Rosa Parks Internship

This is a piece written for the Elmhurst College student Newspaper, The Leader. It is about my experiences thus far this year as Rosa Parks Intern for Social Justice with the Niebuhr Center at Elmhurst College— a center at EC that “encourages social engagement among faith-motivated individuals from diverse religious backgrounds through a variety of programs and activities.”

Several years ago, the NAACP had a marketing campaign that included posters reading “Rosa Parks was nobody special…until she took a stand by keeping her seat.” Unpacking that, Rosa Parks knew of injustices happening around race, but she was a bystander, a normal, everyday person– until she decided not to be. Each year, the Niebuhr Center guides two students to work on our campus around Social Justice work- the students are supported as interns, one focusing on international issues (named the “Gandhi” intern) and one focusing on domestic issues (the “Rosa Parks” intern). In accepting the Rosa Parks Internship with the Niebuhr Center this past year, I had two goals: I wanted to learn more about violence in American Indian Communities and produce academic research around this topic so I can begin to take action around the issue, but I also wanted to make sure conversation and action around social justice issues continued to be in the fabric of our college culture. I wanted to help my peers understand that we are all “nobody special”…until we take a stand in something we believe in.

Yes, commitment to social justice and upholding of values is part of our college’s mission and values statements, as well as the strategic plan, but how are those values shown in the day-to-day of student life? I’ve noticed, in my 2.5 years at Elmhurst that there is a deep passion for truly making change in the world and defying the power structures that perpetuate injustice, but this passion only comes to the surface- to visible action in a small handful of students. I challenge you: what do you care about? What could you speak out about to make the world a more whole and just place?

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Women’s Panel Discussion on Faith

Yesterday evening, three Elmhurst alumnae who work in ministry—Sr. Lisa Polega ’91, Syeda Kamran ’01 and Rev. Kelly Stone ’03— spoke as a part of a panel exploring dimensions of interfaith cooperation in their work. This panel was a part of Women’s History Month goings on and the “Still Speaking: Conversations on Faith” series of the College, the conversation was moderated by Associate Chaplain Michelle Hughes.

Two attendees were kind enough to briefly reflect on the event

“As a passionate “lobbyist” for social and environmental issues, there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty as I am catapulted into the world. While I came here as a follower of Christ in true faith, I now live ambiguously in terms of spirituality. Hearing these three passionate women of different [faiths] talk about uncertain, but fulfilling paths is very encouraging. Passion leads where passion fits for each crazy individual, even if a specific faith in God doesn’t exist to cling to.” -Sara Schroeder (a leader of the campus Amnesty International chapter who has blogged previously for EC interfaith)

“It’s great to see that three powerful women from three different faith backgrounds can come together an talk about how their faith, as well as others, are important in their lives. Also, hearing that Elmhurst College was an inspiration for their desire to promote interfaith [cooperation], as it has been for me is awesome” -Emily Mohney (a photographer for the college newspaper The Leader, and the College)

In America, We are Better Together

If you are a regular attendee of Spiritual Life Council (5pm Wednesdays in the Blume Board Room!), you may remember that last fall, in solidarity with the Cordoba Center/Park 51, we made posters that read “In America, We are Better Together” and other similar slogans to post around campus.

If you’re active in the Interfaith world, you probably heard about the nasty protests of ICNA in Orange County last month (if you didn’t, it’s on the blog). So obviously the world hasn’t gotten the message that we are better together yet.

This Wednesday at 4:30 before SLC (which is 5pm Wednesday in the Blume Board Room!) we are writing letters of support for some of those pained by the OC protests, letters of rebuke to those politicians who spoke at the protests, letters to our local politicians asking them to support the richness of a religiously diverse society when the opportunities come up with regard to faith based and neighborhood partnerships and anti-hate crime legislation.  There will also be opportunities to encourage our own community to support interfaith work and multi-faith education by signing onto letters to members of the Education Department among other departments that can encourage diversity education.

I encourage you to come and reiterate your dedication to building a more whole community, not just here at EC, but in our larger community.

(Following the 4:30 letter writing, at 5pm, we will be meeting with Rev. Dr. Bernice Powell Jackson, of the World Council of Churches)

Essay Contest Announcement!

A message from Chaplain H Scott Matheney

This is an open letter from our chaplain that is appearing in several forms to our campus community in the coming days. You can email Rev. Matheney at hscottm[at]elmhurst[dot]edu.

