Religion is an unending source of curiosity and controversy. Religious pluralism is an increasingly inescapable part of public life – in the U.S. and around the world.

Georgetown/On Faith, a partnership between Georgetown University and Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, is designed to provide knowledge, inform debate, and promote greater dialogue and understanding across religious traditions.

The fit is excellent. On Faith, the leading online conversation about religion, brings together thought leaders and the public for vibrant exchanges. Georgetown, the oldest Catholic and Jesuit University in America, welcomes students of all faith traditions and is a global leader in the interdisciplinary study of religion and its role in world affairs. Georgetown/On Faith will enrich online conversations with university-based knowledge resources and engage Georgetown faculty – and students – in discussions beyond the classroom.

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The 2008 presidential election is probably the first in American history that has spawned a veritable faith and politics industry.

Entire non-profit organizations, university departments, think tanks, polling operations, and web divisions at prestigious East coast newspapers, have marshaled their resources in an attempt to make sense of the role that religion will play in the run for the White House. The industry is immense. Its wares displayed on every boulevard, sidewalk and back alley of the mass media. Its potential for influencing public opinion is considerable.

The faith and politics industry also has a variety of “applied” or “hands-on” subsidiaries. There are the lobbyists who work for religious special interest groups. There are demographers who conduct surveys for any client willing to cough up the fee. There is the very lucrative traffic in what I call “religious imaging.” By this I refer to the work of political consultants--an astonishing percentage of whom are graduates of theological seminaries--who advise and often rehabilitate candidates who have somehow drifted off (religious) message.

And did I mention that the industry is completely deregulated? That is to say, there are no standards for entrance, let alone excellence. No one seems to be interested in the identity of the employees or employers in the industry. It doesn’t hold annual conventions in a big, deep carpet-y Hotel where everyone gets to expense their meals back to Headquarters. In fact, no one seems to have much to say about the industry as a whole. It floats under the radar. Which is strange because as regards religion and politics the Industry is the radar.

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I am about to raise my glass, cautiously, soberly, to a few Evangelical Christian leaders. Let me stress that I am not an Evangelical Christian. I am not born again. I have no personal relation with Jesus Christ. I certainly don’t believe that the Bible is inerrant and infallible in its original autographs (what original autographs?). I do recall, however, that one of my finest graduate students once told me that he knew, he just knew, that one day I would come to Christ. I did not, and do not, share his assessment. But I was sort of touched by that.

Anyhow, of late I have been studying the Mitt Romney candidacy, a candidacy that has set laborers in the Faith and Politics Industry (which I discussed in my inaugural post) astir. There are so many angles, that one hardly knows where to begin. Poll after poll indicates that a rather sizeable percentage of Americans have reservations about voting for a Mormon president. It is a pervasive prejudice, one that transcends political fault lines. You can find it among the Religious Left, as Al Sharpton’s recent remarks in his chat with Christopher Hitchens revealed. You can find it among nonbelievers who have convinced themselves that the LDS Church is not a religion, but a cult (though why that distinction should irk a generation of atheists and agnostics who think that any form of religious belief is a sure sign of advanced mental deficiency is beyond me).

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I truly hope--but sincerely doubt--that twenty years from now my undergraduates will remember the things I said in class. I have the haziest recollection of a political scientist I once took a course with--a real character, just the way I like them--pronouncing something that went like this:

A congressman (this was the early 80's. He did not feel compelled to use the term “congressperson”) has a job. The name of that job is called ‘getting re-elected’. A congressman also has a hobby. The name of that hobby is called ‘serving constituents.’

That priceless little Machiavellian aphorism has stayed with me a good long time.

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Query: Can an atheist or agnostic commentator discuss any aspect of religion for more than thirty seconds without referring to religious people as imbeciles, extremists, mental deficients, fascists, enemies of the common good, crypto-Nazis, conjure men, irrationalists, pedophiles, bearers of false consciousness, authoritarian despots, and so forth? Is that possible?

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On Friday I will write about the Giuliani candidacy, but given the ructions kicked up by the previous post let me pause to respond. Rest assured, there will be more columns critical of secularism--in particular its political and intellectual listlessness (and, yes, religious groups will get some of the same, especially the ones that are anything but politically listless). Too, there will be posts that speak about interesting new possibilities and trends in nonbelief, especially in literature.

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Back in April, “On Faith” and Georgetown University co-sponsored a panel discussion on "What It Means to Be Muslim in America.” During that event, Georgetown's Imam Yahya Hendi questioned why U.S. media rarely acknowledged condemnations of violence and terrorism by Muslim leaders. His question prompted “On Faith” co-moderator Sally Quinn to propose devoting a full week of “On Faith” to a discussion among Muslim scholars and authorities on Islam's views on violence, human rights, and interfaith relations. “Muslims Speak Out” is that week-long, online discussion.

