An Uncertain Pathway

September 22, 2006

One might be tempted to think that religion is flourishing at Tufts. A quick glance at TuftsLife, or a stroll up the library steps for that matter, paints a picture of a campus vibrant with spiritual life and theological discussion. Those flyers for the next panel at Hillel and the ads for the upcoming programming of the Tufts Christian Fellowship are, ostensibly, indicative of a university where religious thought is not only present, but celebrated. But what happens when we dig a little deeper?

Even the meekest of the attempts—and blessed are the meek, are they not?—to look further reveals something interesting about the programming of so-called religious organizations at Tufts: the vast majority of such events have very little to do with actual religious practice. This past week, for example, a number of Tufts’ faith-based organizations gathered for one reason or another. On Monday, the Asian Christian Fellowship held a general interest meeting. On Tuesday evening, the “Ladies of the Lord” assembled, according to TuftsLife, to discuss “life, love, and anything in between.” And on Thursday night, Tufts Hillel held a screening of the popular film Wet Hot American Summer, a rather interesting follow-up to their discussion on Wednesday of the experiences of two Israeli and Palestinian youths in “Two People, One Voice.”

Political, social, or categorically kitschy, these programs were anything but religious. Soft politics, meetings for coffee, and Hollywood camp were better publicized, and likely better attended, than the elements of faith that ostensibly form the bases for such organizations in the first place. Indeed, while all of the large religious groups on campus have some sort of weekend service, social celebrations of political correctness too often overshadow the formal foundations of faith at Tufts.

So what is the average student to think when, a few days before the start of the semester, the university releases a statement announcing “Pathways,” an inter-faith and intercultural dialogue sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security? According to the press release, “the grant will support the development, implementation and refinement of programs that will reduce inter-group tensions among university students of different religions, primarily Christian, Jewish and Muslim, and help foster habits of inter-group acceptance and cooperation among future leaders and decision-makers.” Such a statement begs a few questions. First, what exactly does that mean, and can’t you be more specific? Perhaps more importantly, how exactly will Tufts’ students and religious organizations—which already seem to have an implicit understanding that any sort of controversy, especially in the form of programming that advocates any sort of actual religious conviction, is the deadliest of sins—benefit from such programming? Perhaps more sardonically, since when is the Department of Homeland Security engaged in political correctness?

In an age of such hyper-polarization, it seems we are developing a special kind of dance, a movement of which Tufts is a microcosm. Each of us holds our convictions—religious, social, and political—with steadfast dogmatism, and each of us pretends that our beliefs are not incompatible with everyone else’s. And while our nation’s often neurotic foreign policy is decidedly interventionist, it seems each of us personally has developed a policy of rigid isolationism.

It is the opinion of the Observer that the Tufts community—and, indeed, every community—has not only the right but the obligation to ask itself difficult questions, to tackle difficult problems, and to engage in difficult discussions. We do not find it necessary, nor prudent, nor even possible to sustain the continued denial of our differences. We seek instead a community in which we can do more than agree to disagree. So it is with regret that we hear quite a great noise but quite a little conversation.