Interfaith Matters

Dr. Debbie Almontaser (left), with our host Hannah Meholick

Our Guest: 

Our guest this time is community activist and teacher Dr. Debbie Almontaser, board president of Muslim Community Network, and founder of Bridging Cultures Group, Inc.  Hannah and Debbie discuss faith and feminism.

On Feminism in Islam: "There is so much misunderstanding about the role of women in Islam. I feel that feminism has been within the Islamic tradition for the last 1,400 years ... the list of 'sheroes' in the Islamic tradition is really vast."

On Modesty: "How much modesty a woman should observe (or not) and who gets to judge whether she is or not, is very troubling, something we as women and our male allies need to challenge. It's a woman's choice... I choose to wear the hijab as a form of worship... as a connection between me and God ... and I do it with pride, and dignity, and celebration."

On Objectification of Women: "I am deeply alarmed when I look at ads to sell cars and alcohol, that they all have women in them.  Women should not be the "icing on the cake' to sell something."

We'd like to offer props to our underwriter, One Spirit Learning Alliance!

One Spirit Learning Alliance – an interfaith learning institute that trains spiritual leaders and offers workshops for the public to spark personal transformation. More information is at Onespiritinterfaith.org/Matters, where our listeners can find a free download of one of their teachings, “The Life We Are Called to Live.”

"We Come Together to Go Further"

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed on her work of bringing humanity together to better each other's welfare

Our host Hannah Meholick (left) with Amina J. Mohammed

Our Guest: 

In this episode, Hannah Meholick talks with Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Minister of Environment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.   Ms. Mohammed was instrumental in bringing about the United Nations' unprecedented 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development including the Sustainable Development Goals (also known as "SDG's"). 

For her contributions to worldwide sustainable development, The Interfaith Center of New York will be honoring the Deputy Secretary-General with the James Parks Morton Interfaith Award at its 21st annual gala celebration on June 11. Please click here if you are interested in attending the event.

Podcast Episode Highlights:

On the benefits of diversity within her own family: "I grew up as a Muslim, but we have such a multi-religious family because my mother's father was a Presbyterian minister. My father was a Nigerian veterinary doctor, and my mother, a Welsh nurse, so I come from two sides, which is great, because I see through two lenses all the time, it's never one way." 

On the partnerships required to make sustainable development possible: "When you think about religions, at the core of them, is about understanding and mutual respect. And for partnerships, it's the same thing. So it's another dimension of how we come together to go further. 

On working with faith leaders toward sustainability goals: "Meeting with religious leaders was, for me, a way to  get across to a number of messengers my message, and also to hear back from them, what it was perhaps we were not messaging right." 

On the value of interfaith dialogue: "There are some challenges that cross faiths - female genital mutiliation goes across faiths - that's culture.  And when you address that, it's interesting to get faiths toget

Sunita Viswanath (left) with host Hannah Meholick 

Our Guest: 

We launch Season Three of Interfaith Matters with guest Sunita Viswanath, executive director of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus and co-founder of Women for Afghan Women. Sunita, a Brooklyn resident, has worked for over two decades in women's rights and human rights organizations, and co-founded Sadhana in order to bring together her activism for human rights and her identity as a Hindu.   

Podcast Episode Highlights:

Sunita, on her early motivations to engage in social justice work: "When I see faith-based justice work, I hunger for Hinduism to be a part of it.  And I waited for that to exist in my world, and because I couldn’t find it, I guess I – along with friends – am making it." 

On the Hindu caste system: "In Hinduism, one of our deep, shameful, painful, horrible blemishes is the reality of the caste system. And so, for generations upon generations, people within our own human family have been dehumanized in the most unspeakable ways.  What is the meaning of Hindu expressions of Oneness if we’re creating these divisions which are responsible for perpetrating the most extreme violence?"

On the meaning of "Sadhana": "'Sadhana' means 'the doing of Hinduism.' [It's] a verb, it’s an action word, and those of us that started Sadhana didn’t want to talk about the justice we wanted to see in the world, we wanted to be it, we wanted to do it, and so our name reminds us – every day – that whatever we are talking about, we want to be creating it, manifesting it, building it in the world."

___________________________________________________  

We're so pleased to welcome back One Spirit Learning Alliance as an underwriter of Interfaith Matters! 

One Sp