Beyond the Bubble is creating space for bridging divides, valuing interfaith friendships and embracing intercultural competence.
Students Colin Wiese, Micaela Shackleford and James LaRue organized the event to give students different perspectives on faith, LaRue said. The interfaith meeting took place in the Black Family Plaza Classrooms on Feb. 15, with a panel of distinguished multi-religion faculty members.
“The hope is that all of these Pepperdine students are going to be peacemakers and change makers going out into the world,” LaRue said.
Interfaith Friendships Modeled
The panel consisted of John Barton, professor of Teaching of Religion and director of the Center for Faith and Learning; Sukhsimranjit Singh, Danny Weinstein managing director of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law; and Ahmed Taha, law professor at Caruso School of Law.
All three faculty members are close friends, Barton said, despite their widely differing views on religion. Barton is Christian, Singh is Sikh and Taha is Muslim.
“There’s disagreements, but that doesn’t get in the way of relationship or connection,” Taha said.
Students came prepared with questions weighing on their minds regarding religion for the panelists. The topics of the night centered around identity, conversion and conversations.
When asked how he tackles the topic of salvation as it pertains to friendship, Barton said, “Yeah, that’s a 90-mile-an-hour curveball.”
Lasting Friendships Come Without Agendas
Barton warned students about approaching conversations of faith with an agenda.
“True, genuine, loving friendships cannot be extended with agendas,” Barton said.
When the term “friendship evangelism” was brought up, Barton was quick to say he doesn’t support the concept because it places an agenda on witnessing.
“Offer genuine friendship and love without strings attached, and let God take care of the rest,” Barton said.
Taha shared a personal experience of someone who knew nothing about Islam trying to convert him. It was ineffective, rude and disrespectful, Taha said.
“Do you think I’m that shallow in my belief that this is going to do anything?” Taha said.
It’s far more effective to meet the person and have a genuine conversation, Taha said.
Faith and Identity
Barton said the key component of his identity is his Christian faith. Faith evolves as a person grows, learns and matures. Things he presumed to be faith based, he later realized are actually culturally based, Barton said.
Singh said his personal values and perception of identity have impacted his worldview. Faith oftentimes overflows into the multiple identities a person possesses, Singh said.
“When I am mediating, I’m a mediator, right?” Singh said. “When I’m teaching, I’m a teacher; when I’m a father, I’m a father, but at some point, is my faith projecting in all three? Perhaps, because of the values I have.”
Embracing Multi-Religious Competence
Students were curious about how to approach the topic of faith with people of differing perspectives.
Through interfaith conversations, Taha said he is able to learn more about his faith while listening to other perspectives. He said it is possible to be friends with those of differing faiths and compared it to having family members with opposing political views.
“And every time you see them, you just talk about other things that you don’t fight about,” Taha said.
When it comes to approaching the topic of religion in conversations, people can view it similar to politics and avoid it altogether, Taha said. He welcomes interfaith conversations, but he lets people pursue it in their conversations with him, he said.
“I’d love to learn more about my own religion, about other religions, but you can’t sort of force that, and you shouldn’t,” Taha said. “So, I sort of put it out there, and if they take it, great.”
A Jewish audience member, law student Neta Sade, said by engaging with different faith groups, she’s been able to view things from various perspectives, whether that is Christian, Sikh or Muslim.
“I find it [the openness to faith] really special and something that is very unique to Pepperdine,” Sade said.
Singh finished with advice for students to consider when approaching people of a differing faith.
“When you don’t know something, please don’t assume you know, and that’s where the birth of curiosity takes place,” Singh said.
The beauty of being curious about various faith backgrounds is it gives us a deeper understanding of one another, Singh said.
Recent Event
Beyond the Bubble held their second event, a service project with Khalsa Food Pantry at the Sikh Gurdwara of Los Angeles on March 15, Wiese said. Wiese, Shackleford and LaRue organized the project for students to participate and share how service is a common ground for people of various faiths.
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Contact Rachel Flynn via email: rachel.flynn@pepperdine.edu
