dean, Klingler College of Arts & Sciences
3.45-5.00
Dr. Ed Fallone, Marquette University Law School
“The Constitution and the Marketplace of Faith”
5.00-6.15
Dr. Risa Brooks, Marquette University Department of Political Science
“Extremism and Terrorist Violence in the United States Today”
6.15 Reception
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Alumni Memorial Union, Ballroom E
9.00-9.20a Refreshments
9.20-9.30 Introduction: Dr. Irfan A. Omar, Department of Theology
9:30-10:45 Session Chair: Dr. David B. Twetten, Department of Philosophy
Rev. Joseph Mueller, S.J., Marquette University Department of Theology
“Christian Muslim Relations According to the Second Vatican Council”
11:00-12.15 Session Chair: Dr. Cheryl Maranto, Department of Management,
College of Business Administration
Ms. Judi Longdin, Ecumenical & Interreligious Affairs, Archdiocese of Milwaukee
“Muslim-Catholic Women’s Dialogue: Lessons from the Past and Future Prospects”
2.00-3:15 Session Chair: Dr. Phillip C. Naylor, Department of History
Dr. Mark Swanson, Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago (LSTC)
“Engaging Others, Knowing Ourselves: ELCA Lutherans and Christian-Muslim Relations”
3:30-4:45 Session Chair: Dr. Cedric D. Burrows, Department of English
Chaplain Rabia Terri Harris, Community of Living Traditions, Stony Pt., NY
“Beyond Monoculture: Hard Questions for Muslims and Christians Working Together”
5.00-6.15 Session Chair: Dr. Giordana Poggioli-Kaftan, Department of Languages and Literatures
Mr. Othman Atta, Islamic Society of Milwaukee (ISM)
“Milwaukee Muslim Community’s Engagement in Christian-Muslim Relations”
6.15 Reception
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Raynor Library Conference Center
9.30-10.00a Refreshments
10.00-11:00 Prof. Richard C. Taylor, Department of Philosophy
“Aquinas and the Arabs”
Brett Yardley, Graduate Student, Department of Philosophy
Mark Schulz, Graduate Student, Department of Philosophy
Nathaniel Taylor, Graduate Student, Department of Philosophy
Jared Sutsko, Undergraduate, Theology
11.00-12n Prof. Phillip C. Naylor, Department of History
“Understudied Aspects of Islamicate Civilization: Byzantium and Islam”
Cameron Verbeke, Undergraduate, History
“The Impact of the Middle East on Western Music”
2.00-3.30 Prof. Enaya Othman, Department of Foreign Languages & Literature
“Muslim Women, Christian Contexts”
Rawan Oudeh, Undergraduate, Biological Sc. & Middle East Studies
“The Influence of socialization on intermarriage among Second Generation Muslim Women in Greater Milwaukee Area
Allie Bitz, Undergraduate, Economics, Philosophy, & Arabic
“The Role of Religious Spaces in Building and Strengthening an Islamic Sense of Community”
Nadia Malik, Undergraduate, Biomedical Sciences
“How Religion Can be a Blessing or a Burden in America Today?”
Audrey Lodes, Undergraduate, International Affairs & Arabic
“Beyond the Veil”
3.30-5.00 Prof. Irfan A. Omar, Department of Theology
“Christian-Muslim Relations in Milwaukee”
Kaitlyn Daly, Undergraduate, Nursing and Theology
“Interfaith Activities of the Educational Institutions in the Milwaukee Area and Youth Participation and Perspectives
Sundus Jaber, Undergraduate, Speech Pathology & Psychology
“Catholic Muslim Women’s Dialogue in Milwaukee: A Brief History”
Dianne Marshall, MACD, Department of Theology
“Catholic Muslim Women’s Dialogue in Milwaukee: Themes and Participants”
Caroline Redick, Graduate Student, Department of Theology
“Milwaukee Christian-Muslim Dialogue: History, Purpose, and Future”
Jonathan Owens, Graduate Student, Department of Theology
“Christian-Muslim Engagement in Milwaukee Since September 11, 2001”
5:00-6.30 Prof. Louise Cainkar, Department of Social & Cultural Sciences
“Countering Islamophobia: Student Reflections from MU ‘Islam Immersion’ Trip”
Stephanie Hood, Graduate Student, Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Thea Daguison, Undergraduate, Construction Engineering
Alexis Garcia, Undergraduate, Secondary Education/History
Claire Keyes, Undergraduate, Social Welfare & Justice/Psychology
Sponsored by the Mellon Fund of the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, the Simmons Religious Commitment Fund and the Office of Mission and Ministry.
Additional support provided by the Office of International Education (OIE) and Marquette University Student Government (MUSG)
Christian-Muslim Relations in America Today
An Interdisciplinary Symposium
ABSTRACTS
“The Constitution and the Marketplace of Faith”
Dr. Ed Fallone
Marquette University Law School
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution acts as a shield that protects a “marketplace of faith” within the borders of the United States from government interference. However, beyond the First Amendment, there is in fact a broader concept of “personhood” reflected throughout the Constitution that simply denies the very existence of any government power to dictate what people think or believe. The policies of the Trump Administration raise the question of whether it is possible for our government to act outside of our borders in ways that contravene the limits placed on its authority internally. Ultimately, the question that needs to be resolved is whether the Constitution of the United States is “borderless,” insofar as its denial of any government power to interfere in the marketplace of faith applies both inside and outside of our geographic borders.
