New Paths in Jewish, Christian and Muslim Dialogue
Rod Cardoza presented a dynamic new model for Jewish, Christian and Muslim dialogue, showing how a growing movement of grassroots J
ews, Christians and Muslims are buildin
g bridges of understanding and respect by uniting in compassionate service to the poor. He explained the importance of first sensitizing majority communities to key cultural and religious values held by minorities before uniting them for compassionate collaboration in obedience to divine commands. Then he outlined the most effective tools, resources and best practices used by synagogues, churches and mosques who are showing the world how peaceful coexistence between Jews, Christians and Muslims is not a distant and naïve dream, but a growing and present reality, here and now.
Bio: Rod Cardoza is the founder and executive director of Abrahamic Alliance International <www.abrahamicalliance.org>, a peacebuilding nonprofit organization that unites Jews, Christians and Muslims to serve the poor. As a cultural, theological and linguistic anthropologist, he’s published ethnographic research on Muslim ritual and lectures internationally on Muslim-Christian dialogue. He studied Urdu language at Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, India. He researched social stratification among Muslim communities in Ahmedabad, India; shamanism among Maguindanaon Muslims in rural Mindanao, Philippines; and Shi’ite mourning rituals in Gujarat, India. He worked closely with leading scholars from Delhi University and Hazrat Pir Mohammed Shah Research Centre in India to publish faith-based, peacebuilding Urdu texts. More recently, he researched the role of Muslim cinematography in teaching Islamic knowledge in Egypt, where Rod lived with his family for several years while studying Arabic. Rod has lectured widely at universities and seminaries such as American University DC, Lewis & Clark College, Fresno Pacific University, Fuller Theological Seminary, Biola University, Multnomah University, and San Jose Bible College. Rod authored “New Paths in Muslim-Christian Dialog: Understanding Islam from the Light of Earliest Jewish Christianity,” (originally presented in Washington, DC at the Annual Conference on Muslim Peace, Justice and Interfaith Dialogue sponsored by Salam Institute for Peace and Justice, and Islamic Society of North America), published in The Muslim World, a journal devoted to the study of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations. Rod lives in San Jose, California and attends a Mennonite church with his wife and three children.
