CHAPTER 1

To Whom? For What?

A man pours pilk over a statue. A young woman sits solemnly behind a large book,swooshing over it occasionally with a yak-hair whisk. A man sits before a smallportrait, puts a dot of red powder between his eyes, then marks a U on hisforehead with yellow paste. These are our neighbors, each participating in aritual of his or her faith. Unless we take time to understand why our neighborsof other religions perform their devotional habits, unless we have some accuratesense of what or whom these acts are directed toward, our neighbors' rituals offaith can seem to us as odd or as trivial as the rituals of a professionalbaseball player as he prepares to take his turn at bat.

A young girl is watching her mother prepare dinner—perhaps you have heard thisstory. Mom rubs seasoning on the roast, slices off each end, puts it in a pan,and pops it in the oven. "I know why you rub the seasoning on the roast," thechild says, "but why do you slice off the ends?" "That's what my mother alwaysdid," comes the reply. "I don't know why she always did that, but her roastswere delicious, so I do it the way she did. Let's ask her." Grandma replies thatshe was just imitating Great-Grandma, who (it turns out) sliced off the ends sothe roast would fit in the only pan she had.

When it comes to rituals of faith, many devout persons in America'smultireligious neighborhood are trying to maintain the practices of those whocame before them, adapting them to the American context if necessary.Undoubtedly, some just imitate Great-Grandma and leave it at that. But manyothers have gone searching for the answer to the question, "Why do we do what wedo?" America's multireligious context itself has encouraged them to become veryclear about what their devotional habits mean, and how to do them well. Theseare the neighbors we will meet in this book. They know quite plainly to whom ortoward what their rituals of faith are directed. They have worked hard to learnhow to explain this to other Americans, and they would like you to understandthe object their devotion. This is why we are beginning our exploration of ourneighbors' rituals of faith with a theology lesson.

The Christian religion teaches that God is in essence absolutely One, absolutelyrelational, and definitely personal. That, in a nutshell, is what Christiansmean by saying that God is Triune (One-in-Three; Three-in-One) and that inChrist Jesus we have Emmanu-el: God With Us. But a nutshell is hardly adequatefor holding the mystery of the doctrines of Trinity and Incarnation. Forcenturies, Christians have explained the details to each other—sometimes inscholarly books, sometimes in poetry, sometimes in art. "God-talk" varies,sometimes sharply, from one branch of Christianity to another. It varies withinthe same branch or denomination for a host of reasons.

If God-talk is complex and varied among Christians themselves, then it shouldnot surprise us that adherents of other religions in the neighborhood will offercomplex and varied explanations of whatever is ultimate for them. We might alsoexpect that the ability of our neighbors to explain their religion's teachingswill vary according to such factors as depth of training, command of English,which branch of their religion they belong to, and the seriousness with whichthey hold to a specific position. Conversation about how the "Whom" or the"What" toward which our neighbors direct their prayers and other rituals offaith is tricky terrain, but it is worth traveling if we really want tounderstand how our neighbors demarcate sacred space and time with ritual andpractice.

As we begin, it is also important to remember that many definitions of"religion" presume that religion is inherently theistic —that is, that a notionof God (or Gods) has to be involved. However, the working definition of"religion" used here insists that a religion can be non-theistic: that areligion can be a religion even if it does not operate from a notion of "God,"at least as an ultimate creator. We must keep this in mind as we explorewhether, when, or how people worship, and as we think about how they describethe focus of their practice, or how they name and explain the object of theirdevotion.

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There is But One God ...

Having said all that, when it comes down to it, the vast majority of religionsdo operate from a presumption that there is an Ultimate—a single Source. Whilemost Americans, regardless of their religion, are happy to employ the Englishword "God" when referring to it, each theistic religion has its own theology—itsown way of describing God and God's relationship to the physical and spiritualrealms. God may have many names, and the spiritual realm may be quite complex.Yet God is God.

Judaism

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"As a Jew," a young rabbi offers, "I think about God as Transcendent Being—as aconnecting force for all humanity in the world. No matter what's going on, it'salways on a much smaller scale than God." For Jews, God is YHWH (or, YHVH). Thisholiest name is the transliteration of four Hebrew consonants: Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh.It is also shorthand for the Hebrew statement Ehyeh asher ehyeh—"I am that Iam"; "I will be what I will be." This is the answer Moses received when he askedfor the identity of the voice speaking to him from the burning bush. YHWH isoften called the Tetragrammaton (the four-letter name). "It symbolizes theessential infinity and eternity of the One Who Was, Is, and Will Be," oneinstructor explains. It is also unpronounceable. Jewish mystics say, "Go ahead.Try to pronounce it. You'll find that it is pure breath. God is Being Itself,and has in-breathed all of creation." Yes, you can insert vowels and pronounceit as Yahweh if you must, but most Jews think the divine name is too holy andintimate to be spoken. Instead, when they see YHWH in writing, they substituteAdonai (Lord) or Ha-Shem (the Name). For some Jews, it is too holy to write,except in certain circumstances; and, by extension, it is unseemly to write evenits English equivalent. So, they write "G–d" instead.

