Week Four :: July 17–24

Many Americas: Navigating Our Divides

• We are many Americas. We are many geographies, many economies, many cultures, many beliefs. We are a nation of differences and divides, and in a summer following a presidential election and a devastating pandemic that has thrown those divides into stark relief, we look to better understand those many Americas, the barriers—real or perceived—that keep us apart, and together consider how we navigate our differences in charting a future for our nation.

Interfaith Lecture Theme :: The Evolving Religious Narrative of America

The national narrative that we extoll is that America was founded on ethical principles born out of religious freedom and fervor, with the moral imperative of justice for all — but how accurate is this narrative? How has this self-image been lived out historically? Does it accommodate our multifaith evolution, and the myriad expressions of world faith traditions that we now comprise? In this week we explore the evolving American religious narrative.