Our Policy? Service

This post was originally published by the Interfaith Youth Core on April 28, 2011.

The U.S. is a large, democratic society with great religious diversity, and the commitment to religious freedom is a hallmark of America’s greatness. If American citizens can demonstrate consistent and positive interaction among America’s many religious communities we can serve as a model of interfaith cooperation for other nations.

In this model, Christians and Jews come together to provide food for the hungry in their communities. Muslims and Sikhs embark on joint efforts to clean up contaminated water sources. These would be the narratives that define our national conversations about religion, not suicide bombings and the burning of sacred texts. In this world, cooperation between members of diverse faith communities would be the norm and not the exception.

Imagine a world where members of diverse faith communities work together to make this world a better place: where religious youth come together to combat social ills instead of each other. This is the world that interfaith leaders are building.

It is more important than ever for U.S. leaders and policymakers to take the lead in promoting interfaith cooperation, domestically and abroad.

In March, President Obama announced a national initiative called the Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge. This initiative challenges students and administrators from campuses across the country to submit plans incorporating creative ideas and strategies to make interfaith cooperation a reality on their campuses in the 2011-2012 academic year. Institutions will publicize their efforts, and the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will publicly recognize outstanding programs in the summer of 2012.

The Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge is a significant step in the right direction. The next step is to incorporate interfaith initiatives into U.S. foreign policy.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted recently in Foreign Affairs that global problems like violent extremism and climate change require cooperation on a global scale. The core mission of the U.S. Foreign Service is to use diplomacy to combat challenges on a global and regional level.

Secretary Clinton has also stated that the State Department must utilize new methods to reach broader audiences in foreign nations: “Increasing global interconnectedness now necessitates reaching beyond governments to citizens directly.” According to Secretary Clinton, the information age has given new weight to public opinion, as non-state actors play a more influential role in current events than ever before.

I believe one of the ways foreign missions can both tackle global problems and interact directly with citizens is to harness the zeal of religious youth worldwide in interfaith service projects for the common good.

As Secretary Clinton notes, there has been a profound shift in thinking in the field of U.S. foreign policy. Globalization has given rise to a global community that transcends the traditional system of nation states. The days when political leaders could decide the course of a nation behind closed doors are gone.

In this era of interconnectedness, it is in the best interest of the U.S. to promote the best interest of the global community. Large-scale interfaith service projects throughout the world could play a key large role in promoting global stability and peace.

Now is Not the Time to Give Up

This post was originally published by the Interfaith Youth Core on September 13, 2012.

Ambassador Christopher Stevens’ work was a personal inspiration to me. He was among the most dedicated few of public servants, never shying away from challenging assignments. He loved the Middle East and its people, and showed great courage helping the Libyans rebuild a democratic society in the wake of the uprisings.

Ambassador Stevens showed the most refreshing optimism in his dealings with the Middle East. He was fluent in Arabic and French, and took great pleasure in communicating his ideas and plans to partner with the Libyans. His message demonstrated such exuberance and hopefulness for the future of the Libyan state, and for U.S.-Libya relations. All of this makes his death that much harder to swallow.

On Tuesday evening demonstrations were organized in Cairo, Egypt and Benghazi, Libya to protest the broadcast of a film of questionable origins. The film “[Depicts] the Prophet Muhammad as a child of uncertain parentage, a buffoon, a womanizer, a homosexual, a child molester and a greedy, bloodthirsty thug.”

It appears that an organized group of Islamic militants affiliated with al Qaeda took advantage of the chaos, orchestrating a carefully planned attack in the midst of the protests. Though militants were not successful in entering the U.S. embassy in Cairo, they managed to enter the consulate in Benghazi, Libya with the help of heavy artillery. By the end of the attack, Ambassador Stevens, three other American diplomats and 10 Libyan security officers were dead.

Heinous as they are, I refuse to let the actions of these terrorists cloud or taint my vision of what I know to be the true Islamic faith. When I think of Islam, I think of this quotation from the Sayings of the Prophet Mohammed: “He who sleeps on a full stomach whilst his neighbor goes hungry is not one of us.” I think of Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam that requires Muslims to apportion a percentage of their wealth to the poor. I am inspired when I think of the values of patience and mercy, prevalent in Islam and other faiths, and needed now more than ever before.

I am an unabashed idealist. What keeps me going every day is the idea that change is possible, and that we can build a better world together. My aim is a career that allows me to increase friendship and understanding between the people of the Islamic world and the West, and to mitigate the effects of global religious violence.

