Scott C. Alexander
Associate Professor of Islam;
Director, Catholic-Muslim Studies
Bernardin Center at Catholic Theological Union
www.ctu.edu
- How were you called to your current ministry/service?
In college I was faced with the question, "What am I going to do with my life?" The answer that first came back was: "Major in religion." Much to my dad's dismay, that's what I did. Ten years later I found myself with a Ph.D. in Islamic studies and teaching at Indiana University in Bloomington. Then, in 2000 I felt the hand of divine providence like I've never felt it before. I got a job in the Bernardin Center at Catholic Theological Union teaching Islam and reaching out in fellowship to Muslims. For the first time in my life I was able to combine my desire for ministry with my love for Islam and Muslim peoples.By the way, my dad came around when I got my first opportunity to get paid for what I do. Parents usually come around-sometimes they just need a little time to see that you really will be able to take care of yourself, and maybe a few other people along the way. This experience taught me the value of patience, something no peacebuilder can do without.
- Who inspires you?
Working for the Bernardin Center at CTU I am inspired by so many different kinds of people from so many different walks of life. They are people who are committed to Christ and who live this commitment on a daily basis. I also get a great deal of inspiration from my wife. She's a university executive who stands for nothing but excellence in her work and compassion in her relationships. And then there's my 14-year-old son and his friends. When I see them treating each other with respect and caring, when I see them taking moral stands and actually doing things to fight injustice, I am inspired to do my best to hand them over a world that is a bit better than the one we're in now. - What are the biggest obstacles to peace?
In thinking about these questions I am conscious of being influenced by both Christian and Muslim teachings. Both traditions teach that the biggest obstacle to peace is the desire to be God-to have everyone and everything in life exist for oneself. This desire is the root of injustice. To work for peace is to struggle against injustice by learning to be aware of the presence of God in our lives. - What is the biggest challenge your organization faces?
Right now I would say that the biggest challenge is the current global context. Many of the seeds of violence that were sown on September 11th have fallen, both here and abroad, on "rich" soil-soil that is rich in suspicion, fear, and even hatred. It is these three elements of our current ethos-suspicion, fear, and hatred-that pose the greatest challenge to institutions like the Bernardin Center whose mission is, in part, to work for peace and justice in the world by bringing Christians, Muslims, Jews, and other members of our human family closer together. - Describe for us a typical day.
A typical day for me is a day of prayer, meetings, e-mail, research and writing, teaching, conversation with colleagues, time with the family, and prayer. I realize I listed prayer twice. This is because I constantly have to remind myself of the power of prayer and its centrality as the eye in what can so often be the storm of daily life. As for the conversations with colleagues and time with family, this is the time I cannot live without because this is where I get to share my life with the people close to me. Together with prayer, it's perhaps the sweetest time of all. - How do you get the news?
I get the news primarily from the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the BBC, National Public Radio, The Economist (magazine), and special list-serves that I trust for getting information and a perspective that I can't get from these other sources. I watch network and cable television news shows to keep current on what it is those in control of my government and those in control of the market want me to think and feel. - How do you nurture your faith life?
I try to pray and receive the sacraments as often as my circumstances either dictate or allow. At some periods in my life, this has meant mass every day. At others, once or twice a week. I can honestly say that the eucharist is in many ways the "source and summit" of my being. But I always have to remind myself that the eucharist is not the only tangible means of encountering God. There is no person, no problem, no task, no pain, no joy-however small or large-in which God isn't present in a way we can feel, taste, touch, smell, and see. - What advice would you give the next generation of church and civic
leaders?
I would tell them not to believe that to be a realist you have to compromise your ideals. Gandhi once said, "Be the change you want to see in the world"; and Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." I've rarely heard better advice. - Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn't know.
I'm an Italian-American, I'm a survivor of clinical depression, I love my dog, I run five miles three to four times a week, and I hate TV home-improvement shows. - Last good book you read?
Bruce Lincoln's Holy Terrors: Thinking About Religion After September 11th. One of my favorite all-time non-fiction titles is Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. For fiction, I think I'd have to go with Dune by Frank Herbert. - Last good movie you saw?
Spike Lee's 25th Hour, featuring Ed Norton (one of my favorite actors). It's an amazingly critical and compassionate look at who we are as contemporary Americans. - What were you like in High School?
Pretty much what the cool kids would classify as a "geek"-although that wasn't the word they used. I was pretty geeky, carrying a book-bag with me from class to class (this was long before backpacks were in) and listening to Broadway music instead of acid rock (which was all the rage back in the 70s). Then came the summer of my junior year. I gained a few inches vertically, lost a few horizontally and even though, or maybe because I kept the book-bag, I was suddenly "cool." - What is your favorite comfort food?
Chocolate, hands down. Chocolate. - Please nominate another Peacebuilder you are acquainted with that deserves to be profiled on our site.
Farid Esack, South African activist for social justice, liberation theologian, and celebrated Muslim intellectual. His website is: http://www.positivemuslims.org.za
