From the Director's Desk... |
| [Woodstock Report, October 2000, No. 63]
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| There has been
a lot of talk lately about the role of religion in public life. The presidential
candidates, Al Gore and George W. Bush, have "confessed their faith" in
public, as has Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential candidate.
This, of course, has drawn critiques, both positive and negative, from
all sides. "Talking heads" and political analysts have had a field day.
But there is also some scholarly thinking going on in this area of religion and public life. The Brookings Institution published a book this summer entitled, What's God Got to Do with the American Experiment? (Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC: 2000). It issued from a multi-year seminar funded by the Pew Charitable Trust, and is co-edited by E.J. Dionne, Jr., and John J. DiIulio. Another serious discussion about the role of religion in public life is the excellent essay by Wilfred M. McClay entitled, "Two Concepts of Secularism," in the summer issue of the Wilson Quarterly. It will be a chapter in a forthcoming book of essays generated in a Woodrow Wilson Center seminar on religion and public life. As a theology center focusing on issues in the public arena, Woodstock feels right at home in this conversation. We'd like-and plan-to get into it even more vigorously. And this issue of the Woodstock Report features a person who will help us do just that. He is our newest Woodstock senior fellow, Jesuit Father Jim Redington, just arrived from Zimbabwe in Africa. His specialization is Hinduism, but his competence extends to all the major world religions. His job will be explicitly to discover, interpret, and evaluate the role and influence that religion is actually having in social situations-economic, commercial, political-that Woodstock projects are addressing here and abroad. In other words, Woodstock not only looks at social issues or situations from a religious perspective; it also looks for the religious dimension in the issue or situation it is looking at. What is, for instance, the influence of religious belief or tradition in the conflicts we see in places like the Holy Land, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nigeria? Or, as another example, is there something in Muslim faith and custom which would be particularly offended by the arrival of the globalized free market economy in Afghanistan? Woodstock's project on conflict resolution looks at the first instance; its globalization and cultures project looks at the second. In the course of such analysis it is very helpful to hear people from the various faith traditions describe and discuss their own experience of the way their faith influences social decisions and institutions. In fact, the most recent (1995) Jesuit General Congregation insists that without interreligious dialogue, the pursuit of justice in social situations is severely inhibited. As you will see, interreligious dialogue is another one of Father Redington's specializations. Finally, we are delighted to list, in this issue of the Report, those of you who have so generously supported our work this year. Your confidence in our programs is as consoling to us as your financial support. Know that you share in our grateful prayers. Yours gratefully in the Lord, James L. Connor, S.J.
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