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About the Center
The USA is the world’s most religiously diverse country. It is hard to find accurate statistics but it is reasonable to estimate that there are about 4 million American Jews, a similar number of Muslims, 1.5 million Buddhists and almost as many Hindus. It is also important to note that there are about 40 million people who would classify themselves as non-religious or secular. Almost 160 million people, or about 3 people in every 4, classify themselves as Christian, although the historically dominant Protestant denominations recently dipped below 50% of the USA’s population for the first time in its history.
The work of the Center for Faith and Action (CFA) proceeds from the conviction that faith does matter, not just in the USA but throughout the vulnerable global village that we share. The estimated 1.1 billion people in the world who have no religious affiliation are far outnumbered by those who do. We cannot understand many of the world’s divisions, or arguably the greatest potential source of human transformation, if we do not take religion very seriously indeed. Religion is not just a set of beliefs and practices; it has also produced great works of art and architecture and glorious music, all of which speak far more powerfully to human souls than some words ever can. Despite the assertions of some scholars who may be more clever than wise, religion yields most of its mysteries to people who realize that it is irrevocably linked to faith. Reductionist attempts to explain it away as simply a product of the human mind are like attempts to portray the meaning of music in terms of the variety and size of sound waves. Faith matters.
But what sort of faith should we have if we are to mend the world? This question is often answered by positing a particular religion as the solution to human ills: Christians offer Christianity; Muslims offer Islam; and so on. It is no criticism of people’s passionate commitment to their own faith to suggest that, in our contemporary rainbow-hued world of religions, this is not the only possible range of answers. We could instead, and just as one example, ask what sort of religion produces a Martin Luther King, or a Mahatma Gandhi or a Dalai Lama, rather than other members of their faiths whose exclusive beliefs breed hatred and even violence.
Faith is a universal human response to the mystery and wonder of the universe. It is often best expressed in community, which is why religions are so important. It is a mistake to replace religion with either a shallow and selfish spirituality, or to reduce it to some sort of social or mental construct, or to believe that it has lost its power and meaning in the contemporary world. Since religion can be a force for good or evil, people must act together to mend the world, even if in very small ways, to provide hope. So the CFA takes seriously both faith and action. Thus it sponsors programs to foster understanding and dialogue. It gratefully acknowledges the Christian roots of Aurora University, and builds on them to understand the importance of Christianity, as well as other religions and the importance of dialogue, in the modern world
You can learn about the backgrounds and work of the staff members of the CFA by clicking on the links to the left of this web page.
Here are some of the activities the CFA has engaged in since it was founded in 2001:
- The creation of a minor in Religious Studies
- Lectures by scholars with an international reputation, for university and community attendees. These are sometimes jointly sponsored by the CFA and a local religious community
- Creating a university student group called the Values Council, which supports the aims and programs of the CFA and helps to arrange events that it puts on
- Working with the Niagara Foundation in Chicago to promote cultural and interfaith tolerance, and to arrange a trip to Turkey for university members
- Creating contacts with members of different faith groups in the local community, to promote tolerance, goodwill and understanding
We shall continue these good works. Some of our other hopes for the future include:
- Creating a major in Religious Studies projected for Fall 2007 that will reflect the interpretation of religion outlined above
- Organizing a series of visits for university members to different parts of the globe
- Working with the Inter Faith Youth Core and with places of worship in Aurora to create local service projects for young people in the university and in local high schools and worshiping congregations
- Holding a summer camp for High School students to explore the cultural and multifaith diversity of Aurora and neighboring areas
- Holding refresher courses for clergy (and others) in Aurora and at George Williams College in Wisconsin, to introduce them to recent developments in Christian thought
You can see more details about aspects of the CFA’s work through other links on the CFA’s web pages. Please come back to our web site very often to see updates. If you would like to get in touch with someone about our work, please contact either Martin Forward, Joe Dunham or Eric Hunt. The Wackerlin Center for Faith and Action is located in Eckhart 306.
