Loving Our Religious Neighbors

Where were you on September 11^th, 2001? Kyleen Burke, 20, of Port Jefferson, NY was in a home economics class when she heard that two planes had flown into the Twin Towers. Burke’s uncle, a firehouse captain, was a first responder to the attacks. While helping people out of the towers, he came across a quadriplegic man and radioed for a helicopter. Before the helicopter could arrive, the towers collapsed.

“It really shook us,” says Burke. “I became fascinated with how my life in suburban America could be affected by something so far away.”

Now a senior at Gordon, Burke is double-majoring in political science and philosophy and minoring in Middle Eastern studies. Last semester she studied in Cairo, Egypt and hopes to take more trips to the Middle East and learn Arabic.

“We are misrepresented to Muslims, and Muslims are misrepresented to us,” says Burke. “There has to be a way to resolve that.”

Her vision for understanding between Muslims and Christians led her to form a club called Loving Your Religious Neighbors. Now in its second year, the club entails a 7 week curriculum designed to teach Christians about Islam and prepare them to work with the Muslim community. Last year, the club partnered with the MIT Muslim Students Association and hosted a technology day at an after-school program in Salem. The two groups went to a local church as well as a mosque and had a dialogue about their differences.

“The point isn’t to debate,” explains Burke. “We want to let Gordon students meet other young adults who believe in Islam the same way we believe in Christianity.”

This year, the club will be collaborating with the Harvard Islam Society, aiming for three joint service projects a semester. They will also be hosting a lecture series, tentatively planning six lectures: three from interfaith speakers (Islam, Jewish, Hindu) and three from ecumenist speakers (Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Quaker).

In an upcoming chapel, Burke will be saying a prayer for the families affected by 9/11 as well as for peace and resolution between Christians and Muslims.

“We need to accept the fact that there are rational, civilized Muslims in America,” says Burke. “At the end of the day, we are still going to believe what we believe, but that doesn’t mean shouldn’t strive to understand and learn.”

Interested in being a part of Loving Our Religious Neighbors? Email Kyleen at kyleen.burke@gordon.edu.