East and West Encounters

The Hizmet Movement with Dr. Jannah Scott, US Department of Homeland Security.

Pacifica Institute’s mission is to develop social capital—the creation and extension of positive connections within and between disparate social networks to achieve mutual understanding and common commitments to enriching the social good in the Western US States.

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Full message by Dr. Jannah Scott:

I am here tonight on behalf of Secretary Napolitano, DHS Secretary, who was appointed by President Obama in a time that I think we're all very grateful for. And that is a time of great change in this nation.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

One of the President's first visits, and on April 29 2009, he stood before some political leaders. And he said, "The United States is not now, nor will we ever be at war with Islam."

And he happened to be standing in Turkey.

So we are grateful for the Turkish people, we understand the critical, strategic positioning that that country that nation has to world affairs.

The President also acknowledged that this country being on two continents is a Key Bridge to what we hope for in the future, which is a future I think, where we can hopefully share with our younger generations, the importance of focusing on what we have in common, because we have so much more in common across particularly fates than we do differences.

"The United States is not now, nor will we ever be at war with Islam." - President Obama

This year is the year that the Gulen Movement celebrates 50 years of preaching

to local man began his preaching career in 1957. Now in my faith tradition, that's considered a jubilee of sorts.

Dr. Jannah Scott, US Department of Homeland Security

And so I would say to you today that as you have this inaugural conference, as you bring together so many people of what I like to call the perfect trifecta of scholarship, spirit and service, this is the year that you will have your to believe I'm looking at my friend Jafria Fools because he and I shared some really important conversations and times back in 2008, before I joined the Obama administration, and we talked about young people, we talked about interfaith dialogue.

And then when I became part of the Obama administration in the DHS center for Faith Based and Community Partnerships, that became the priority of our department for interfaith and religious affairs.

For those of you who may not know, there are actually 12 centers across federal government, whose focus is to engage faith based and community groups, and the political, the economic, the social, all types of Governmental Affairs. And as we do that, we focus on four priorities, one being the reduction of poverty, and other being the controversial issue of decreasing the need for abortion and decreasing the rate of teen pregnancy, another being focusing on promoting responsible fatherhood.

But the one we focus on in DHS is interfaith dialogue, and cooperation.

And I say to you tonight, that as you come together, as scholars, as people of Great Spirit, and people who are committed to service, I want you to ask yourselves a few questions over the time that you are together, can our scholarship and our scholarly thinking, initiate structural change in our society?

In my growing up, we used to have a term Talk is cheap.

And my faith tradition, we would say, Faith without works is dead. And so as you think, as you talk as you dialogue, what is the actual structural change that will come? Maybe some of you will write for various journals, maybe some of you will lecture in big places, but how can we begin to impact policy?

And by that way, impact the behavior of the people in our nations?

The second question, can our efforts to think about and to write about peaceful encounters between the East and the West result in true manifestations of those?

In DHS, we do a lot around interfaith dialogue and cooperation related to emergency preparedness is one of the areas and immigration reform is another one of the areas. We talk a lot about faith communities coming together for the public good. We bring about policy solutions as to ways that faith groups can work together to strengthen and build stronger communities. And so this is our challenge today.

Can what we think become what we and others began to do?

Whatever we do, however we do this, I just want to repeat something that I think the President takes very seriously.

Surely there are many differences political, economic, social, and otherwise across our globe. But if we focus on the areas where we have commonality, my mother used to say you can draw more bees with honey than with vinegar. If we begin by focusing on the areas of commonality, I believe that we can affect not only our own generation, but generations to come.

There are two areas where President Obama and his policies and his direction for interfaith dialogue and cooperation, come into great sync with the teachings of feta, Lagavulin, and I'll just state those quickly, and then move on, because I know we have other speakers. But he's very interested in this idea of the fates, working together for the public good. But the second area has to do with engaging the young people. If you're under the age of 30, in the room tonight, please stand.

Just stand up.I think those of us who are over 30 ought to give them a hand, okay.

And I asked them to stand because I want to impart to you a word and I think Dr. Carroll said this, that you are our future. And as we do this work to to do all this dialogue in this conversation, you are the ones we hope will have the energy and will have the values to carry it forward.

I have young people under the age of 30. That's why I use that age. And I always say to them, I'm at the stage of talking now. I need you to do it.

So that's that's what I want to leave the young people with tonight. So whatever we do, let's work together on the things that we have in common to affect policy to affect the structure of our society. And let's encourage and motivate and give our young people the resources that they need to carry it forward.

This is our challenge.

And this is our prayer.

Thank you very much.