Today at Spiritual Life Council, we discussed similar issues as Scott references in this post (with regard to Islamophobia and religiously-based hate). Next week we will be writing letters to the politicians involved in the protest, as well as in support of several select Muslim communities. This is the first of several actions around these issues, as part of a national movement spurred by the urgency brought forward by the Orange County protests (as mentioned in my last post)

To our Elmhurst College community,

Today, March 10^th, our House of Representatives in Wash. D.C. will open hearing on home land security,  home-grown terrorist activity and Islam.

The implications for this review are far-reaching and have attracted international media coverage. As a college community rooted deeply in core values that inform our life as an academic institution, I raise this moment as one that needs your attention intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. We are not naive to the climate of fear and hate that permeates our society coupled with so much misinformation. This college has committed itself to a different course of actions then stigmatizing a particular people or religion, and so, as these hearing shall commence this day, we are each responsible to listen and speak with a degree of civility born of wisdom, not ignorance. I am especially concerned for my Muslim brothers and sisters who shall bear this scrutiny. There will be many big questions asked of all of us in these hearings and it is imperative that this college of learners and scholars find moments to reflect with the critical rigor that demands our best now. Indeed, the times that these hearings begin serve as a spring board for our critical reflections and sustained actions.

Dialogue and response to Islamophobia in America– At Home

Tonight at Spiritual Life Council at Elmhurst, we will be pursuing a discussion of the hateful protests in Orange County and combatantence of Islamophbia in America.

We will be watching the following video and reading different perspectives on the subject (including biographies of the speakers at the conference and the protest).

My friend Chris Stedman put it well as he said “If you still believe that interfaith work isn’t imperative to the health of our society, or that anti-Muslim bias is not an epidemic, please watch this video of a protest of a Muslim relief organization’s benefit dinner for a battered women’s shelter … Hearing them chant “U.S.A.” alongside “terrorist,” “go home,” and “Muhammad was a pervert” made me more ashamed to be an American than I have ever felt before.”

 

Please join us at 5pm in the Blume Board room for this discussion and planning of response.

Blog for International Women’s Day

Today’s blog post is in honor of International Women’s Day 2011. You can follow IWD blogging on Twitter #BlogforIWD.

I had the honor, during an internship last summer at Arise Chicago of working with many people of faith who chose to use their faith to engage society on many occasions- but the most gratifying experiences came from, my coordination of the Labor in the Pulpits/on the Bimah/in the Minbar program.

Working with the speaker and congregation participants for the program opened my eyes as to why the two communities must work with each other. Meeting with the volunteer speakers, I heard stories of how the individuals feel representing the laborer is God’s work, and how it is not only good for the economy to have a middle class, but also good for the community. I experienced the passion when one speaker, Ramon, shared that as a child he learned in church “do unto others”, so even though he is an elected official now, he is vocal about his support of the laborer.

You have probably heard of Wisconsin’s recent issues targeting public sector workers through union busting and Governor Walker’s rejection of collective bargaining rights. Dana Goldstein recently pointed out a sexist side to these attacks that I had not considered— she makes the point that many of the professions being targeted by the busting are predominantly female professions. “About 80 percent of American teachers, for example, are female; at the elementary school level, nearly 90 percent are women. Nursing is 95 percent female. Nationwide, the majority of public sector union members, represented by AFSCME and other groups, are women”, Goldstein points out.

Recognizing a Call to Yell: Sara

Today’s guest post is by Sara Schroeder, an Elmhurst Senior studying Religious Studies, Philosophy, Sociology, and Art. Sara is president of Amnesty International at Elmhurst College, passionate about the environment as a human rights issue. In this post she calls us to step out of our comfort zones and speak out for respect of our global community.

‘Someone has to step up, otherwise no one will.’ The statement is hardly profound in itself, but undeniably true.

I live my life the way I do knowing that if I don’t wake up and do something about the news I hear or the things that upset me – no one else will. Waiting for someone else to call an ambulance for the pedestrian who just got hit by a car is dangerous: no one may call. If everyone assumes someone else is going to “handle” a situation, no one steps up. This phenomenon is more officially known as the bystander effect or Genovese syndrome. This is the problem with our privileged society.

I don’t consider myself solely capable to fight for human and environmental justice; I just can’t live my life without getting involved. I have too many resources and opportunities to either pretend that nothing is happening by not paying attention to world news, or knowing about these issues and thinking, “that’s too bad.”

