Student Conference on Religious Pluralism Gave Me a ‘Life-Changing’ Experience
Every year, students affiliated with the Martin Institute at the University of Idaho participate in the Student Conference on Religion in the Public Sphere (SCRIPS) at BYU. SCRIPS is organized by the Wheatley Institute, which brings together religiously diverse expert mentors with students from across the country for discussion and project development in a roundtable setting. Roundtables at this year’s SCRIPS focused on some aspect of religious pluralism in a variety of contexts, and authors in this article series in FāVS share their experiences while detailing the projects they and their peers developed.
UI’s Martin Institute is a teaching, research and outreach entity focused on the causes of war, the conditions necessary for peace and the international system.
Guest Column by Catherine Niehenke
As someone who loves to travel, I was ecstatic when I received an email from my professor inviting me to a five-day conference in Provo, Utah, in February 2023. Without really investigating the nature of the conference, I immediately accepted the offer. And boy am I glad I did. In the blizzardy mountains of Aspen Grove, I took part in an incredible, life-changing experience.
The Student Conference on Religion in the Public Sphere was unlike anything I have ever done before. I loved many things about the conference: the people, the venue, the discussion topics and the food, which was arguably the best part.
‘Holy Envy’
I was drawn in the very first night, during the keynote speech. Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopalian minister and past college professor on world religions at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia, gave a talk on the concept of Holy Envy.
She coined this term to explain her philosophy on appreciating other religions in order to be more tolerant of others and, in some ways, finding more love and appreciation for your own faith. This talk set the tone for the entire conference.
She offered a good strategy for learning to love and respect other people even when their values or beliefs do not perfectly match your own. It helped put into perspective how I view other religions and people from different faiths, and it allowed me to make the most of my time with such a diverse group of individuals.
Reducing Tension in a Pluralistic Society
At this conference, I participated in the roundtable titled “Leading across a Narrow Bridge: Supporting Faith Leaders in a Pluralist Democracy,” led by James Patton. The discussion was rich and diverse, primarily driven by us students and gently facilitated by Patton.
After three days of fruitful discussion and exciting brainstorming, our group developed a project proposal for a program that engages interfaith youth to reduce tensions across identity divisions by addressing the common need of food insecurity in Detroit, Michigan. Being one of the most religiously diverse and one of the poorest cities in the country, Detroit was the perfect location to focus our program.
We had the opportunity to present this proposal in front of peers and roundtable leaders and watch presentations from other groups. The roundtable work and presentations took up a most of my time at the conference and had meaningful takeaways. But it was in the little moments between the sessions that left the greatest impact.
Practical Pluralism
I was able to practice religious pluralism without even realizing it. There were leisurely mealtimes and numerous social hours that helped facilitate interaction and conversation among peers and leaders. There was ample opportunity for this exchange during roundtable group discussion.
In my roundtable, I sat next to a young woman from New York who was a Presbyterian prayer leader and music minister at her church. As a Catholic, I was unfamiliar with her faith tradition. We exchanged values and tenants of our faiths and were able to discuss the many similarities and differences between them.
At dinner one night, I sat next to a woman who was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She shared experiences with her faith and having children. From this conversation, I learned that an individual, personal relationship with God is foundational in the LDS faith tradition.
At every meal, I sat by someone new. And every day I learned more about the variety of religions and began to see the beauty in every single one.
My Own Biases
I experienced significant personal growth over the course of this conference. I was able to discover and break down a lot of personal biases that I didn’t even know I had.
After listening to one of the talks, a girl from the Presbyterian faith said to me, “Wow that was amazing. I want to go pray about it!” At first, I was shocked to hear this statement from a young college student, and slightly shocked that a religion other than my own value prayer. This comment opened my eyes to the idea that other religions can have similar ideals as my own. I learned that maybe we aren’t all that different.
Preserving Religion
It was refreshing to see how many young people still care about religion and its preservation, whether they are religious or not. I worked with other peers who belonged to my own faith, as well as those who were atheist or agnostic. Every person I talked to was respectful, engaged and interested.
I was able to reinforce strength in my own beliefs as I shared them with others. People were interested in learning about my faith tradition, and I was happy to share my knowledge and answer questions as best I could. This dialogue helped me realize the elements of my religion that I understood well and loved deeply, while also bringing to my attention things that I needed to investigate further or might dislike.
Overall, it made me very appreciative of my religion. This conference showed me how to look for God in every person, religion and aspect of society. It challenged my mindset, showed me new perspectives, helped me investigate religion and allowed me to share my beliefs with others.
