Robinson gives presentation at religious conference

Ron Robinson, Perkins-Prothro Chaplain and Professor of Religion at Wofford, known on campus as “Rev Ron,” represented Wofford and colleagues at Elon University at the 7th Parliament of the World’s Religions held in Toronto, Canada the weekend of Nov. 2-4.  

The Parliament was first held in Chicago in 1893 at the World’s Fair and was the “first time leaders from different religions around the world came together…to have interfaith dialogue with each other,” according to Robinson. After another hundred years, religious leaders and others decided another meeting was warranted, thus the second Parliament was held in 1993; since then it has been held more frequently. In 2015, Robinson took students to the sixth Parliament in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

At this year’s Parliament, Robinson spoke “as a part of a series on academic perspectives on interfaith and pluralism.” His presentation, titled “The Positive Engagement of Difference,” was based on research he and Dr. Trina Jones, Associate Professor of Religion at Wofford, have been conducting over the course of several years, in collaboration with colleagues at Elon.  

By compiling and analyzing the research, the group developed a “Pluralism and World View Engagement Rubric.” The rubric allows evaluators or individuals to rate themselves on a scale of 1-4 on the following categories: “Knowledge of Own Worldview, Knowledge of Other Worldviews, Attitudes Towards Pluralism, Interpersonal Engagement and Interfaith Action and Reflection.”  

The rubric was published by Wofford and Elon in partnership with Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) and the Association of American Colleges and Universities, funded by a grant from the Teagle Foundation. After piloting the rubric and its implementation at Wofford, Robinson explained, it has spread to over 120 colleges and universities both nationally and internationally. Robinson described the rubric as “a way of measuring growth of religious difference.” 

He also said of the process of developing the rubric, “Religion is difficult to measure in higher education; we’ve given a way to measure it that makes sense.” He hopes it will be used as a “helpful teaching and program planning tool…to develop co-curricular and classroom experiences.”  

As for the implementation of the rubric, Robinson said, “People get to be who they are; if they want, they can change who they are [after becoming aware of other beliefs].” He also wants the rubric to encourage individuals to appreciate and engage with others who have different beliefs than their own. 

In regard to his presentation and experience at the Parliament, Robinson said, “The audience there is so diverse. Literally hundreds of religions are represented… It’s people coming together to find out about each other…and look for opportunities to engage in projects.” He mentioned, for example, projects that the United Nations is taking on, which he said exemplify how “both government and religion are realizing that there can be a healthy way of working together without proselytizing.” He also added that faith-based organizations are often concerned about issues that arise on political and social platforms, such as women’s rights, clean water and immigration. Leaders and grassroots groups at the Parliament are often instigators or supporters of collaboration between religion and government, Robinson explained.  

In order to include his students in his experience at the Parliament, Robinson said he FaceTimed them so that they could be included. In this way, Robinson said he “tried to find connections for Wofford students,” such as the possibility of internships in Washington, D.C. with the Hindu Society. He also met with “Spiritual Playdate,” a group concerned with children’s religious awareness that Wofford students expressed interest in learning more about. 

As for the role of religion around the world, Robinson said it “can be a source of hope and healing…and of conflict.” However, one of the aims of the conference was to try and focus on using religion as a source of the former “without watering down our differences.” 

Caption: Robinson represented Wofford at the 7th Parliament of the World’s Religions.