No ‘second-class’ faith

Amid rising rhetoric and crimes against American Muslims, the White House in December broadcast a counter message about religious pluralism. “There are no second-class faiths in the U.S.A.,” said Melissa Rogers, head of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The forum “Celebrating and Protecting America’s Tradition of Religious Pluralism” called for Americans of different religious faiths to strive for more than tolerance. “Pluralism is about participation and engagement with one another across our differences, not simply coexisting beside one another,” Rogers said, paraphrasing Harvard University religion professor Diana Eck, who runs the Pluralism Project. Neither does pluralism mean a homogenization of religious beliefs. Rather it asks us to “bring our various particularities and beliefs to the table of conversation,” she added.