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Gramstrup2017.Pdf This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Women Searching for Common Ground: Exploring Religious Identities in the American Interfaith Book Groups, the Daughters of Abraham Louise Koelner Gramstrup Doctor of Philosophy Thesis in Religious Studies School of Divinity The University of Edinburgh 2017 Word count: 92,381 Thesis Declaration Form This thesis is being submitted for the degree of PhD at the University of Edinburgh. I hereby declare that this PhD thesis is solely my own work and I am responsible for its contents. I confirm that this work has not previously been submitted for any other degree. This thesis is the result of my own independent research, except where stated. Other sources used are properly acknowledged. Louise Koelner Gramstrup July 2017, Edinburgh, U.K. ii LAY SUMMARY This thesis is an in-depth case study of the women’s interfaith book groups, the Daughters of Abraham, located in the Greater Boston Area. It examines how Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women explore their religious identity and other religious worldviews through participating in interreligious dialogue. My thesis illuminates that engaging with issues of sameness and difference of religion, gender, and sociopolitical values generates complex and fluid understandings of self and the “other.” Moreover, I explore the power dynamics of Daughters of Abraham. It involves a consideration of the tensions arising when members of this women’s interfaith book group draw boundaries for who can be included. A fundamental tension arises because the Daughters of Abraham emphasizes commonalities to encourage its members to engage with the group’s religious diversity. Whilst this collective emphasis on commonalities can facilitate nuanced understandings of what it means to be Jewish, Christian, or Muslim in contemporary America, it can also highlight differences detrimental to generating such understanding. This thesis is significant because it advances knowledge about women’s interreligious dialogue and uses ethnographic methods to do so. Explicitly, it provides insight into the following interlinked areas: Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations, formalized interreligious dialogue, interreligious encounters on the grassroots level, women’s interreligious dialogue, a book group approach to engaging with religious diversity, and interreligious encounters in the American context post-September 11th 2001. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Thesis Declaration Form ............................................................................................ ii LAY SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................ vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. ix INTRODUCTION: An In-Depth Case Study of the American Women’s Interfaith Book Groups, the Daughters of Abraham ............................................... 1 Literature Review: Gaps in Scholarship on Interreligious Dialogue Between Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Women .................................................................... 10 Method: An Ethnographic Case Study of a Women’s Interreligious Encounter ..... 18 Access: Discovering and Being Welcomed Inside the Daughters of Abraham ....... 21 Chapter Outline: Exploring Religious Identities in the Women’s Interfaith Book Groups, the Daughters of Abraham ......................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 1: Engaging with Religious Diversity: Situating the Daughters of Abraham as an American Women’s Interfaith Book Group within the History of “Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations” ..................................................................... 28 Situating the Daughters of Abraham as a Women’s Trialogue Initiative in the Post- 9/11 American Context ............................................................................................ 32 Past and Present Lived Experiences of “Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations” ..... 42 The State of Israel as a Key Contextual Factor Influencing “Jewish-Christian- Muslim Relations” ................................................................................................... 47 The History of Formalized Interfaith Dialogue Between Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Community Leaders and Theologians ........................................................ 56 Conclusion: Situating the Daughters of Abraham Interfaith Book Groups within the History of “Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations” ................................................... 62 CHAPTER 2: Embracing of Religious and Ethnic Diversity? Changing Experiences, Statuses, and Relations Between the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Communities in Boston, Massachusetts, USA ......................................................... 64 Immigration Waves and Changing Understandings of “Freedom of Religion” Influence Interfaith and Intercommunity Relations in America .............................. 66 The Developing Presence of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Communities in Boston, Massachusetts ............................................................................................. 73 Conclusion: How Changing Perceptions of Religions and Ethnicities have Impacted Experiences of Being Jewish, Christian, or Muslim in Boston, MA ........ 96 CHAPTER 3: How Food and Books Create “Safe Space” for Engaging with Religious Diversity ..................................................................................................... 98 Using Food to Guide Engagement with Religious Diversity ................................. 101 iv The Role of Books for Prompting Interreligious Dialogue .................................... 113 Conclusion: Framing Daughters of Abraham’s Intragroup Dynamics Around Food and Books ............................................................................................................... 120 CHAPTER 4: Drawing and Unsettling Boundaries by Engaging with Textual “Others:” Constructing a Distinct Book Group Identity ..................................... 122 The Underappreciated Phenomenon of Women’s Shared Reading Practices ....... 123 Members’ Define the Daughters of Abraham as a Book Group ............................ 128 Top-Down Use of Texts to Control “Suitable” Perspectives for Group Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 132 Unsettling Boundaries for Inclusion by Engaging with Multidimensional Textual “Others” ................................................................................................................ 143 Conclusion: Using Texts to Define and Upset Boundaries Framing the Daughters of Abraham as an Apolitical Book Group .............................................................. 153 CHAPTER 5: Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives: Performing Gender Across Religious Divides ...................................................................................................... 155 Connecting Across Religious Lines by Discussing Dynamic Approaches to Women’s Conventional Gender Roles ................................................................... 158 The Significance of Gendered Terminology for Building Interreligious Relationships .......................................................................................................... 168 How Sharing Particularly Female Experiences Shapes Interreligious Dialogue and Relationship-Building ............................................................................................ 174 Gendered Religious Bricolages Determining Roles and Perceptions of the “Other” ................................................................................................................................ 180 Conclusion: When Validating Particularly Female Experiences Downplays Religious Diversity ................................................................................................. 184 CHAPTER 6: Inter- and Intra-Religious Dynamics Nuance Understandings of Being Jewish, Christian, or Muslim in Contemporary America ......................... 186 Searching for a Coherent Religious Identity by Navigating Intra- and Inter- Religious Dynamics ............................................................................................... 194 Intra-Religious Dynamics Present Challenges to Religious Self-Understandings 199 In-Between Religious Belongings: Converts Upsetting Religious Identity Categories .............................................................................................................
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