Amid growing global tensions and cultural divides, the World Affairs council in Corpus Christi hosted Dr. Azza Karam, who spoke to the Junior and Senior IB cohorts about world religions and their interactions with individuals, organizations, and each other.
Dr. Karam, who is Muslim herself, asked the crowd of students to shout out words that came to mind when they thought of Muslims or of Islam as whole. Students shouted out words like “hijab, strict, pilgrimage, and faith.” With IB coordinator Lorinda Hamilton contributing the shout of “terrorist.”
Dr. Karam noted that no one had mentioned love or community, and no one had referenced the humanity of the Muslim people. She elaborated that news coverage, media-encouraged stereotypes, and political discourse all contribute to a misunderstanding between different religions and ways of life.
Dr. Azza Karam, Ph.D, is the president and CEO of Lead Integrity, an organization pursuing international unity derived from religious tolerance and cooperation. Dr. Karam is also a counselor for the UN and has headed several committees centered around inter-group cooperation.
Dr. Karam was born in Egypt and raised all over the world, calling herself a “gypsy” in terms of where she has lived. She came to New York City in 1991 and told the group that she was moved by all of the diversity in New York. Dr. Karam was adamant that institutions could only go so far in ensuring unity, and that it is “actually people who are amazing.”
A recurring theme throughout the presentation was multilateralism, or what Dr. Karam referred to as “working together across differences.” Rather than shy away from religious affiliations, Dr.Karam emphasized that if “God wanted us to be alike, he would have made us alike.”
One point of emphasis was the beauty of diversity and biodiversity, and how human interactions mirror nature, with no two people being alike and no two aspects of nature being exactly the same. Dr. Karam drew from the linguistics of the Quran in explaining the joy of diversity, learning, and creation, using religion to emphasize the importance of multilateralism.
Dr. Karam encouraged the audience not to ignore their biases, but to acknowledge them when they appear and move past them with an open mind and an open heart. She mentioned that hate and biases always have a reason for spreading, and that those who preach hate always have an agenda or a reason for doing so.
Dr. Karam touched on the topic of world politics and on the inner workings of multinational organizations, like the United Nations. According to her, the true sign of multilateralism was how well an organization or community served not only a few members, but all of the members within the community. She refuted the popular idea that the UN is inefficient and pointless, Dr. Karam stated that the UN is valuable as a secular organization and that because it attempts to help all of its members equally it has to work on large timescales.
In contrast with her speaking on the UN and non religious organizations, Dr. Karam also mentioned the longstanding importance of religious organizations and their contribution to the development of society all over the globe.
She said that after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, it was the religious institutions that kept the community alive with coordination of electricity, schooling, food distribution, and general aid. She elaborated that for much of human history, before there were governments made by the people, there were religious institutions that served particular religious communities.
In humanitarian crises, religious organizations are the first ones people turn to for support, structure, and aid.
This importance of religious institutions does pose a problem—religions can be exclusionary and dependent on believers being determined that their particular way is the best way to worship, religious institutions that could coordinate aid and maximize the amount of people helped tend to avoid collaboration.
It is at this point that Dr. Karam emphasized the need for balance between secular and religious organizations. She clarified an important distinction: an ideal government is one that centers human rights; while an ideal religious institution is one that prioritizes looking after the members within the institution.
Because of this, if a government begins to de-center human rights and de-emphasize the importance of universal services that transcend religion, communities must instead turn back to exclusionary religious practices in order to regain order and ensure a stable livelihood.
Dr. Karam states that there must be a balance between human rights and religious rights, with human rights always taking precedence because they are universal to all humans, while only about 84% of the planet subscribes to a particular religion. The speaker mentioned that centering human rights in any organization can be difficult, but that any community is only as strong as its weakest or most vulnerable member, and thus community values should be upheld at all times.
Dr. Karam stated that “Life is hard when you don’t see eye to eye,” but nonetheless pushed the students present to work not only with those who looked, worshiped, or spoke like them. But, rather to pursue the more difficult task of collaborating and cooperating with people—even ones they disagree with.
After the presentation, Dr. Karam stayed for a more private question session, where students were able to ask their questions more directly and receive more personal answers. Overall, the presentation was conversational and focused on tolerance, global unity, and love between people and across barriers.
