Not Left or Right, But Deep: How People of Faith Can Help to Heal America's Divisions
Originally published in USA Today December 6, 2022
We must fan the flames of spiritual renewal within our religious traditions to help them overcome dogmatism and division and to become their best, most life-affirming selves.
Next Gen of Social Science Researchers Sheds New Light on Democracy
The Fetzer Institute has long held an interest in the lived experience of democracy. So rather than focusing on issues, challenges, or policy, our work in this area addresses questions like How are we expanding the idea of “we” the people? What does it mean to build mutual respect and relationships across difference? How can we get better at sharing power?
Reserve your retreat for 2023!
"Welcome to GilChrist, a place where natural beauty strengthens our human capacity for compassion, gratitude, reverence, and creativity." So states our home page, which invites you to explore a
Love Your Neighbor in a Language They Understand
Fetzer’s involvement in spiritual literacy or “being able to find sacred meaning in all aspects of life”—as Frederick and Mary Ann Brussat define it in their book Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life—has been a longtime pursuit. It is a knowledge base that enlivens our work and relationships, an ongoing study both inspiring and humbling.
Healing Muslim-Christian Relations Through Shared Vulnerability
Recently the Fetzer Institute partnered with the Aspen Institute’s Religion and Society Program and religious freedom legal scholar Asma Uddin to explore how to heal Muslim-Christian relationships. Uddin is a visiting professor at Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law and a fellow at Aspen’s Religion and Society Program.
Resilience For Transformative Action: Exploring Stoic Virtues and Social Justice
When we think of "resilient” people, we generally think of individuals who adapt well in the face of adversity, trauma, stress, and/or tragedy. Resilience is a capacity that each of us can build within ourselves through our thoughts, behaviors, habits, and actions. Stoicism is a rich philosophical tradition that emphasizes the importance of cultivating four virtues – wisdom, temperance, courage, and justice – to build our resilience, to live well and to live authentically in the face of life’s challenges.
Biologos and the Center for Christogenesis: Love at the Intersection of Faith and Science
Biologos and the Center for Christogenesis might appear to be on opposite sides of the spirituality and science debate. Yet both organizations exist principally to help people of faith reconcile the two disciplines—positing that science and spirituality are not in opposition; but that they, in fact, complement each other. And that to understand the world in which we live, each must be taken into account. Both organizations describe this necessary reconciliation as “bridging.”
Practice: Ramadan and Fasting of the Heart
“The observance of Ramadan puts you in a mindset where you think about relationships with others, life, blessings, generosity; it settles you into appreciation,” notes our colleague and Fetzer senior program officer Mohammed Mohammed.
Through your experience of hunger and thirst, you value things that we often take for granted.
Practice: Ramadan and Fasting of the Heart
“The observance of Ramadan puts you in a mindset where you think about relationships with others, life, blessings, generosity; it settles you into appreciation,” notes our colleague and Fetzer senior program officer Mohammed Mohammed.
Through your experience of hunger and thirst, you value things that we often take for granted.
Our Spirituality Has Implications for Healing Our Democracy
Findings from the 2020 launch of our Study of Spirituality in the United States revealed a stunning fifty percent of respondents said that they desire to be more spiritual. Respondents also identified peace and love as the top two benefits of a spiritual life. This narrative—that people are open to, and yearning for, a more spiritual way of being that is grounded in love and care for one another—is far different than what is in the headlines.