The past decade in the history of the United States has seen special hostility toward Islam following 9/11.
But controversy surrounding religious pluralism is nothing new, said panelists at a forum about religious diversity Tuesday.
“Religious diversity has been a theme of the republic,” said Bill Balthrop, interim director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
The University has long played a role in the national debate. Former Chancellor James Moeser chose a controversial book about the Quran as summer reading in 2002.
The panel discussion marked the second part of a series leading up to the March 16 lecture by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf of Park51, a Muslim community center commonly known as the “Ground Zero mosque.”
Speakers emphasized the historical precedent for national religious dissent.
In 1838, Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs signed an order calling for the extermination or expulsion of Mormons from the state.
“And I think it was just last year they apologized,” said Laurie Maffly-Kipp, associate professor of religious studies.
Maffly-Kipp joined Timothy Marr, an associate professor in the department of American studies, and Carl Ernst, a professor of religious studies.