God Loves Diversity & Justice

Perkins School of Theology hosts a conference, “God Loves Diversity & Justice: Progressive Scholars Speak about Faith, Politics, & the World,” on April 12, 2011, from 1:30-5:00 p.m. The conference will take place in Perkins Chapel.

The conference addresses ways that theologically progressive scholars speak about their faith, politics and the world in a culture they often view as dominated by theological conservatism and in a world torn apart by poverty, violence, war, greed, and various forms of exploitation.

The idea for the “God Loves Diversity & Justice” conference has its origins in a question posed by Hebrew Bible students to Susanne Scholz, associate professor of Old Testament at Perkins. The students wondered, given the preponderance of slogans commonly employed by many theological conservatives, what slogans might appeal to theological progressives. The result is a full panel of nine speakers from the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area who will approach the topic of the conference from their various social locations.

Professor Scholz notes that the panelists will address the conference topic both from personal and scholarly-analytical perspectives. “The panelists come from quite varied backgrounds,” Scholz adds, “including Christian, Jewish prophetic, Jewish Russian-Israeli-American, Muslim Gazan, white and African American, Chinese American, (diasporic) German American, Transethnic Korean-American Feminist, working-class, and feminist.”  The panelists include teachers from SMU, Perkins School of Theology, Brite Divinity School, and Baylor University. 

The conference will invite the audience to what Scholz describes as “an engaged and respectful discussion” during the latter part of the program.  “The conference’s goal,” she says, “is to encourage and nurture theologically progressive and politically sensitive conversations and reflections about diversity in the context of justice.”

The conference is made possible in part by support from the Center for Jewish Studies at Baylor University and the Wendland-Cook Professorship at Perkins School of Theology. Additional support has been provided by the Office of the Chaplain at SMU and by the Beatitudes Society.

This event is free and open to the public. More information about the event is available on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=195845550438434. For a map of the SMU campus, including options for public parking, visit smu.edu/maps . Please contact Susanne Scholz, at sscholz@smu.edu or 214.768.2460 for more information.