Though I understand the mixed history of U.S. foreign policy toward the Muslim world, I firmly believe that governments, including the U.S. government, can and should serve as a force for good in the world. I believe that diplomacy, at its heart, is about advocating for your nation’s interests, but also about working out compromises we can all live with, without the use of armed forces. In this age of global challenges, more often than not, what is best for the U.S. is best for the world. We are all in the same boat when it comes to issues such as climate change and violent extremism.

I don’t believe that armed conflicts between the U.S. and the Arab world are inevitable. It is more important than ever before for diplomats and civil society leaders on both sides to demonstrate firmly that we can work together to make this world a better place.

Reflections on Osama bin Laden's death

Though many of my peers say that they barely remember Sept. 11, I can recall that day as if it were yesterday. I was living in Anandpur, a small town in northern India. After returning from our morning prayers, the American staff at my boarding school appeared with grim faces. They told us that radical Muslims had attacked buildings in New York City and Washington, D.C. They did not know the extent of the damage, and they lacked critical information because of our rural location.
The next 36 hours were a harrowing blur: a mix of praying fiercely that my father (who works in the heart of D.C.) had been spared, tears, and trying desperately to get more information from the U.S. about my family’s safety.
The news that Osama bin Laden was killed spread on the social media networks like wildfire. Many people posted comments such as “America, f**ck yeah!!”, “America, we slaughtered him!!!”, “Osama is dead as a door nail!!” and “Osama is dead. Time for shots at the bars!!” I admit that these comments made me a little queasy. The crude celebration of death, no matter how heinous the individual, was rather shocking and arrogant.
In addition, the celebration seemed a bit premature. It appears that many believe that Osama’s death will mean that the likelihood of another terrorist strike has lessened. I hate to rain on their parade, but this view is extremely naïve. Various U.S. government agencies, including the State Department, have warned Americans at home and abroad that a counterattack from al Qaeda is quite possible in light of bin Laden’s death.
I can’t help but think of this story in terms of an epic of large proportions: the showdown between Osama and Obama. President Obama’s victory speech showed remarkable grace, restraint and sensitivity toward Muslims: “Our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace.” Obama’s clarity and compassion contrast sharply with Osama’s violence and insanity.
When one examines bin Laden’s biography, it becomes clear that he was a normal teenager before entering Al Thager Model School in Saudi Arabia. While there, he met and admired a charismatic Syrian education teacher, who turned an after-school sports program into a chance to indoctrinate youth in radical Islam and hatred of the West.
Eboo Patel, the executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core, believes that there is nothing inherently evil or inevitable about the bin Ladens in our world: “When we look back in the lives of young religious terrorists, we find a web of individuals and organizations that shape them.” He continues, “Every time we see a teenager kill someone in the name of God, we should picture a pair of shadowy hands behind him, showing him to make the bomb or point the gun, giving him a manual with the prayers to say while committing murder, steadying his shaking hands with calloused, steely ones, blessing him as he resolves to do the deed.”
I have intimately felt the power of religious zeal. While living in India, I felt a deep connection with God through my intensive daily practice of Sikh yoga, meditation and ritual. At the time, service to God was all that I cared about. I also admit that I believed that Sikhism offered the “best” religious experience. I would regularly wake up at 3 a.m. to go and clean the temple, and spend upwards of two hours each day engaged in deep spiritual meditation and prayer reading. I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if religious extremists, not religious pluralists like Eboo Patel, had mentored me.
America deserves better than college students arrogantly celebrating and proclaiming their glee upon hearing of a violent killing. One of the many wonderful things about our country is its melting pot of religious and ethnic diversity, and its tendency to create strong relationships among people of various religions. College students in our country should rather celebrate our great religious diversity and our commitment to religious pluralism.

Microfinance's Usefullness Should Not Be Underestimated

Yes, it is important to note that microfinance, or small loans designed to jump start small businesses for the disenfranchised with the aim of poverty alleviation, are not a "cure all" for world poverty. But that doesn't mean that they can't do a whole lot of good. Microfinance has been gaining traction in recent years, and many small banks and nonprofit entities offer such loans to poor populations in Latin America, South and Central Asia, the Americas and Asia.

As part of a project with Ohio University's Global Leadership Center, my team investigated microfinance as a poverty alleviation strategy in Haiti by examining the efficacy of microfinance organizations in the nation as well as the history of microfinance practices in the country. Later, we compared our research with that of teammates we worked with at the University of Liberia in West Africa in order to evaluate the potential of microfinance loans to assist in poverty alleviation and postwar reconstruction.