The range of Jewish notions of God is quite broad. "For me, God is Creator, Law-giver, Loving Father," says a Conservative political scientist. "There are Jewswho are non-theistic, however. They may even call themselves atheistic. Forthem, ritual is more about filial rather than divine obligation." The HumanisticJudaism movement, for example, offers a place for people who want to identifysomehow as Jews, who find meaning in the rhythm of the Jewish calendar and insome of Judaism's rituals, but not in "God-talk." The Reconstructionist movementalso makes room for atheists and agnostics as well as theists.

On the other hand, says Rabbi Jack Bemporad, "Reform Judaism holds the ratherclassical view that God creates the world and, perhaps, in some form or other,guides the world, but is distinct from the world—and I don't mean logicallydistinct, but ontologically distinct in the sense that creation is anindependent entity that has an integrity in its own right."

"I think my rather fundamentalist, very observant Orthodox upbringing managed toinstill in me a child-like innocence in my feeling about God," a Talmud scholarexplains. "Intellectual skepticism does rear its head periodically, but thosevery early, basic, simple understandings about God stay with me even as I'vegotten older and my theology has gotten more complicated and conflicted. Now, asa parent of small children," she continues, "I realize that when you are tryingto convey a message about what you believe to a child, you've got to strip itdown to its essentials; and so I do call upon the fact that, if you woke me upin the middle of the night and asked me, I would say, 'Yes, I do believe in apersonal God.' That's important to my children. I also want to combine the moreparticular Jewish notion of God and the more universal concept of God, andconvey that to them as well. We have lots of discussions about that."

"In some ways," says a Conservative rabbi in New York, "I have a personalrelationship with God, and I need to take care of that relationship. And, since,according to Genesis, we're all created in God's image, there's a relationshipbetween human beings, and that relationship is based on God's presence. Thisunderlies my whole outlook on life. I have to believe that people are basicallygood, because the image of God is part of everybody."

"In my brand of Judaism," says a Michigan writer, "God does not have a'personal' feeling. I conceive of God as the power that drives the universe—partof which we can see. I believe that God has, at certain points, intervened inhistory, and may have some kind of relationship with the Jewish people that maynot be quite the same as the relationship with other people—but that is hard toknow." Because Hebrew is a gendered language, "even rocks and rubber tires arebound to appear either 'male' or 'female.'" He makes poetic translations ofJewish texts for liturgical use at his Conservative synagogue, and, he says, "Ipresume that God transcends our typical human understanding of male and female,so that implying that God is masculine in an English translation may well bemisleading."

"I try to think about each image of God," says one young woman. "No matter howmuch I might not really like some of them, the challenge is to think about how Ican relate to them positively, instead of just throwing that language out. Ithink that speaking of God only in gender-neutral terms or non-hierarchicalterms puts a limit on God. It's saying that it's impossible for God to bemanifest in that way, just because I don't like it. Just as using only malelanguage about God has been limiting, so, too, is doing the opposite."

Islam

"If there is one big misconception Americans have about Islam and Muslims that Iwould like an opportunity to set straight," says a Shi'ah university student,"it is that we pray to something else besides God! I always get that question:'Who do you pray to?' I pray to God, I say. 'Well then, what's Allah?' I'm like,'Allah is the Arabic word for God.' People just don't understand it. I thinkit's because in movies, if there is a scene with Arabs in it, they throw in theword 'Allah' to spice it up a bit and make it look authentic. It does so muchharm. I think people need to get their language straight. It's offensive whensomebody thinks I don't believe in God, or that I am praying to some otherdeity. It's disturbing."

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Literally, Allah means "The God" (al-Lah, from the Arabic ilah: "god" or"deity"), and Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians also use this word to say"God." When visiting a mosque, look for Allah in Arabic script (which runs,visually, from right to left)—perhaps as a wall-hanging, or perhaps imbedded inthe architectural details.

For Muslims, God is Wahid—absolutely One. Tawhid—all of the implications ofGod's Oneness—is, therefore, a core Islamic concept. God is totally other thanhumans (or any creature), Muslims stress. But, as the Qur'an teaches, God isalso as close as your jugular vein. "God is the One who created me and continuesto provide for me," adds an Alabama astrophysicist. "God is compassionate, just,caring, and always available. He can be tough sometimes, but I am convinced thatthose times are ways of educating or training us, or even challenging us to helpus grow even more. Knowing that God is just helps me cope with certaindifficulties in my life. It means he does not do anything that is not fair." Godis demanding, but God is just. God may be wrathful, but the Qur'an's referencesto God's compassion and mercy outnumber its references to God's wrathfulness ata ratio of five to one.

