The Ties That Bond Us: Differences of Sacred Values in Interfaith Organizing
Broad-based community organizing (BBCO) is perhaps the most widely used form of political participation supported by U.S American religious institutions today. As organizing groups become more religiously diverse, however, so do the conceptions of sacred value that ground organizing in the first place. In today’s political climate in the U.S. what we hold most dear, those sacred values such as human life, a land, or a natural resource may seem to only further entrench us in our enclaves and threaten the solidarity of any constituency. Rather than focusing on the potential for solidarity in sacred values, organizing networks have marginalized them, doubling down on a strategy of building group solidarity through common issues rather than diverse religious ethics. This lecture explores a different strategy. Dr. Stauffer argues that people organize to protect and fight for what they hold most dear and by centering sacred values organizing networks can build deeper solidarity. Differences of sacred values, rather than aspects of political and religious life to be eschewed, offer a way to build deeper relational power for the work of religious, political, and economic democracy.
Date: 11 April 2024, 18:00 (Thursday, -1st week, Trinity 2024)
Venue: Venue to be announced
Speakers: Revd Dr Aaron Stauffer (Vanderbilt Divinity School), Prof Syed Atif Rizwan (Oxford Interfaith Forum)
Organisers: Dr Thea Gomelauri (Oxford Interfaith Forum), Oxford Interfaith Forum (Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: oxfordfaiths@gmail.com
Host: Oxford Interfaith Forum (Oxford)
Part of: Philosophy in Interfaith Contexts
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://oxfordinterfaithforum.org/thematic-international-interfaith-reading-groups/philosophy-in-interfaith-contexts/the-ties-that-bond-us-differences-of-sacred-values-in-interfaith-organizing/
Booking email: oxfordfaiths@gmail.com
Cost: n/a
Audience: Public
Editor: Thea Gomelauri