PRISM reflects religious discourse

What happens when you place two Jews, a Christian, a Hindu and a Muslim in one room?

A panel consisting of such diverse students spoke last night after a lecture in Logan Hall by Professor John DiIulio on Religion in the Public Sphere.

Professor DiIulio's lecture was sponsored by Penn's Programs in Religion, Interfaith and Spirituality Matters, a student group that works to promote religious activities as part of student life at Penn.

DiIulio's speech focused largely on how "religion has not and is not going away, and we must ask ourselves not if, but rather how, religion should be engaged in the public sphere," he said.

Going back to Benjamin Franklin's declaration that "he was in favor of any religion that increased man's humanity to man," DiIulio carefully laid the case that Penn should support its religious communities more. He cited an example from the late 1990s of how the Office of the Chaplain was saved from the brink of elimination, when a discussion of public religion brought an unexpectedly large crowd that swayed the administration to keep the office.

DiIulio also spoke of the responsibility that people take on when they speak about religion in public, which transitioned into the second part of the evening: a student panel.

The panel, moderated by UA chairman and College senior Jason Karsh, discussed how religion affects student life. The diverse group of students found common ground on topics such as how they feel religion is as crucial as an ethnic identity and why Penn does not fund religious organizations. It was also suggested that PRISM become part of the Intercultural Fund, an umbrella organization that represents five minority groups on campus.

Speakers also talked about how their piety went hand-in-hand, and sometimes amplified, a perfectly functional social life. College senior and Catholic speaker Sean-Tamba Matthew chuckled as he mentioned the usefulness of Neumann's 10 p.m. masses after going out Saturday night.

The evening ended with guests and speakers of all faiths congratulating and hugging each other. PRISM chairwoman Malka Fleischmann thanked everyone for their thought-provoking questions and answers. For all attendees, religion was truly a uniting, not dividing, part of their night.

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