Kroc Institute Director Scott Appleby chaired the organizing committee for the first Notre Dame Forum, titled “Why God? Understanding Religion and Enacting Faith in a Plural World.” The forum, which drew 3,000 audience members to the Joyce Center on September 22, was among events marking the inauguration of Rev. John Jenkins, C.S.C., as president of the university. The forum was moderated by former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw.

Panelists addressed a range of topics, including the role of women in religion and society, human rights, and economic development. But they spoke at greatest length about extreme religious fundamentalism, which all rejected.

" Fundamentalists think they have all the answers to all the questions, and that terrifies me, and it should terrify all of us,” said Naomi Chazan, a professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a former member of the Israeli Knesset.

" The loudest religious voices today are the people who advocate divisiveness and conflict,” said John C. Danforth, former U.S. senator, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and an Episcopal priest. “Those who advocate otherwise have been strangely quiet, and it’s time for them to speak out.”

Other panelists were Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, chief executive officer of the American Society for Muslim Advancement and imam of New York City’s largest mosque.

The second half of the forum featured four additional panelists. They were Notre Dame faculty members Asma Afsaruddin, associate professor of Arabic and Islamic studies and a Kroc Institute faculty fellow, and Lawrence E. Sullivan, professor of world religions in the theology and anthropology departments; and students Kathleen Fox, a junior theology and philosophy major, and Denis Okello, a Kroc Institute graduate student.

Afsaruddin discussed Western perceptions of Islamic women, which she believes too often focus on the wearing of headscarves. “In the West, we assume this knee-jerk reaction that the headscarf is a symbol of oppression, whereas many Muslim women are adopting the headscarf of their own free will. Many women see it very much as a symbol of liberation, and an expression of their identity.”

Okello, a journalist from Uganda, said he believes that reporters can take a more proactive role in promoting peace without losing their credibility. He noted Danforth’s comment that only the strident, extremist religious voices are being heard, and wondered why that was so. As the final commenter, he ended the forum with a question to focus further discussion: “What are the most practical, concrete responses we can make to extremist religions?”

To view a video of the forum on the Internet, go to http://streaming.nd.edu/n&i/inaugural/forum.wmv.

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Home.> Publications > Peace Colloquy > Issue 9, Spring 2006 > Experts at faith forum decry those with "all the answers"