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Why do we need to know about Islam?
• Islam is the second largest religion in the world, after Christianity, and will soon be the second largest in America.
• Muslims are, and will increasingly be, our neighbors, our colleagues and our fellow citizens.
• Our ignorance about Islam distorts our view of one-fifth of the world’s population and causes us to misinterpret important events and phenomena in the US and abroad.
• Peace and safety cannot be achieved in ignorance, but can be promoted through knowledge and the understanding that grows from knowledge.

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To the best of my knowledge none of the leading presidential candidates is an opera buff, save Rudy Giuliani. This raises the related point that none of our aspirants for High Office is anywhere near as operatic as the former Mayor of New York. Say what you will about him, but Giuliani is never boring.

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In April of 2007, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed former Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio as the first U.N. High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, a global campaign dedicated to bridging the divide between Islam and the West. In May, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the establishment of the Blair Foundation, dedicated to fostering interfaith dialog. While in June, President Bush stated that he would appoint a U.S. envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference in order to listen and learn. All of these announcements were recognition, as 9/11 and conflicts in the Middle East and the Balkans illustrate, that one of humanity’s most pressing concerns is developing a deeper understanding of the world’s religions and their role in global affairs.

Our world is growing smaller. Nations are more interdependent, individuals more interconnected, and the global community less divided. Unfortunately, as our world has grown closer, it has become more polarized and prone to conflict. In such an environment, we deny or ignore others with values, customs, faiths and practices that are different from our own at our peril. We must work to build bridges between communities of faith and religious traditions, to foster interreligious understanding and interfaith dialogue. This common good must be our common goal.

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1. WHAT IS JIHAD? UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS DOES ISLAM SANCTION THE USE OF VIOLENCE? WHAT WOULD YOU TELL SUICIDE BOMBERS WHO INVOKE ISLAM TO JUSTIFY THEIR ACTIONS?

2. HOW DOES ISLAM DEFINE APOSTASY? IS IT PERMISSIBLE FOR A MUSLIM TO CONVERT TO ANOTHER FAITH? HOW CAN LAWS AGAINST APOSTASY AND BLASPHEMY BE RECONCILED WITH THE KORANIC INJUNCTION OF "NO COMPULSION IN RELIGION"?

3. WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM? HOW DOES ISLAM'S VIEW OF MALE-FEMALE EQUALITY DIFFER FROM THE WESTERN VIEW?

A glossary of terms for "Muslims Speak Out:"

"What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam" (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) by John L. Esposito.

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The complete list of Muslim clerics and scholars who were invited to participate in “Muslims Speak Out.”

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Books on Islam, recommended by “On Faith” panelist John L. Esposito, professor of religion, international affairs and Islamic studies at Georgetown University. He also is founding director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

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“Unriddle the mysteries of human nature!” as Kafka liked to say. In last Friday’s post I asked how it was possible that Rudy Giuliani was receiving the support of White Evangelicals and Traditional Catholics. His Mario Cuomo-like refusal to transpose his private abhorrence for abortion into the register of his public policy initiatives should not sit well with these constituencies. As for “character,” his more or less standard Manhattan life style (e.g., divorce, gay friends, chicanery, recreational cross dressing) is rarely a selling point in the Red States.

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There is no denying the popular association of Islam with political violence – both state tyranny and non-state terrorism. But a reasonably careful reading of Islam’s holy texts and Islamic law, known as sharia, make it clear that Islam is a call not to violence, but to a moral life – and that Muslims may legitimately use force in only a limited set of circumstances.

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Why is Islam such a violent religion? Does the Qur'an condone acts of terrorism? Why haven’t Muslims denounced the 9/11 attacks and suicide bombing?

Whether in the media or public discussions, these are common and persistent questions. But, in fact, major Muslim religious leaders and Muslim organizations have and do speak out. The media tends not to find these fatwas and statements newsworthy but they are available on the internet.

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, for example, Muhammad Abdur-Rashid, the most senior Muslim chaplain in the American Armed forces, asked for a fatwa about whether American Muslim military could participate in the war in Afghanistan and in other Muslim countries. A group of prominent religious authorities concluded that “All Muslims ought to be united against all those who terrorize the innocents, and those who permit the killing of non-combatants without a justifiable reason” and that it was acceptable “to partake in the fighting in the upcoming battles, against whomever their country decides has perpetrated terrorism against them.”

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