"Muslims are taught that we are never truly separated from God," a Muslimchaplain explains. "Our illusory constructions about ourselves veil us from aReality that has never stopped being present. We originated in the presence ofGod and we will end in the presence of God. In the meantime, we have this bumpyperiod—life—which is kind of a test. The question is, Can we recollect theDivine Presence in the various challenging situations in which we findourselves, and can we act in accordance? We are bound to fail a lot, but that'sokay. It's understood from the beginning that failure is going to happen. What'simportant is that we persevere in this learning experience."

Islam teaches that God has spoken through a series of prophets. According toIslamic understanding, Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets (the last one Godwill ever send). Like several before him, he is a prophet who received a "book,"and that makes him a Messenger of God. The Qur'an (Islam's holy book) isbelieved to be God's very words. That the Angel Gabriel assisted in transmittingthis revelation to Muhammad points to the fact that Islam teaches of acosmological hierarchy. Angels were created before humans, but rank below themin certain respects; jinn or spirits (who have been created out of fire, butshare some qualities with humans) rank even lower.

When the Islamic call to prayer asserts Allahu akbar, says scholar and peaceactivist Rabia Harris, "it has enormous implications which are lost intranslation! Allahu akbar doesn't mean 'God is great' or 'God is greatest'; itmeans, 'God is greater.' That 'greater'—akbar—is where the phrase becomesspiritually active. Because if we say it to ourselves, and grasp what we'veactually said, then wherever we are now, God is greater than that. Whatever isdepressing us, whatever is exalting us, whatever we are patting ourselves on theback about, whatever we are feeling defeated about. No matter what's going on,God is greater. And that moves you."

"Allahu akbar is a useful recollection when it comes to race relations, genderissues, or any sort of power struggle," Harris suggests. "Allah akbar says thatyou may feel like you're being tromped on now, but God is greater than thismoment and the time will change. It's also a warning that power is always atest, never a gift. If you've been put in a power position, you had betterremember that the moment of accounting is waiting for you. No matter how greatyou think you are, God is greater. It keeps us honest, if we listen to it."

According to a well-known hadith (authenticated report), the Prophet Muhammadsaid that "God (great and glorious is He) has ninety-nine Names, one hundredminus one; because He is One, He loves odd numbers, and whoever believes in whatthe Names mean and acts accordingly will enter the Garden [that is, Paradise]."As one graduate student explains, "God's ninety-nine Names include everyattribute, every polar opposite. God is the Honorer, and the One Who BringsDown; the One Who Creates, and the One Who Destroys. You get this very widevision of who Allah is, which encompasses the personal and the impersonal. Morethan anything, that has influenced how I see God." The Beautiful Names are drawnfrom the Qur'an, and include descriptions like the Compassionate, the Merciful,the Just, and the Patient. Human beings may reflect any of the divineattributes, but only God possesses them all at once and always; and of all humanbeings, say Muslims, the Prophet reflected more of them at once than anyoneelse.

While it is safe to say that all Muslims are aware of the notion of the Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God, the range of emphasis placed on it by variousMuslim groups and individuals is quite wide. And, Muslim mystics are likely tosay that the number ninety-nine is too low. "It is just a convenient way ofcoalescing the Qur'anic references to the divine," says one. "God has 1001names," says another. "God's names are infinite," says a third.

Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith stresses three principles: the Oneness of God, the Oneness ofhumanity, and the Oneness of religion. "There is a oneness to God, there is aunity to the divine essence," a New Yorker explains, "but also anincomprehensibility, an unknowability. We are dependent creation; God isindependent. So we can know of God through the Manifestation of God." By theterm "Manifestation of God" Bahá'ís mean prophets. Bahá'ís believe in"progressive revelation"—the notion that the one-and-only God has been revealedthrough Abraham, Moses, Zarathustra, the Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, and Muhammad,and has spoken through Bahá'u'lláh. "They all had the same essence," explains aBahá'í athlete. "They all served the same purpose throughout history." ForBahá'ís, Bahá'u'lláh is "the Manifestation of God for the current age.""Another term that Bahá'ís sometimes use for the Manifestation of God," says amiddle-school teacher, "is 'The Dawning-Place of Understanding.' For Bahá'ís,this is where knowledge of God begins. We know of God because we could see Jesusand know what he said and did, and what Muhammad said and did, and whatBahá'u'lláh said and did."