Jerre: Eboo, Mary Joy and I are excited to support the incredible work that you and Interfaith America are doing, especially at this critical time in our country when we are so divided.
Eboo: Thank you, Jerre. You and Mary Joy are philanthropists that make historic investments in key institutions that serve people and lift them up. As a big college football fan, I am reminded of that every time I see the “Wave” at the University of Iowa’s Kinnick stadium where the entire crowd waves to the kids at the Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
Jerre: We are thankful to be involved because we strongly agree that religious diversity is essential to our American democracy, and especially at this point in our highly divided country and with the upcoming presidential campaign, we need to get away from the red versus blue and back to the red, white and blue that has made our country so great. Can you talk about what Interfaith America is doing around pluralism and democracy?
There are two great problems in America, political polarization and prejudice.
Eboo: I think what is interesting about this moment is that there are two great problems in America, political polarization and prejudice—whether that manifests as antisemitism or Islamophobia or anti-Blackness or homophobia or anti-evangelical sentiment. Those two problems have a single solution, and that solution is pluralism. We have a very simple definition of pluralism: Respect for identity; relationship between people of different backgrounds; and cooperation on concrete projects for common good. Put simply: Respect. Relate. Cooperate. What does this look like? We see this all the time in America like a team of diverse surgeons doing a lifesaving operation, an athletic team, or a PTA. This is what America is, and this is what we do all the time on a day-to-day basis.
The goal of Interfaith America the organization is to build interfaith America the nation. We are an organization that encourages people to respect, relate and cooperate. We have a network of 1,100 college campuses where we advance interfaith practices on an institutional level—which is so critical today with the protests around the war in Gaza. American colleges and universities advance a knowledge base for the rest of our society, help set the civic priorities of the nation and serve as mini civil societies.
Jerre: My faith tradition, which happens to be Christianity—and Methodist specifically—has always informed not only my personal decisions but my business values. The Golden Rule is particularly important, and it is so critical to treat every person with equal dignity and respect. And if you do that, even if you disagree, you can have a conversation that doesn’t escalate into something negative. How do you work to encourage interfaith communication and cooperation in our polarized society?
Eboo: Let me give you an example that connects directly to how you stated the question, Jerre. You speak of the centrality of the Golden Rule in your Methodist Christian faith and how that guides you personally, your business, and your philanthropy. What’s beautiful is that there is a version of the Golden Rule in every religion, and one of the things we encourage college campuses to do is to teach a central value like the Golden Rule, which is what we call appreciative knowledge of diversity.
A second thing we encourage campuses to focus on is teaching skills for cooperation—there’s a science to this that is part of academic fields like social psychology. This is putting the Golden Rule in action. We want students to learn how to create spaces where it is easier for people to cooperate and have the skills to actually create those spaces. The beautiful thing about a college campus is that you can learn about this in the classroom, then you can go and practice in co-curricular activities and in campus service projects.
Jerre: It was great at the 2008 Democratic National Convention that an evangelical pastor, Joel Hunter, was invited to give the prayer, and he led the crowd inclusively. He received a lot of blowback for accepting the invitation, but he said, “You never learn from people just like you.”
Eboo: I actually know Pastor Joel Hunter. He and I are friends. We served together on President Obama’s inaugural Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Advisory Council. At the first meeting of the whole council, I found Pastor Joel to be so wise and kind, so I sought him out for a personal lunch afterwards. At that lunch, we focused on the shared values between Islam and Christianity, and we also didn’t shy away from the important differences in our traditions— such as the disagreement about the divinity of Jesus. Most of our time was spent on how Muslims and Christians can come together to serve – and there’s nothing more America than that. That’s how we turn red and blue America into red, white and blue America.
Jerre: Eboo, what would you challenge people to do in their own lives to promote interfaith dialogue and pluralism, especially leading up to and after the election?
Eboo: At Interfaith America, we like to say diversity is a treasure, identity as a source of pride, cooperation is better than division, faith is a bridge, and everyone is a contributor. We think that is best embodied in the metaphor and the practice of a potluck.
Host a potluck. Ask folks to bring a dish that’s important to their ethnic or religious heritage. Create a space where someone’s crusty bread from eastern Europe pairs perfectly with someone else’s spicy dip from the Middle East.
Here’s an idea for everyone reading this. Host a potluck. Ask folks to bring a dish that’s important to their ethnic or religious heritage. Create a space where someone’s crusty bread from eastern Europe pairs perfectly with someone else’s spicy dip from the Middle East. This is what the whole nation could be— people of diverse backgrounds bringing dishes inspired by their distinctive identities to the American Potluck, creating delicious combinations, and sharing inspiration in enriching conversations.
By hosting a potluck, you are expressing your faith in the essential idea of a democracy: a belief in people. Potlucks don’t exist without people bringing a dish. Democracies don’t survive without people making a contribution. If you host a potluck, you are giving the sign of democracy: “I believe in what people can do, in the contribution they make, in the dish they bring.”
One tool for people who want to contribute to a potluck nation this election year is The Faith in Elections Playbook. The Playbook supports faith-based, civic and campus communities with accessible, actionable resources for the 2024 election. The playbook is designed to make it easier for faith and community leaders to join in the work that is already happening across America to help the 2024 elections run smoothly. This fall, in an upcoming Faith in Elections podcast, we’re talking with people across the country already involved in this work.
Jerre, you and Mary Joy have made an important investment in bridge building and cooperation, and we thank you for that. Thank you for elevating our ambition and challenging your network to join us to make our vision of pluralism a reality.
Interfaith America, the leading interfaith organization in the United States, has worked with governments, universities, private companies, and civic organizations to make faith a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division.
Named “one of America’s best leaders” by U.S. News and World Report, Eboo Patel served on President Obama’s Inaugural Faith Council, has given hundreds of keynote addresses, and has written five books, including We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy. He is an Ashoka Fellow and holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship.
Jerre and Mary Joy Stead serve as chairs of the Interfaith America campaign “Potluck Nation.”
