Rabbi Stephen Booth-Nadav serves as a chaplain at Kavod Senior Life in Denver, Colorado and is also the director of the Wisdom House Denver project. Alumni of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, Rabbi Stephen is on the Religious Advisory Council at the University of Denver.
“My impression is that it is one of really only two major Muslim movements that I know of in the world that are very clear and adamant from the beginning that interfaith dialogue is essential for Muslims.”
“… for me, one of the greatest contributions of Mr. Gulen and the Hizmet Movement in the world is that you stand up in the world and you say; this is what it means to be a Muslim.”
“In my experience, the Hizmet Movement represents Islam as both an ancient and a modern religion, a religion that goes into its oldest and deepest teachings and holds those up into the world for how a Muslim acts in the world and what does Islam teach about life and yet it’s very modern.”
“… what I also see, what difference it makes in the world, is that when I’m sitting here in the United States reading and hearing only the worst of humans twisting what Islam is in the world, I have another model.”
“… a Muslim organization doing good works in the world, beyond the Muslim community, is a wonderful antidote and a much needed antidote to the distortions of Islam in the world today.”
George Eisen is a professor of sociology and history at Nazareth College, New York. He is an associate vice president for academic affairs & executive director for international education at Nazareth College.He served as acting director for the Baltic Center of North American Studies at University of Tartu, Estonia. He is the past director of the Institute for Regional & International Studies at California State Polytechnic University. He is also the author of the award winning “Children and Play in the Holocaust.”
“I was impressed for example that in many of the event that they organize not just religious representatives were present but also they are inviting civic leaders here of the community. That includes the Congress; it’s the US Congress I’m talking about, political figures, religious figures, civic figures and educational leaders. It’s a very beautiful way of combining, creating a community a harmonious community.”
“In a pluralistic society, we are working to create a harmony, coexistence I used that term. It is extremely important for a peaceful society. When each of us understand each other. It’s very easy to create friction, very easy to create conflict. Equally important to find means to create a dialogue, create a communication between very diverse groups.”
“What I find very unique about the movement is that they don’t play the political issues. Rather, what they want is to find a means of communication bridging the differences.”
“First we need to clarify interfaith dialogue is not changing anybody’s religion. It’s to give more tolerance, more understanding. Every person has their own right path. We just need to respect it. It’s basically interfaith understanding of dialogue is respect toward each individual.”
