CFC Blog #111: Ethical Crossovers

Many times that I am sitting outside on campus here at the University of Florida, someone or a small group of people come up to me with the mission to promote a certain theology or inspire me to attend religious services. Although my beliefs don't line up with theirs and I politely reject the offerings, I have noticed that neither of us ever immediately turn away from each other in the face of our recently-discovered differences. We continue to have conversations about things like kindness and doing good for others, volunteer work, and issues like poverty and homelessness. We embrace the overlap that does exist and enjoy this conversation pertaining to our shared values beneath the trees. Thank you Lauren for inspiring me to reflect more deeply on these personal experiences of mine. What a wonderful awareness to begin the week :)

- Amanda 

Ethical Crossovers

In an exercise of intentionally placing myself in uncomfortable situations, I am completing a “Faith and Leadership” certificate at my school here in London. There are many different faith systems and personal histories represented in our group of 20 students, including people who don’t prescribe to any faith system at all. I envisioned a group of people who would be mutually vulnerable in their beliefs and doubts – in theory, I thought, this is what it should look like if people are opting into an initiative like this.

And so far, the theory has upheld. And it’s given me a lot of hope.

I don’t think I am alone in feeling like the world is becoming increasingly polarized (this is amplified in the U.S., but I think it transcends those borders too). It has become a challenge to see past stereotypes perpetuated by media outlets and gossip as much as it has become a challenge to not immediately get defensive when someone pins you for something you don't see yourself as.

This week, we had a former Benedictine Monk/ now ordained priest in the Church of England come and speak to us about the Christian faith. Often times I see people talk about their faith (or really any belief they have, even if not religious or spiritual) from either the defensive or on the militaristic offensive of evangelizing. I was blown away how this man spoke about why he believed what he did calmly and logically (logically in the sense that he explained his internal thought process), yet still with a sense of passion and conviction, even in the things that cannot be scientifically proven. He seemed to preemptively address questions he knew were coming, while also speaking about how his faith had been shaped over his lifetime in ways that were deeply personal and meaningful to him. Students who were not Christian – even antagonistic to Christianity – listened with cocked heads and asked questions not to pin him into a corner, but instead asked from what seemed like a place of genuine curiosity and wonderment.

Towards the end of the seminar, someone asked a question about what it means to truly be an interfaith community. He said it comes down to looking at where there are ethical crossovers between belief systems  - and at their root, there are really so many. At the end of the day, we have more in common than you would think.