A Reflection on Faith’s Power to Call Us to Our Better Angels, Support Bridge-Building, and Strengthen Civic Pluralism

Earlier this month, the PACE Faith In/And Democracy Listening Community met to share and learn about the ways in which faith calls people to their better angels, and can contribute to bridge-building work toward a healthy twenty-first century American civic pluralism. There are few people who have done this work at such a high level, and with such effectiveness and integrity, as Eboo Patel, Founder and President of Interfaith America. I was pleased that PACE was able to host Eboo to share with our community about why now is a time to build.

Eboo shared with us his vision for a “potluck nation.” Instead of a “melting pot,” which suggests a melting down of identities to form a uniform whole, “there is no potluck unless people contribute, and the expectation is for folks to contribute.” He sees possibilities for building a national culture, and local cultures, of distinctive contributions–derived from our cultures, ideologies, religions, and more–to our civic life.

In line with the kind of education and context-setting we’ve sought to advance through this Learning Community, Eboo described the religious demographics of America, the level and pervasiveness of religious commitment in this country, and the profound…