With the Best of Intentions: Interreligious Missteps and Mistakes (Lucinda Mosher, Elinor Pierce, & Or Rose, editors) -- A Review
WITH THE BEST OF INTENTIONS: Interreligious Missteps and Mistakes. Edited by Lucinda Mosher, Elinor J. Pierce, and Or N. Rose. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2023. Xvii + 220 pages.
When we enter religious spaces different
from our own, knowing exactly how to behave is not always easy. We can make
mistakes even within our own communities, so when we cross religious boundaries,
life can be even more precarious. I know, I've been there. I may have said something
inappropriate or perhaps reached out to shake hands when such a gesture is not
appropriate. Of course, I'm not alone in having transgressed boundaries. That
doesn't make the mistakes any less problematic, but we can take solace in
knowing that such mistakes are a common occurrence. Therefore, in the interest
of mitigating the chances of making such mistakes, we would be well advised to be
open about our lack of knowledge when we cross boundaries. It is better to ask
questions ahead of time than make major mistakes. While mistakes will happen,
it’s important that we remain willing to reach across religious boundaries,
even as we always remain mindful of the cultural dynamics involved. Perhaps it
would be helpful to hear stories of people who made mistakes as they sought to reach
across religious boundaries with the best of intentions.
As we ponder the possibilities of
engaging in interreligious conversations, it is helpful to have resources that
address “interreligious missteps and mistakes” such as this collection
of essays titled With the Best of Intentions: Interreligious Missteps and
Mistakes. This book contains a collection of essays that address the
challenges we face as we engage in conversations and relationships with people
and communities whose faith traditions are different from our own. The editors
of the collection of essays present in this book are all committed
practitioners of interreligious work. Lucinda Mosher directs the Master of Arts
program in interreligious studies at Hartford International University for
Religion and Peace. Elinor Pierce is the research director for the Pluralism
Project at Harvard University, and Rabbi Or N. Rose is the founding director of
the Betty Ann Greenbaum Miller Center for Interreligious Learning and
Leadership at Hebrew Union College.
Part 1 is titled "First
Impressions" and it includes seven essays. The first essay, titled "Sweating
the Small Stuff: When Minor Missteps Have Major Impact," is a good place
to start. In this essay, Lexi Gewertz and Kathryn Lohre note that missteps can
create opportunities to cultivate spaces of grace, where learning takes place. Thus,
they write: “When our interreligious partners show us kindness and grace in
those mortifying moments, it can transform shame into humility” (p. 11). There
is an essay on names, with a focus on acknowledging the individual before us
by offering our names and inviting the other to do the same. Another essay deals
with failures in interreligious leadership. Aida Mansoor offers an important
essay titled “Always Ask,” which deals with the kinds of boundaries religions
set, such as hand-to-hand contact or offering the appropriate food. As we read these essays, we learn the
importance of asking questions and being prepared. Even when we know better, we
may fall short.
Part 2 is titled
"Presumptions," Here essays deal with a variety of presumptions that
we bring to the table. Essays include discussions of the nature of prayer and
whether it should be included in an interreligious event. The way interreligious
leadership is taught, such as the possibility that some things might be
off-limits, including certain spaces, such that they might be made hospitable. Or
a discussion of religious and racial equity by a white Buddhist, such that one
might be a religious minority and still have cultural/social privilege. In a
chapter on “avoiding assumptions in faith-based coalitions,” Rachel Mikva writes
about a rally for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice,” where a person
attended, supporting choice, but was offended by a song titled “An Acorn Is Not
a Tree,” since he didn’t distinguish between a fetus and a human, which was the
message of the song. This serves as a reminder that making bigger tents is not
always easy. One essay, written by a Muslim, addresses conversations that
included Christians who refrained from talking about Jesus, he spoke of the
importance of authenticity. Thus, Hussein Rashid writes: “Attempts to be overly
cautious for fear of offense, without consultation with our partners, keeps us
in the same place. We do not get to know one another, discover one another, and
engage with difference” (p. 67).
Part 3 is titled
"Conversations." Here the essayists explore difficult one-on-one
conversations they have experienced, and what they have learned. The essayists
reflect on how things might have gone differently and what they learned from
their experiences. Among the essays I’ll take note of Jeffery Long’s essay: “When
the Head Gets in the Way of the Heart: An Interreligious Conversation that Went
Wrong.” This essay deals with a
professor’s email conversations with a former student that went very wrong when
the former student challenged the professor’s faith (Hinduism), making false
claims, and more. He eventually followed guidance from campus security and cut
off the conversation. The question is when and where to have such conversations,
and how to conduct them. The key thing he learned is to lean into the heart
over the head.
When we turn to Part 4 we encounter
essayists dealing with the question of "Competing Values." It's
important to remember that different religious traditions view the world and
their place in it differently. Sometimes the values they hold dear compete with
those of others. One of the essays, for example, deals with the
Israel/Palestine issue, and this was before the current Israel-Gaza conflict.
These can be difficult and sticky points of departure. There is a story about
the creation of a Confucian Association at Boston University, which raised the
question of whether Confucianism is a religion and its connection to China. There
is an essay about when “coexistence wasn’t good enough,” that is when things
remain on the surface, such that traditions were treated as if they are
monolithic.
Finally, there is a series of eight
essays in Part 5 dealing with "Power Dynamics." Here the focus is on
experiences with structural oppression, including racism, sexism, and
colonialism to name a few. These essays remind us that mixed into our
conversations are often certain unexamined habits and expectations that must be
dealt with if there is to be a true relationship.
While these essays are not
exhaustive in scope, they provide the reader with helpful case studies for
interreligious leaders to draw from. Not every essay hits the same way, but all
are useful. While we are apt to make mistakes and missteps when we enter into
interreligious spaces, the good news is that if we're willing to enter those
spaces, learning and even forgiveness can take place. So, while you may (likely
will) make mistakes and missteps in your attempts to engage in interreligious
life, crossing religious boundaries is important. We can try to coexist, but
surely there is more to living in a pluralistic setting than tolerating each
other. While mistakes will be made, we can learn from them. The message then
is, that if you cross interreligious boundaries, you may make mistakes, but
it's possible to learn from mistakes. Not only will we learn from our mistakes,
but we are also likely to experience blessings as well.
With the Best of Intentions came
concurrently with another book from Orbis Books dealing with religious
pluralism and interreligious relationships. That book, Pluralism in Practice, contains case studies of living in a religiously pluralist
context. That book, authored by Elinor Pierce, one of the editors of this book,
would make a great pairing for groups and educational institutions studying religious
leadership. Such conversations and work are important, especially as parts of North
America (and European) are struggling to make sense of the growing religious
diversity. So, we’re seeing a backlash against immigrant communities whose
faith traditions are different from the traditional majorities. Having
resources like these two books can help us move beyond religious illiteracy to
true understanding.
Comments