The Livingston Faith and Race Project is hosting a public conversation from 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, at First United Methodist Church of Howell, 1230 Bower St., on how religious traditions in the United States have been used both to justify racial division, as well as to build movements for civil rights, peace, and inclusion.
As national headlines report about rising antisemitism, Christian nationalism, and political polarization, the Livingston Faith and Race Project is asking: What role should faith play in bringing people together instead of pushing them apart?
Featured speaker Elliot Ratzman, a research fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute at the University of Michigan, studies how faith and politics intersect around race, nationalism, and ethics. His work examines how some Christians and Jews have historically used religion to justify exclusion and violence, and how others within those traditions built alternative movements centered on civil rights and coexistence.
Ratzman’s talk comes at a time when religious language and symbols are increasingly part of national political debates, and when incidents of hate target Jews, Muslims, immigrants, and people of color. Organizers say the goal is to move the conversation from the national to the local level: What does this mean for Livingston County, and how do faith communities here respond? Following the presentation, local religious leaders will comment on how our community finds our path forward today.
Ratzman teaches courses on modern religious thought, politics, and culture with an emphasis on race and ethics. He is finishing his first book on issues of Jewish ethics and racism in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. Ratzman is also part of the national leadership of the Fellowship of Reconciliation USA, the oldest interreligious organization dedicated to war resistance and civil rights.Sponsored by the Livingston Faith and Race Project
To register to attend, click here.
The Livingston Faith and Race Project is a coalition of people from different faith traditions who hope, pray and work together to promote love, respect and inclusion of people of all races in our community. For more about the organization’s mission/goals and history, to use its resources, or to get involved, click here.
