Building Relationships Across Faiths
NEW White House Toolkit to combat religious bias and discrimination: A strong community is a significant defense against hate. It takes all of us working together to build united communities where everyone feels safe and valued. Anyone can start by getting to know their neighbors—including their neighbors of different faiths.
For a wealth of ways to get started, see the recently released Allied Against Hate: A Toolkit for Faith Communities, which the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation contributed to.
Simply knowing people of other backgrounds and beliefs can increase understanding and mutual respect. For example, the Pew Research Center found that people who personally know a Muslim are more likely to have positive feelings towards Muslims. Additionally, the American Jewish Committee’s State of Antisemitism in America report found that 73% of people who know someone who is Jewish say antisemitism is a problem in the U.S. today, compared with 59% who do not know anyone who is Jewish.
Included in the suggestions of the White House toolkit is the following proactive step anyone in business can take to build relationships across faiths.
- – Make connections at work. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are groups of employees who come together in their workplaces around shared interests. Faith-related ERGs may present opportunities to get to know people of other religious backgrounds and beliefs. Considering joining or establishing an ERG at your workplace.
Resource: The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation offers best practices for developing and operating faith- and belief-oriented ERGs
