Facing the Really Hard Things: Meet Andy Hanauer and the One America Movement
Andy Hanauer, CEO of One America Movement, works within and among religious communities to combat toxic polarization in the US. OAM brings people together across political, racial, and religious divides to work together to address issues in communities across the country. They also train and empower religious leaders to resist a culture of division and hate. Fetzer is proud to support the work of OAM and offers excerpts from our chat with Andy as an introduction—and a welcome—to a new partner.
July Practice: The Three Feet Around You
At six-years-old, Gregory C. Ellison II, PhD, co-founder of Fearless Dialogues, asked his aunt how he might change the world. Her answer has become his daily practice and a way of keeping his faith commitment: welcoming the stranger. Watch and then join us as we engage in the three feet practice*.
We invite you to share your experience with this practice in the comments section.
Ensuring Sacred Dignity for All
We are heartbroken by the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing events that have unfolded in our country and around the world in the past week.
The Fetzer Institute’s mission of helping build the spiritual foundation for a loving world compels us to address the challenging structural issues that have given rise to racial injustice in the history of the United States and in our present day.
Practicing Democracy through Multifaith Engagement
As communication becomes increasingly global, interactions with people who have different beliefs, customs, and worldviews from our own become more common. We need to learn about those who are different from us and, at a minimum, to learn how to coexist with them. Building multifaith relationships bolsters the stability of our communities and country, and it also sustains one of America’s most cherished values--freedom of religion. Here are ten ways to engage with people of multiple traditions.
Note: Please adapt to social distancing best practices as necessary.
April Practice: Unity
While the news continues to call our attention to political divisions, we are mindful of the spiritual teaching of “one hand, one heart” —that all our individual appearances are specific manifestations of the Whole Essence. This concept of Divine Oneness—of a prevailing unity behind the appearance of diversity—is a central theme in many mystical traditions. Regardless of our political stance, we can benefit from considering and focusing on our oneness—our commonalities—rather than on that which scares and divides us. Here are some spiritual practices to build awareness of our unity.
Practice: Binding Together
From the founding moments of our country, people from different faith traditions, and no faith at all, have put their deepest values into action to serve the common good. Their stories and their legacy, which is often religiously and spiritually grounded, can help bind together the various identities represented in our nation.
—Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC)
With this practice, we acknowledge and honor the efforts of young leaders and peacemakers who are endeavoring to heal cultural, religious, and political divides.
January Practice: Pause
Many Americans highly value professional achievement, which is reflected in such democratic virtues as the pursuit of excellence, determination, assertiveness, and love of learning and knowledge. At the same time, momentarily setting aside an achievement orientation helps us tune into deeper currents of wisdom that strengthen democratic virtues like adaptability, honesty, humility, integrity, and social conscience.
December Practice: Listen with Respect
The idea that all of us are created equal, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, means that everyone deserves respect. We can practice being respectful at home first by listening to our own wisdom and the ideas of others and then by staying informed and expressing our opinions.
Christ in Crisis with Rev. Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners Magazine
In perilous and polarizing times, where is our true north – our fixed point in a spinning world?
Rev. Jim Wallis, in his new book Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus suggests that a focus on eight questions asked by, or of, Jesus provide a solid compass for people of faith.
November Practice: Humility
In From Enemy to Friend: Jewish Wisdom and the Pursuit of Peace, Rabbi Amy Eilberg considers how Alan Morinis, a teacher of Jewish Mussar practices, defines humility: “to occupy as much space as is my natural right in the world, neither to diminish my own place nor to rob others of theirs.” This definition fits perfectly with practicing democratic virtues.