“Extremism and Terrorist Violence in the United States Today”
Dr. Risa Brooks
Marquette University Department of Political Science
Terrorism has become an increasingly politicized subject in contemporary public debate in the United States. Yet, many Americans know little about patterns of terrorist violence in the country and are little informed about the nature of the actual challenge it poses. This presentation will provide some clarity about these issues. It will provide a definition of terrorist violence and offer a comprehensive review of the empirical record of who is committing acts of violence and what inspires them to do so. It will also explore some of the ways that misinformation about patterns of extremism and political violence contribute to polarization in the United States today.
“Christian-Muslim Relations according to the Second Vatican Council”
Rev. Joseph G. Mueller, S.J.
Marquette University Department of Theology
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) gathered thousands of Christian leaders in Rome to work on opening up the Catholic Church to the world around it and to give a new missionary impetus to that church. Post-Shoah guilt, the distress of Middle-Eastern Christians caught between Muslim populations and the new Jewish state, and the massive majority presence of ancient religions in Africa and Asia set the context in which the Council addressed Catholicism’s relations with Judaism, Islam, and other religions. In this context, the Council taught that salvation, in the Christian view of that reality, is possible for people in non-Christian religions, who might be predisposed to hearing the Christian message. It maintained that all religious practice should be free of coercive force from the state. Highlighting what Catholicism had in common with other religions, especially with Judaism and Islam, the Council declared that Christians owed them esteem and cooperation. It underlined that Christians should present their message to people from other religions so as to facilitate the latters’ choice to join Christianity. These positions on non-Christian religions, particularly the openness to what is good in them and the call to dialogue and to cooperate with them, continue to have importance today, and the character of that importance varies according as one or another religion is preponderant in a given society.
“Muslim-Catholic Women’s Dialogue: Lessons from the Past and Future Prospects”
Ms. Judi Longdin
Office of the Ecumenical & Interreligious Affairs
Archdiocese of Milwaukee
The Muslim-Catholic Women’s Dialogue began with the modest proposal to bring together Muslim and Catholic Women in a safe environment where they could feel free to share their faith and learn from one another. It quickly expanded to include social action, community wide education and regional engagement. This presentation will discuss how the dialogue developed, its influence on local and regional Muslim-Catholic and interfaith relations, lessons learned along the way and future prospects.
“Engaging Others, Knowing Ourselves: ELCA Lutherans and Christian-Muslim Relations”
Dr. Mark Swanson
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC)
After some remarks about the shape of the history of Christian-Muslim relations, with its burdens as well as its points of light and promise, this presentation will attempt to describe some experiences of one North American Christian denomination of the Reformation tradition, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, as it has moved from a community for whom “Christian-Muslim relations” was often understood as the distant concern of specialist missionaries to the everyday reality that it is today. Attention will be given to the sustaining motivations we in the ELCA have found for Christian-Muslim engagement; what we have learned theologically from it; and the challenges that we face in the present day. The title of this presentation is borrowed from a recent book sponsored by the ELCA (including its Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Muslim Relations): Carol Schersten LaHurd, ed., Engaging Others, Knowing Ourselves: A Lutheran Calling in a Multi-Religious World (Minneapolis: Lutheran University Press, 2016).
“Beyond Monoculture:
Real Context and Hard Questions for Muslims and Christians Working Together”
Chaplain Rabia Terri Harris
Community of Living Traditions, Stony Point, NY
Is either of our religions fit for the planet? If so, then how, and if not, then why not? In any case, what is to be done? In this presentation I argue that there are both theological and practical steps we could be taking together as people of faith who are concerned about the state of the world. Among the practical steps taken, I will introduce the ongoing experience of the ‘Community of Living Traditions’ at Stony Point Center, an Abrahamic residential community devoted to the study of nonviolence through the practice of hospitality, the pursuit of peace and justice, and the care of the earth.
“Milwaukee Muslim Community’s Engagement in Christian-Muslim Relations”
Mr. Othman Atta
The Islamic Society of Milwaukee (ISM)
Although relatively small, the Muslim community of Milwaukee has, for decades, been involved in interfaith dialogue and cooperative ventures with its Christian neighbors. First, starting in the late 1970’s, the Muslim community was involved in Muslim-Christian Dialogue with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee as its main partner. The dialogue group included Muslims and Christians from various denominations. Currently, the Islamic Society of Milwaukee (ISM) is involved in several dialogues including the Muslim Catholic Theological Dialogue. The ISM is also part of the Southeast Milwaukee Interfaith Covenant Community group, and is a regular participant in programs from neighboring churches (such as clothing drives, soup kitchens, etc.). The ISM also participates in dialogue activities involving students and young adults.
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