Facing Challenges with Faith and Devotion: American Muslims are the most ethnically diverse faith community in the country, representing not only ethnic and racial diversity but also political and socio-economic. For a community that only makes up one percent of the U.S. population, it faces countless societal challenges, over representation in negative media and impacted by discriminatory policies but also a community that continues to be resilient. ISPU’s research demonstrates that faith has been central in building the resilience to confront these challenges. In this session, the ISPU will share our research on American Muslims and other faith communities to illustrate the commonalities, differences, and role of faith in people’s lives. This research will inform faith leaders about the common struggles of the communities they serve and open the door to conversations about how these communities view each other, what they have in common, and what they can build on to address challenges in their communities. It will also inform the lay people about their neighbors and present a picture that will never have been seen in the media. The hope is that the information presented will allow people to focus on promoting Social Justice and Combating Systemic Disparities in all communities from systemic poverty to discrimination and environmental justice.
The Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign’s Executive Director Nina Fernando will be speaking on the Interfaith panel of experts for the Laity workshop, and leading a Faith Over Fear: Countering Anti-Muslim Discrimination workshop for Clergy.
This event is hosted by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) with St. Mark’s Episcopal Church of Albuquerque, New Mexico and New Mexico Islamic Center.