The Impact of Fear on American Public Life

Fear of change and anxieties about economic and cultural disruption in America are contributing to gridlock and polarization in our public life at a time when civil discourse, creative solutions, and bipartisan action are needed to address national problems.

The media feed our anxieties and some have decided it is in their interests to fan public fears. Is there a role for religion and interfaith dialogue in countering the negative effects of fear in the public square? Americans are also fearful about the possibility of a terrorist attack - and here, too, fear is having a negative impact on the quality of public debate and problem solving. If there is another terrorist attack for which religious justification is claimed, what would be the social and policy consequences for our nation? As we confront our terrorism-related fears, how can Americans, particularly people of faith, work together to strengthen America's resilience and encourage constructive responses to future national crises?

Join us for a provocative half-day interfaith conference, Managing Fear Through Faith, that takes on hard questions about fear and faith, and be part of the visioning process for a new kind of community response to fear.

Agenda

1:00 - 1:10: Welcome and Introductions

David Gray
Director, Workforce and Family Program
New America Foundation

1:10 - 1:40: Impact of Fear on Public Thinking

Priscilla Lewis and Sue Veres Royal
Co-Directors, U.S. in the World Initiative

1:40 - 1:50: Remarks

Joshua Dubois
Director, White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (invited)

1:50 - 2:00: Remarks

Margo Schlanger
Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (invited)

2:00 - 2:30: Impact of Fear on Culture

Peter Stearns
Provost and Professor of History
George Mason University

2:30 - 3:15: The Impact of Fear on Democracy, Citizenship and Leadership

Stephen Heintz
President, Rockefeller Brothers Fund

Daisy Khan
Executive Director, American Society for Muslim Advancement

3:30 - 4:20: Importance of Interfaith Dialogue in the Response to Fear Inducing Events

Clark Lobenstein
InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington

Chloe Breyer
Interfaith Center of New York

Arthur Waskow
The Shalom Center

Sayyid Syeed
Islamic Society of North America