Book Talk| Islamophobia: What Christians should know (and do) about anti-Muslim discrimination
Event
The past two decades have been marked with rising anti-Muslim bigotry across the United States, Europe, and beyond. The world has witnessed surging hate crimes against Muslim communities, from vandalism and destruction of mosques to mass shootings of Muslims as they prayed. It has also taken form in political scapegoating by politicans who employ anti-Muslim racism to win electoral points. This drastically increased in recent years, namely under the Trump administration when the government pushed forth discriminatory anti-Muslim policies. While many denounced such bigoted measures, there was a significant majority that supported them- namely the white Christian community.
In her new book, writer and Catholic scholar of Muslim-Christian relations, Jordan Denari Duffner, examines how Christians have contributed to anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination, and how the community, using tools rooted in faith, can work to dismantle it. Viewing Islamophobia as both a social justice and a religious freedom issue, Duffner makes the case that Christian faith calls us to combat religious discrimination even when it is not directed toward our own faith community.
Speaker
Jordan Denari Duffner is an author, educator, and scholar of Muslim-Christian relations, interreligious dialogue, and Islamophobia. Her books are Finding Jesus among Muslims: How Loving Islam Makes Me a Better Catholic (2017) and Islamophobia: What Christians Should Know (and Do) about Anti-Muslim Discrimination (2021). She is currently pursuing a PhD in Theological and Religious Studies at Georgetown University.
Moderator
Mobashra Tazamal, Bridge Senior Research Fellow