Guest Public Lecture: Rabbi Rachel Mikva

Wednesday, November 10, 2021 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM EST
online

When does religion become dangerous? As Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva explains in her new book, most religious adherents value their traditions for their “capacity to inspire goodness, fashion meaning, connect communities, and open gateways to the sacred.” At the same time, Mikva cautions, “religion is wielded as a weapon to oppress people, deepen division, and justify violence.” Which religious ideas are good, and which are dangerous? Mikva suggests that depending on the particulars, the very same ideas can be life-nourishing or a source of that oppression. Furthermore, she argues, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have “self-critical” traditions that mitigate the danger of their ideas. Many Jews, Christians, and Muslims have debated the nature of truth, kept space open for doubt, and have reminded themselves of the difficulty humans face in discerning the will of God.

Author of Dangerous Religious Ideas: The Deep Roots of Self-Critical Faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Beacon, 2020), Rachel S. Mikva will discuss her new book with the George Mason community from noon-1:30pm on Wednesday, November 10. Dr. Mikva serves as the Herman E. Schaalman Professor in Jewish Studies and Senior Faculty Fellow of the InterReligious Institute at Chicago Theological Seminary.

This virtual public event is co-sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies, the Center for Humanities Research, Fall for the Book, and Mason Hillel, and will take place on Zoom. Please register here to receive the link.