On Wednesday, August 14, 2019, Rumi Forum of Maryland and America Turkish Friendship Association organized an Abrahamic Panel-interfaith discussion and Eid-al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) reception. Religious Freedom and Minority Rights were addressed from the lens of Abrahamic faiths’ perspectives.
Abraham`s Tent initiative provided space for people of different religious and cultural traditions to get-to-know one another through casual conversation starting with the occasion of Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) celebration. Through this event, people of different religious and cultural traditions joined hands to get-to-know one another and sought to build a community around it.
Speakers:
Rabbi Amy Scheinerman is a teacher, writer, and hospice chaplain for the Jewish Federation of Howard County. She is a former trustee on the Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), former president of the Baltimore Board of Rabbis, a current member of the CCAR Responsa Committee and editor of the Torah Commentary column of the CCAR newsletter. Her recent book, The Talmud of Relationships (Volume 1: God, Self, and Family & Volume 2: The Jewish Community and Beyond), was honored as a finalist in the Jewish Book Council’s 2018 National Jewish Book Awards. She also teaches in a variety of venues, including the Melton Program in Baltimore.
Rev. Charles Watson, Jr. is a faculty at Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute in Washington, DC and a graduate of The Citadel: The Military College of South Carolina. He received a commission into the U.S. Air Force and obtained the rank of captain. He is a graduate of Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology. His career led him to leadership roles as a consultant for DeWolff, Boberg & Associates, Inc. and at his current position as the Director of Education for BJC for Religious Liberty in Washington. As a seminary-trained religious liberty advocate and educator, he routinely speaks across the nation and has published articles in Ethics Daily, New Baptist Covenant, and cbfBlog.com.
Dr. Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad is President of the Minaret of Freedom Institute. He is an internationally known interdisciplinary scientist of Palestinian descent and the author of Signs in the Heavens: A Muslim Astronomer’s Perspective on Religion and Science and he teaches courses on Islamic religion, history and civilization and religion, science and freedom at Wesley Theological Seminary and a course on “Changing Views of the Universe” at American University. Among others, Dr. Ahmad has received the “Star Cup for Outstanding Public Service” award from Montgomery County Civic Federation.