Along the way, we spoke with experts at various think tanks in the D.C area as well as university professors and diplomatic personnel. From my own research and consideration,I have reached the following conclusions about microfinance practices:

1. Microfinance loans offer assistance to those in the in the "mid-level" poverty range to enter the lower middle class. Microfinance loans are especially good at giving these populations just the boost they need to get their business off the ground, and have led to huge improvements in quality of life for said individuals. However, it is important to note that by the same token these loans are almost universally considered inappropriate for the poorest of the poor--the last thing such populations need is a large piling on of debt that they may or may not be able to return to creditors.

2. Cell phone banking in developing nations provides huge opportunities for the spread of microfinance practices.

3. There has been a trend toward offering more services than just loans, such as microinsurance and savings options. These are suitable for the poorest of the poor, and such offerings should be increased in many countries offering microfinance services.

4. There is also an industry trend toward privatization of the microfinance industry, as private banks are beginning to offer microfinance loans to underprivileged populations, and many nonprofit providers are stepping down. I notice on distinct disadvantage here, as well as one distinct advantage. The disadvantage here is obvious: these providers will likely charge higher interest rates to such clients, and the potential for client abuse here is high. However, a more subtle advantage to such systems is that a for-profit business model is likely to be far more sustainable in the long-term than a nonprofit model.

Kosovo's Woes Continue

CNN reported that eggs and stones at Kosovo's prime minister in response to the upcoming elections in the former Serbian province. This will be Kosovo's first elections since declaring independence. The bit of unrest, though mild, has been an unfortunate departure from the largely peaceful lead-up to the elections. These ethnic tension's surfacing is not altogether surprising when considering Kosovo's road to independence, which was really nothing short of groundbreaking. The nation essentially created new definitions of sovereignty when it declared independence the day in 2008 after electing a moderate leader, and deciding that they had met all of the "standards before status" conditions set out in the UN's Resolution 1244. Immediately afterward a handful of EU countries and the U.S. recognized them as a sovereign nation, while the rest of the world refused. Though many other nations came on the Kosovo bandwagon slowly but surely, this way of going about declaring statehood truly changed the traditional process. New definitions of what makes a state a state were tested for the first time, as in the early days 44 out of 150 nations. So inevitably this shaky beginning is adding fuel to the resentment fire of ethnic Serb's currently living in the province. Only time will tell whether the testy Balkans which once ignited World War I have really simmered down.

Surprisingly Similar

Controversy in Brazil over a student wearing a short red dress to her college class echoed the recent controversy in France surrounding France's parliament's reluctance to allow women to wear the Burqa. Though at face value, these incidents couldn't seem more opposite (the extremely modest Burqa versus the red dress that managed to scandalize the nation with nude beaches) actually share almost everything important in common. They both push people's buttons, albeit opposite buttons in people who hold opposite viewpoints. The Burqa was opposed in France on the grounds that it prevented women's free expression, and served as a symbol of subordination. The red dress greatly offended the Catholic majority in Brazil who hold traditional viewpoints on student's dress in college, which is still extremely modest. However, the overriding question is: why, exactly, do legislators and university administrator's feel that what student's wear in private universities is in their sphere of influence? When did the lines blur between private high schools with a dress code (seems reasonable) to public schools which prohibit certain revealing items and gang attire (seems a bit murkier) to universities (seems outrageous)? This seems to to be edging closer and closer to dangerous ground, with restrictions of individual freedom being infringed upon in what have traditionally been seen as nations supporting public freedom.

Fort Hood Tragedy: 'Horrifying' Indeed

The events at Fort Hood are extremely upsetting, and it seems the entire country took in a collective gasp of shock and horror as details about the largest shooting at a U.S. army base are revealed. What are we to make of this? The shy psychiatrist suddenly snaps after hearing horror stories from soldiers based in Iraq and Afghanistan and finding out he is being deployed? A religious extremist suddenly shows his true colors? There is much speculation, and little answers at this time. Muslim groups fear backlash that evokes memories of post 9/11 trauma.We hope that U.S. citizens will understand that the actions of one cannot be used to generalize the behavior of an entire religion of people, and CNN made a disappointing and unnecessary reference in one of their headlines describing the suspect's demeanor as "cool, calm and religious." The idea of our own soldiers being unsafe on a U.S. base is disturbing in the utmost, and some are questioning if the military missed key signs that would have tipped them off about Hasan. Obama gave a characteristically thoughtful address, and referred to the attacks as horrifying. Horrifying it is.