Originally published in The Chattanooga Times Free Press
I could barely contain my excitement a few days ago when the Chattanooga Times Free Press published this article, “Businesses face calls to include faith in diversity program”. Do you know how many years I’ve been promoting the idea of competence in religious diversity? It began over 30 years ago when I created the DuPage/Chicago Interfaith Resource Network and got a call from the county’s police chief. DuPage County had acquired an amazingly diverse population as it developed into Chicago’s technology corridor. And law enforcement officers were struggling, especially when there was a death, like someone run over on the highway. Apparently they were asking all the loved ones if they should call a priest and were offending everyone who was not Catholic. Would I please wear a pager 24/7 so that they could call on me to help them with the correct language?
I was not thrilled to be on call 24/7 but didn’t want to discourage them from improving their outreach to the new communities, not to mention the diverse faith communities that had been long-time residents of the county, but apparently invisible. While tempted to tell them to read a book or two, I knew that on-the-ground law enforcement had little time to go into the depth needed to understand various religion’s traditions, language and beliefs. Few, if any, had even been exposed to another faith other than their own since such education in schools was rare.
My solution to their problem was to create a Quick Reference Religious Diversity Card on the topic of “Death and Dying” with 10 different religious and 3 categories: 1) the body after death, 2) the soul after death, 3) mourning and funeral practices. I hoped that would be helpful and we could close the door on that 24/7 thing.
I didn’t realize that I had just opened the door and requests would come during in. Healthcare organizations requested a Quick Reference Religious Diversity Card on Sacred Language. Religious leaders asked for a Card on Sacred Space. Schools and government agencies wanted one of Sacred Time and businesses wanted a Card on Sacred Food, especially for conferences. And when there was a street riot in my home town over the high school principal moving the Christmas tree from the front door to the lobby alcove. It hit the front page of The Chicago Tribune and my phone rang off the hook demanding that I fix everything. Never mind that the church across the street didn’t have a Christmas tree claiming that it didn’t invest in such pagan symbols, it was time to rise to the occasion and jump into it 24/7.
In the years since, there have been a few occasions where my religious diversity work has been called upon, mostly emergencies where panic and religious literacy scarcity combine. As the TFP noted, there’s little religious diversity training offered and those DEI experts fade away when emergencies fade. Other professional don’t often step to replace them which is probably a good thing if they don’t have true expertise in the field. Mistakes concerning belief systems are almost impossible to correct. There are no safety nets.
This article shows how organizations are increasing their demand for professionals who can help deal with religious issues and in particular, antisemitism and Islamophobia. It’s about time! The Israel-Hamas war intensified trends that have been often ignored but are now emergencies. Hopefully, panic and religious literacy scarcity will lead to more enduring efforts and demand will increase supply.
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