Chicago Theological Seminary

Sep 2, 2023

Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva, an associate professor of Jewish studies at Chicago Theological Seminary, will speak at a Love Thy Neighbor interfaith worship service Thursday in Little Rock. Mikva is the author of “Dangerous Religious Ideas: The Deep Roots of Self-Critical Faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.”(Courtesy photo) Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and members of other faiths will gather Thursday for an Interfaith Service of Prayer and Remembrance at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Little Rock. The annual event, which is sponsored by the Arkansas House of Prayer and the Interfaith Center of Arkansas, is always held near the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which claimed 2,977 innocent lives and triggered nearly two decades of war. This year's theme is "Love Thy Neighbor: Tending the Sacred Flame" and the guest speaker is Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva, an associate professor of Jewish studies at Chicago Theological Seminary and the author of "Dangerous Religious Ideas: The Deep Roots of Self-Critical Faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam." The New York Times called the 2021 book a "sharply researched exploration" of what Mikva refers to as "self-critical faith." The premise, the Times noted, is that there are "strains of humility and pluralism in the three Abrahamic religions that can serve as antidotes to the excesses -- from holy war and fundamentalism to anti-science and bigotry -- that give God a bad name." Sophia Said, founding chairwoman of the Madina Institute and Mosque and the Interfaith Center's executive director, was impressed enough with the book that she invited Mikva to discuss it at the Six Bridges Book of Festival in 2021. Now, she is helping to bring her back to Little Rock. "I'm fascinated by her work and the way she describes religion and the positives and all the challenges connected with [it]," Said said. Mikva portrayed all religions as susceptible to misuse. "Scriptures have been wielded, in some fashion, for great good, but they've also been wielded for harm," she said. "Anything powerful is potentially dangerous," Mikva said. In her book, she compares religion to fire. "It has tremendous positive potential in all of its diverse forms, but it also has wildly destructive power," she said. "It depends on how we use it and how we guard against the dangers." It's important for traditionalists as well as progressives to be self-critical, she said. "The minute we assume that all the dangers of religion belong to somebody else's faith, we're part of the problem," she said. There have been efforts, by some governments, to stamp out religion, but they've failed. That doesn't surprise Mikva. "You will never be able to erase religion from the world even if you wanted to. It's too deeply wound into our sociological, cultural, biological and psychological [makeup]," she said. "We need to shape it so that it can do more good and harm less." In addition to being a Jewish studies professor, Mikva is also a senior faculty fellow at the seminary's InterReligious Institute. Her latest book, published by Cambridge University Press in June, is titled "Interreligious Studies: An Introduction." When she teaches interreligious studies courses, she includes writings by the New Atheists. "Richard Dawkins [author of "The God Delusion" ] talks about religion as smallpox, but says it's harder to eliminate. ... I think of it as bacteria that's important for human functioning but it also can run amok," she said. In addition to Mikva's keynote remarks, Thursday's event will also feature the sounding of the shofar, special music and a time of sacred silence. Audience members will be invited to light a candle and to read the Universal Peace Prayer. Afterward, guests are encouraged to stick around for the post-service Interfaith Food Festival. Susan Sims Smith, the Interfaith Center's founder, said the Love Thy Neighbor service is unlike any other in Central Arkansas. "You can't go to any other physical location and have this type of worship with atheists and agnostics, seekers and people of all faiths and many cultures," she said. In addition, "the music is always so uplifting and joyful and educational and transforming," she said. Britt Skarda, former senior pastor at Little Rock's Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church and an Interfaith Center board member, said Love Thy Neighbor "celebrates our differences and inclusion in the faith community. ... It's just a real kind of healing time for for all those who participate and I think for the broader community as well." If you go: Love Thy Neighbor: Tending the Sacred Flame will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 1000 N Mississippi St. Print Headline: Interfaith service scheduled to mark Sept. 11 attacks ADVERTISEMENT