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| Monday, 19 November 2007 | |
   
BUILDING BRIDGES:
With Rabbi Brad Hirschfield
ABRAHAMIC PERSPECTIVES ON THE WORLD TODAY
Season I
Each of our traditions teaches the ideal of forgiveness and challenges the faithful to repent when they have transgressed. But are there any acts that are truly unforgivable? Are there sins so great for which repentance is not possible? What do we mean when we use terms like “justice,” “punishment,” and “retribution”? Where is the line between keeping ourselves on the right track and satisfying the very dangerous and all too human yearnings for revenge? Terri Schiavo was just the beginning. With each great advance in our ability to prolong life comes a great responsibility for us to better understand when it is really over. That is what the marriage of blessing and obligation, which lies at the heart of each of our faiths, is all about. When, according to each of the Abrahamic traditions, does life end? What do those definitions teach us about the value of life, and maintaining the complex balance between its quality and its quantity? Abortion and the Sacredness of Life Religion fans the flames of this hotly debated topic. Could it do more? The usual framing of pro-life vs. pro-choice simply does not work for most Americans, who routinely show themselves to be both uncomfortable with abortion, and with undermining a woman’s right to make choices for herself. What do our three faiths teach us about the beginning of life and when, if ever, we can choose to end it? How might these teachings contribute to a healthier conversation about this terribly divisive issue?
Whether called crusades, commanded wars, or jihad, all
three of our religions have invoked the name and will of
God in the pursuit of violence. It is too simplistic to
claim that such moves are only made by those who have
"hijacked" their respective faiths. How do we understand
the place of violence and war in each of our traditions?
Is anything worth fighting for? If so, what? Under what
circumstances? How do we understand each of our
tradition's mandates to pursue peace? How do we know
when to follow one path, and when to follow the other?
Are science and religion antagonists or allies? Eighty years after the Scopes “Monkey” trial, America is still struggling with the proper understanding of creation/evolution and what should be taught, especially in public schools. Together we will explore what our faiths teach us about creation and evolution. How do we understand the competing claims made by science and religion? What are the implications, given that each actually asks us to confront the fundamental questions of how we got here, and where we are going? God in the American Public Square What are the implications of today’s ongoing debates about prayer in public schools, the Ten Commandments displayed in courthouses? What is the appropriate place for religion in our nation’s public institutions? How much influence should our respective religious communities wield? Together we explore how to honor both the freedom of religion that is a hallmark of American culture, and the place of our particular religion in creating a better world.
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