Thinking About Faith: Reuben

Today’s guest post comes from Reuben Metreger, an Elmhurst ’08 grad, now a Juris Doctor Candidate at Wayne State University Law School. Reuben is an activist with Amnesty International for human rights for all. In this post Reuben shares why he believes what he does and a bit about why he believes people need to come together from different faiths around human rights. Reuben blogs about human rights at http://human-rights-for-all.blogspot.com/.

I always knew that there was more than one right way to be good. I always believed that more than one religion could be correct. Being born to a Jewish father and a Christian mother I could not accept that half of my family was going to hell, or even that half was on the wrong path, while the other half was secured a place in paradise merely for picking the right faith.

Even as a child I knew that if Jesus is the son of GOD, and all that is right and good in the world, then he could not possibly condemn half of my family and all of my friends that were not born into the same religion that I was, to an afterlife of torture and misery.

If heaven is a paradise for the faithful, a reward for living a good life and helping others, then how could it be absent atheists, Muslims, Jewish, Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans etc… Even when I was little I knew that this could not be correct, because heaven just could not be a real reward if it was absent the people that I loved and cared about.

This is when I developed my Jesus is a teddy-bear philosophy. I decided that if Jesus was really the son of GOD, full of love and everything good as I had been taught, then surely he would forgive everyone, and heaven would be filled with all people, not just Christians. I imagined that when a person died they would learn the truth about GOD and faith. I pictured people of all faiths, or even without faith, going to heaven to meet Jesus and learning the truth that there is more than one path to goodness. For me the path was through Jesus, but I imagined that Jesus would appear different to people that believed different things. To some I imagined Jesus would resemble a large fluffy teddy-bear that would merely hug them and offer love, comfort, and forgiveness.

After all, if you are dead and your life on Earth is over, then surely you no longer need to worry about who was right and who was wrong. Surely you would be forgiven your faults and shown a better way. The afterlife would surely be more than just the answer to questions of faith, but also the solution to all of our problems. There could be no conflicts in heaven. Surely Jesus did not need to prove to you that he was right by condemning you for being wrong. That would not be perfection, that would just be petty.

As an adult I found Unitarian Universalism. UU’s believe in:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part
• Belief that Jesus is a teddy-bear

OK I threw in the last line. UUs do not tell you what to believe, but you can see how it fits.

To me, heaven on Earth is working for justice and equality for everyone. It is what drives me and what I feel called to do. It is what led me to law school, Amnesty International, and social justice.

Reuben and fellow students at Elmhurst, protesting recent immigration laws

A letter to the Elmhurst College Community

Notes: a version of this letter has been written as a letter to the editor of The Leader. Also, please feel free to comment and answer the questions I pose.

An Open Letter To The Campus Community:

This letter is a response to the religiously motivated graffiti found on October 8 in a Daniels Hall bathroom stall. Last week, the campus received an email from Campus Security reporting that a staff member found a threatening message directed toward Muslims.

Upon hearing about this incident, I was hurt- not just that another act of hate has been committed against our Elmhurst College community- but that there has been no reaction on campus. No buzz in the library café, no mention in around the fireplace, no talk among friends about our reactions. I fear our campus is becoming apathetic to hate. Each time someone attacks a part of our community we rise up with support and push back against ignorance and hate.

But I fear we are losing energy. How does this happen? How can we cease standing up for our values- as individuals and as a community?

We all have the power to affect the social climate of our community. It may feel sometimes as though the haters hold all the power, but let us remember that those of us who see power in respect and affirmation are greater in number and have just as much passion for our convictions. It is the responsibility of us all to continue to condemn incidents such as these and to fight every day to educate each other about the importance of community and respect for diversity and pluralism.

I have seen our community come together for positive social change: I had the great honor this year of working with more than 540 first year students during orientation to pack nearly 120,000 meals to provide nutrition and hope to people around the world who are suffer from malnutrition. While packing these meals, I had a wonderful conversation with a fellow student, Savannah. Savannah shared her incredible dream of returning to a community like the one in which she grew up and making it a safer place for all of the people who live there. Savannah showed me that day, in her each word and the passion in her voice, that safe community and acceptance of all people is something she values. And I do not think Savannah is the only one in our community who shares this value.

So, I ask you, fellow members of the Elmhurst College community: what do we value and how do we communicate that? Are we a community which values ignorance and hate? Or are we a community which values affirmation of plural identities and respect? What if we act on our values in our daily lives? What would our community look like then?