In Bruce Feiler's most recent book, Where God Was Born, he travels 10,000 miles through Israel, Iraq, and Iran to try to answer the question of whether religion can be a source of peace instead of just a source of conflict. In Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, he tells of his search for the shared ancestor of Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and explored his personal trek through the Bible in Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses. He offered us some thoughts on the role of faith in the world, its potential to unite as well as divide people, and why a robust and ongoing interfaith dialogue is so important. For more information on his books and his work, visit his website.
Bruce also is seeking to extend that interfaith examination of religion and its role in the world into living rooms, libraries, churches, synagogues, and mosques with Abraham Salons, discussion groups that examine the common roots of the world's three largest religions.
CASE FOUNDATION: You've written three books about the journey of faith -- Walking the Bible, Abraham, and Where God Was Born. How has your understanding of the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths changed with each examination?
BRUCE FEILER: Walking the Bible was more of a personal journey, exploring the Bible, its relevance to my life, and the historical and archaeological underpinnings of the story. I explored the common ancestry of the three faiths, but it wasn't a central part of the journey. Abraham was inspired by 9/11 and more directly hit on the question of the shared patriarch of all three faiths. I began to see how all three religions share the same father, and the same legacy of God's universal blessing, but that each faith had tried to claim Abraham for itself. Where God Was Born tried to take that one step further, and by traveling through Israel, Iraq, and Iran, and reading the second half of the Bible in some of the most dangerous places on the planet, I could learn any clues to help us today.
CF: There are those who say religion can serve to bring people together, and others who say it's what tears us apart. What's your position?
FEILER: When I was growing up, I, like many Jews, cheered what appeared to be the receding of faith from everyday life. The further religion got from our lives, the better our lives would get, I thought, because persecution had been such a burden to Jewish families for generations. But the older I get, the more I realize that religion is not going to be easily marginalized by one of its wannabe successors -- science, capitalism, [and] consumerism. Religion has grown stronger in the last 30 years because it's broader than any country. It addresses the dignity of all human beings. It is universal. Religion also breeds overconfidence, and one challenge for today's believers is to rediscover in the fire of faith the source of warmth that can overpower the flames of destruction. The only force strong enough to take on religious extremism is religious moderation.
CF: When you look at the conflicts between religions, do most result from misinformation and misunderstanding, or legitimate differences over faith?
FEILER: I think many of the conflicts result from the idea that there's an exclusive claim to truth. When the great religions were being formed, particularly during the middle of the first millennium B.C.E., which saw the birth of Judaism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, the great Greek philosophers, etc., there was a sharing of ideas, rituals, and customs. There was a dialogue, of sorts, among them. I think the Bible reflects that. If they can be in dialogue among themselves, why can't the religions that grew out of that time, including Christianity and Islam, be in dialogue, too? One problem is that Christianity first introduced the idea that there is one universal faith. Islam later picked that up. Today, that idea is deader than it's been in a long time, I believe.
CF: You've talked about finding clues to unravel today's problems by looking at the roots of religion. What are the most significant clues you've found? What can we learn from the past?
FEILER: I believe, as I was just saying, that the number one idea is that religion is not exclusive. Religions, even Gods, used to be attached to specific pieces of land. Over time, and this is reflected in the Bible, God began to be universal. But if you look at Second Isaiah and the story of Cyrus, God embraces Cyrus as someone who embraces God's moral vision, even though he doesn't follow the faith of the early Jews. God even calls Cyrus his messiah. It's not surprising to learn that Cyrus is the first person who respected the faiths of his neighbors. He introduced the notion of pluralism and happiness. Cyrus is a great place to look for clues to today.
CF: You've pointed out that as many of the world's religions were forming, they interacted with one another. What do you think are the biggest sources of separation today? How does the level of separation today compare to other periods in the past?
FEILER: The biggest source of separation is a several-thousand-year-old notion, first introduced by early Christians, that one faith can serve the whole world. That idea really dominated the world from, say, Constantine, to the late 19th century. The ecumenical movement, Vatican II, and the interfaith conversations of the last century are largely an effort to alter that notion and introduce the idea that different faiths don't have to merge into one faith; they can coexist side by side.
CF: You created a version of Walking the Bible for children. What role can young people play in building bridges among cultures and faiths?
FEILER: To be honest, I'm not one of those people who believe that if we can "just get to the children," we can solve all of our problems. I believe the central idea that we all have to grasp is that we have to get over the idea that our mothers all told us, which is "Don't talk about politics and religion in public." The extremists do, and [they] spew messages of hate. Those of us who believe in mutual respect and tolerance have to speak out as well.
CF: You chose to take a closer look at Abraham and the origins of religion in the Middle East after Sept. 11, 2001. Knowing what you know about the region and the faiths, do you believe in an inevitable "clash of civilizations"?
FEILER: I believe that we can't sit back and say, "I hope they solve that problem over there, in Kabul, or in Baghdad, or in Jerusalem." I believe this matter is so important we have to address it in every community, in every neighborhood, and in every heart.
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