An Israeli soldier prays next to an artillery gun on Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip.
18 Alvernia University Magazine
their 20s. Some didn’t look old enough to grow beards. His mind drifted to other religious terrorists like Yigal Amir, 26, the extremist Jew behind the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Benjamin Smith, 21, of the Christian Identity movement, whose 1997 shooting spree across the Midwest targeted Jews, Asians and African-Americans. Patel saw in the smooth, unlined faces of the 9/11 hijackers a tragic truth: Religious extremists invested in terrible, hate-filled youth programs. The fledging movement he’d begun to build in his hometown, Chicago — centered on dialogue and service to promote pluralism — was a counter to this blood-soaked investment. Patel’s faith heroes — Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi and the Aga Khan — were Catholic, Baptist, Hindu and Muslim. Choosing peace and nonviolence to promote social change, these leaders of robust faith attracted followers of all religions and none. And they had been as young as the extremists who’d shed blood in God’s name. If religion was the problem, it was also the solution — and young
people were key. Flashing forward to a decade after 9/11, the wheels of interfaith relations in America are turning, albeit uneasily, in what Patel calls “the deliberate and positive engagement of diversity.” In a world in which sectarian divisions fuel violent confrontations and where extremists of all faiths continue to kill to the soundtrack of prayer, the organization Patel nurtured from across the Atlantic, Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), aims to reach, and teach, young people before the extremists do.
Faith: Roadblock to Bridge The essence of interfaith cooperation is religiously diverse people living together in peace, inspired by their traditions to serve the common good. Patel, who spoke at Alvernia’s Founder’s Day celebration in September, told students that religious pluralism is the social justice issue of the 21st century — the equivalent of race relations in the 20th century. Appointed to President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based Neighborhood Partnerships, Patel works closely with the President’s Interfaith and Community Service