by Eboo Patel
Pearl, Daniel, 12
Pelosi, Nancy, 53
pluralism: in America, xiii–xiv, xxv, xxviii–xxix, 12–15, 101; applied to religion (see religious pluralism); Bloomberg’s case for, 10–12; civil rights movement and, 17–19; distinction between diversity and, 70–71; embracing of, by Islamic leader, xvi–xvii; involving young people in interfaith work and, 70–71
Potok, Chaim, 159
Princeton Theological Seminary, 138
The Prophet (Muhammad), 7, 22, 147–49, 158, 166
Prothero, Stephen, 95
Putnam, Robert, 54, 74–75
al-Qaeda, 10, 164
Q conference, 56
Quakers, 13
Quindlen, Anna, 52
Qur’an, xviii, xix, xxvii, 49, 66, 147–49
Quraysh tribe, 148–49
Rabin, Yitzhak, 113, 114
Race Matters (West), 108
racism: civil rights movement and, 17–19; colleges’ efforts to take race seriously, 109–11; diversity training on college campuses, 107–8; Rodney King beating acquittal and aftermath, 108–10; progress made against, 68
Ramadan, xix, xx, xxi, 7, 8, 130, 147–49
Rediscovering God in America (Gingrich), 34
Religion of Peace? (Spencer), 163
religious diversity: anti-Muslim sentiment in America, xi, xxii–xxiii; articulating religious identity in a world of diversity, 127, 141–43; Cantwell Smith’s observations about, 137–38; Catholic Church’s respect for other religions, 36; and illustration of how people don’t know their own culture, 153–54; learning about and respecting others’ religions, 158–62; likelihood of negative attitudes with knowledge gap, 79–80, 86; looking for Christian language that addresses religious diversity, 124–27, 139–41; measuring, in America, 77; religious conflict issues in a Midwestern town, 129–32; social capital and, 74; teaching children about diversity of faith traditions, 154–56
religious freedom, 11–15, 34–35, 44, 131
religious identity, xiv, 17, 20, 113–14, 117–18, 141
Religious Literacy (Prothero), 95
religious pluralism: Cantwell Smith’s observations about, 135–37; Dalai Lama and, 92– 94; diversity vs. pluralism, 70–71; Evangelicals’ struggle regarding virtue in others’ religions, 134–35; future of, in America, 101; and Good Samaritan story, 143–45; IFYC’s advocacy of, 19, 70, 71; interfaith literacy in America and, 95–96; key leverage points, 80; King’s practice of interfaith cooperation, 149–52; moralistic therapeutic deism, 140, 141; politicians’ positions on, 35; religious communities vs. religious systems, 137–38; science of interfaith cooperation and, 86–87, 92–94; as part of Republican Party values, 35; theology of interfaith cooperation and, 145–49; and understanding difference, 159
religious prejudice: basis of success of anti-Muslims, 89; Bloomberg’s personal experience with, 21–22; Anders Breivik’s religiously motivated massacre in Norway, 163–64; against Catholics, 37–40, 46–47, 53–54; and Good Samaritan story meaning, 143–45; history of battles between pluralism and prejudice, 12–15; impact of relationships and knowledge on prejudice, 77–80, 86; and reaction to an Egyptian Christian family’s killing, 132–33; using Christian beliefs to justify religious bigotry, 146; using religious language to divide people, 133–34; view that religious prejudice is un-American, 68
Renewing American Leadership, 48
Republican Party: Evangelicals’ membership in, 49, 54; Suhail Khan’s membership in, 23–26, 35; percentage of members against Cordoba House, 9; Speaker’s support of Muslim practices, 27–29, 34
Roberts, Bob: advocacy of building relationships with Muslims, 60–62; early anti-Catholic education, 56–57; humanitarian work in Vietnam, 57–59
Robertson, Pat, 29
Romney, Mitt, 68
Rubenstein, Howard, 10
Rudolph, Eric, 114
Rumi (poet), 20
Sacks, Jonathan, 69
sacred ground concept, xxvii– xxviii
Sageman, Marc, 164
Santorum, Rick, 53–54
Save the Children, 89–90
Schlesinger, Arthur Jr., 37–40
Seixas, Moses, 14
seminaries: learning interfaith cooperation in, 140–47; religious conflict issues in a Midwestern town, 129–32; using religious language to divide people, 133–34
sexism, 68
Shama, Fatima: choice of Islam, 20–21; influenced by sociology of religion class, 6–7; position on mayor’s staff, 3–4, 8, 21, 22; upbringing, 5–6
Shane, Scott, 164
sharia law: about, 49–50; banking rules under, 34, 177–78n5; Jewish alarm over, 50; as seen by anti-Muslims, 31, 32, 177–78n5; state-level efforts to ban, xxiii, 32, 53
Sherman, Brad, 48
Smith, Al, 40
Smith, Benjamin, 114
Smith, Christian, 140
social capital, 74–76, 123
Sojourners, 56
Somali Muslims, 130
Sorensen, Theodore, 46
Soul Searching (Smith), 140
Southern Baptist Convention, 49
Spencer, Robert, 30, 89, 163
Stanton, Josh, 100
Statue of Liberty, 20
Stedman, Chris, 98–101
Sternin, Jerry, 89–90
Stuyvesant, Peter, 13
Switch (Heath and Heath), 89
Talking Points Memo, 31
Tateishi, John, 18
Taylor, Myron, 42
TED Prize, 69
That Strange Little Brown Man of India, Gandhi (Fisher), 151
This Week (news show), 65
Tironi, Eugenio, 102
Tocqueville, Alexis de, xxviii, 34
Toward a True Kinship of Faiths (Dalai Lama), 93, 96
Truman Commission on Higher Education, 126
Truth about the Protestant Situation in Spain, The, 43
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 38
United Nations, 68, 70
University of Illinois, 110–11
Ursuline Convent, 39
US Conference of Catholic Bishops, 43
Values Voter Summit, 32–33
Varshney, Ashutosh, 76
Wallace, David Foster, 153
Wallis, Jim, 56
Walzer, Michael, xiii
Waraqa, 148
Washington, George, 14, 15
West, Cornel, 108
What It Means to Be an American (Walzer), xiii
Whitman, Walt, xxviii, 18
Who Will Teach for America? (Kopp), 85
Will, George, 65
World Trade Center, xv, 113
Yerushalmi, David, 89
Beacon Press
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Beacon Press books
are published under the auspices of
the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
© 2012 by Eboo Patel
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Proceeds of this book go to Interfaith Youth Core.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Patel, Eboo.
Sacred ground : pluralism, prejudice, and the promise of America / Eboo Patel.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8070-7748-1 (hardcover: alk. paper)
E-ISBN 978-0-8070-7749-8
1. Religious pluralism—United States. 2. Religions—Relations. 3. Islam—Relations. 4. United States—Religions. I. Title.
BL2525.P36 2012
204’.50973—dc23
2012013687
p; Eboo Patel, Sacred Ground