Civic Hospitality through Religious Literacy We can’t cultivate a life in common – the promise of democracy – without a willingness to engage others across the lines of our differences. Yet those differences – including those rooted in religion – define us; they offer human beings a sense of meaning, purpose, and community. When a democracy asks its citizens to set aside religious differences and seek common ground, it pushes against deep social inheritances that are often fundamental to identity itself. Our goal in this roundtable is to explore whether the concept of hospitality might help us address this tension. We’ll ask specifically whether greater understanding of religious pluralism can foster habits of patience and generosity with a goal of creating public space for productive democratic engagements across lines of difference.
Chair Bio Kevin R. den Dulk (PhD, University of Wisconsin) is the Associate Provost of, and the Paul B. Henry Chair in Political Science at, Calvin University. He is the former Executive Director of the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College. An award-winning teacher, his scholarly work focuses especially on how religion works through civil society to foster democratic citizenship, both in the United States and abroad.