Many members of various interfaith groups attended the event which featured acclaimed Muslim scholar Dr. Ali Mazrui as guest speaker. By holding the event, the group seeks to explore ways to mitigate the crisis in the Middle East and advance a pro-peace agenda.
The topic of Dr. Mazrui’s lecture was the impact of war on the relationship between Muslims and the United States.
Nine-Eleven signaled a significant shift in U.S. policy towards the Middle East characterized by the invasion of Afghanistan and later Iraq. Dr. Mazrui was keen to emphasize that the terrorists directed their attacks against symbols of economic, military and political power and not at churches or religious institutions.
He also argued that a distinction ought to be made between theological Islam (rules and rituals) and historical Islam (Muslim experience). By making this distinction, the Kenyan-born Oxford-educated doctor clearly drew the line between the faith of Islam and the actions of its followers. Notwithstanding, he warned that because the Muslim "ummah" or nation currently felt under siege, Muslims were in a reactive mode.
Comparing British attitudes to American ones towards their occupied subjects, Dr. Mazrui recalled an incident in British-occupied Kenya where 12 locals were flogged to death. "The death of 12 Kenyans caused uproar in the House of Commons because the British felt personally accountable," he said. "Over 600,000 dead Iraqis did not cause as much as a whimper in the Congress of the United States."
Following the lecture a lively panel discussion ensued. Reverend George Regis of All Saints Church in Pasadena said that one of the more destructive aspects of George Bush’s presidency was how he had claimed God’s blessing on the war. When Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward asked whether Bush Jr. had talked to his father Bush Sr. about going to war, he responded, "I have talked to one father, the heavenly father." This, the Reverend thought was a "terrible manifestation of Christianity."
Rabbi Leonard Beerman, founder of Leo Baeck Temple, spoke eloquently and candidly about the Jewish experience. "The anomaly of the American Jews," he said, "is the higher we have climbed in the economical flagpole, we have not become conservative in our political thinking." 88% of American Jews are opposed to the Iraq war, he maintained. American Jews have remained liberal politically but not when it comes to the question of Israel. "That is the question that is eating at the moral core of the Jewish people here in America and in Israel itself," he added.
Prominent American civil rights activist Connie Rice said that although she was terrified by organized religion, she felt in good company with the men of God she was with. "As a result of listening to the presentation and to my fellow panelists," she said earnestly, "it is very clear to me that at this time in history the only way to secure our joint safety as human beings is going to have to be through a synthesis of some peaceful theology that comes from all these faiths together."
Rice added that Muslims in this country were the only community who actually faced death as a result of trying to defend a vision of Islam that is modern and that can co-exist and pull the plug of annihilism that this country so greatly fears.
"This is just the beginning," she announced. "Out of it should come not just words and manifesto but human dynamic and interaction that showcases and lives the joint synergies of the best of these three faiths... the best that human beings can be, and counteract what unfortunately is the lowest common denominator that I so greatly fear."
The event was sponsored by the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Progressive Jewish Alliance, Progressive Christians Uniting, Islamic Center of Southern California, and others.
