About this Event
What is the role of organized religion in the progressive movement today?
About this Event
We are living in a time where, sadly, many of us are bonded by the feeling of being under threat - sexual orientation, gender identity, race, immigration status, and religious beliefs. Animosity, the stripping of legal rights, and violence towards minorities is nothing new in America but the election of Donald Trump has emboldened the bad actors.
At the same time - we are seeing a major decline in the numbers of folks who identify strongly with a particular religious dogma and go to a house of worship regularly to pray. The difference in formal religious adherence from the Baby Boomers to the Millenial generation is wide.
What is the place and role of religion and religious leadership in the progressive movement? In a time where secularism is on the rise and where religion is increasingly being used as a mask to hurt, how does religion fit into the broader movement.
Here to discuss are three respected religious leaders in a conversation moderated by Michael Pappas of the San Francisco Interfaith Council.
Maha Elgenaidi:
Maha Elgenaidi is the foundeår of Islamic Networks Group (ING), a non-profit organization with affiliates around the country that are pursuing peace and countering all forms of bigotry through education and interfaith engagement while working within the framework of the First Amendment’s protection of religious freedom and pluralism.
Rabbi Noa Kushner:
Rabbi Noa Kushner founded The Kitchen in 2011 in response to friends who were looking for an informal, transformative shabbat experience that they couldn’t find. Along the way, she crashed head first into what has now been well documented as a generational trend away from many established religious institutions. The Kitchen quickly grew from a local shabbat experiment into an active doorway for San Francisco’s Gen X and Millenials looking for serious Jewish life.
Father Richard Smith, PhD:
Father Richard Smith, Ph.D. is the Vicar of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in San Francisco’s Mission District. He holds a Ph.D. in Ethics and Social Theory from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, and has taught Religious Studies at various Bay Area universities. He has worked for immigration reform at the city, state, and national level and has worked for social justice in both El Salvador and Nicaragua.