Re-starting an idea for bridging the gaps between some forms of theism and nontheism

[M4rio]

For many years I've had a group of people waiting patiently on me to schedule some volunteering events. We did a few  events here and there, but I always got bogged down in feeling like I had to perfectly make people feel happy about the group or help facilitate their stated goals of contributing or their project ideas. 

 

The idea is very simple: Religious and nonreligious people, out of a shared love of their community and each other, deciding to volunteer for existing, professionally managed non-profits that need simple labor (sorting supplies, donations, books, cleaning natural spaces, serving homeless, visiting the elderly, etc). And, additional but optional opportunity to discuss with others what inspires them to serve -- regardless of whether that motivation is religious, philosophical, or neither. People are inspired to help others for many reasons. All I care about is that people show up and that they do so out of commonality and in reconigition that people of different faith and of no faith tradition can collaborate to help others.

 

The Interfaith Youth Core, http://www.ifyc.orgr, which now includes Humanist participation, has a very similar model,  but it's focused squarely upon college campuses.

 

I'm posting here because I want to hold myself to this and want to provide updates as it develops. Thank you for listening.

 

My idea is for people outside of college to collaborate, however it certainly was born out of my college experience.  I had friends in college who were Hindu, Muslim,  Buddhist, Christian, Sikh, agnostic, atheist, etc. Somehow, we all got along well enough to work together on assignments, fo hang out together, to workout together, to have meals together, etc.

 

I fully realize that some forms of religious belief are adamantly opposed to seeking common ground with the outsider. I also think they, at least the Christian forms, misinterpret their very own scriptures -- too much to go into here,  but the parable of the Samaritan demonstrates well that the "other" is often the saving grace.

 

I do not expect to see lots of conservative Christians wanting to participate in such a group -- but I do want to help cultivate events and space for people who otherwise wouldn't be likely to work together to feel part of something bigger than their own tribe or non-tribe -- while also retaining those tribal identities.

 

I was reminded of the importance of something like this in my own life recently when having breakfast with two Muslim friends from college along with a Hindu mutual friend -- and more recently having dinner with a Hindu friend and her toddler daughter.

 

Her daughter see no religious identity, no walls, no hells or heavens in abstract philosophies or rulebooks. What she sees are human beings, some of whom will smile at her and take her arms to play child's games like ring around the rosie or to swing her through the air. This, to me, is "god enough" for to be called the experience of "the divine".

 

It reminds me of one of my favorite clips from Alan Watts called The Wisdom of Youth in which he analyzes another famous Jesus saying in a way that very powerful:

 

 

A side goal of this project would be to produce some kind of guide for others to build similar cross-belief action groups, and hopefully some podcastable discussions in a similar style as IFYC's Common Ground podcast: https://m.soundcloud.com/ifyc

 

Note: Where I got tripped up with this group in the fits and starts I had before was that I let some people try to divert the focus away from simple, quick easy labor  opportunities for all participants (which allowed for people to have fun and get to know each other casually) and toward very specific, very intellectual and long-term projects that could only appeal to very specific people. I need to be better at enforcing some basic principles and when people want to recruit for specialized needs, I need to encourage them to remember this group's simple goals and to post their ideas in the forum and make a brief announcement, but that our group volunteering opportunities will remain simple and require no special knowledge other than the training that the non-profits we sign up with provide on the day. If they can find people who want to do those projects that is fine, but the group must have regularly occuring simple events for people to participate in and feel part of.