By: Raney South
Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religious belief system co-existing in society. Recently, Duke University attempted to move toward religious pluralism, but was shot down.
On Thursday, the 15th of January, Duke University reversed a decision previously made earlier that week. This university had hoped to advance religious diversity and tolerance by allowing the Duke Muslim Students Association to read a moderately amplified call of prayer from the iconic Duke Chapel’s bell tower for about three minutes each Friday.
The university reversed this decision because of growing anger on social media and security concerns. Evangelist Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, denounced the move on Wednesday and called for people to stop funding Duke until it reversed its decision. Graham urged Duke alumni to withhold support because of violence against Christians he attributed to the Muslims.In an interview Thursday before the reversal, Graham told The Charlotte Observer that Duke should not allow the chapel to be used for the call to prayer. “It’s wrong because it’s a different god,” he said. “Using the bell tower, that signifies worship of Jesus Christ. Using (it) as a minaret is wrong.” Graham, after claiming that “Islam is not a religion of peace,” was accused of being an Islamophobe.
Duke alumni were split on whether to support or condemn their former college. One person tweeted, “This #Duke alum hopes current Duke students visibly refuse to submit to Islam tomorrow at 1 p.m.” Another wrote, “Today I am thankful to be an alumna of #Duke and proud of their continual efforts in supporting all expressions of faith on their campus.” Muslim community members will instead gather on the quadrangle outside the chapel and do the call to prayer, called the “adhan,” before moving to their regular location in the chapel basement for prayers, where they have met for the past several years.
Christy Lohr Sapp, the university’s associate dean for religious life, defended the chapel’s use, claiming, “This opportunity represents a larger commitment to religious pluralism that is at the heart of Duke’s mission and connects the university to national trends in religious accommodation.”
Duke University was created in 1924, an expansion of what was then Trinity College. Duke’s primary religious affiliation is with the United Methodist Church, but the school officially is non-denominational. The 210-foot-tall Duke Chapel, built in the mid-1930s, is available for all campus religious life groups to hold their prayers and worship services.
Duke hired its first Muslim chaplain in 2009, the same year it created the Center for Muslim Life at the university. On its Facebook page, the Muslim student association said it is committed to fostering campus and community-wide engagement with Islam and related issues. “The collective Muslim community is truly grateful and excited about Duke’s intentionality toward religious and cultural diversity,” Imam Adeel Zeb, Muslim chaplain at Duke, said in a statement before the reversal.
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