Harvard Divinity Alums Discuss their Work at the Intersection of Religion, Ethics, and Government

The Leading Toward Justice webinar series features panel discussions spotlighting Harvard Divinity School (HDS) alumnx impact in the world and the ways graduates leverage their HDS training while working in secular-defined or public professions. This webinar focused on alumnx working in government and public service and the ways that religion has intersected with the work that they do.

On October 3rd, Religion and Public Life (HDS) partnered with Harvard Divinity School Alumni Relations to present the third in a series of virtual events, Leading Towards Justice. The panel brought together HDS alumnx doing pivotal work in government, policy making, and public service.

The event moderator, Susie Hayward, MDiv ‘’07, is the Associate Director of the Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative at Religion and Public Life at HDS. The panel featured four distinguished HDS alums: Gary Burrill, MDiv ’91, Canadian Parliamentary Member, Jacqueline Y. Collins, MPA ’01, MTS ’03, State Senator of Illinois, Usra Ghazi, MTS ’15, Foreign Service Officer, and Kelly Raths, MDiv '05, former Assistant Director, Oregon Department of Corrections.  

The event kicked off with each panelist expanding on their career journeys followed by a discussion of how the study of religion at HDS shaped their approach to their government service. Panelists remarked on the perspectives provided by a diverse multireligious community, support of an accomplished peer and alumni network, and training in critical analysis of systems, norms, and space to solidify core values and beliefs. Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins  shared, “I was grateful for HDS in helping me see the intersection and the interrelatedness amongst all religious traditions that seek a more just world.”  

The panelists shared specific anecdotes in which they applied their training in religious studies to an issue that arose in their work in public service. Usra Ghazi described attending a government agency’s event which involved a benediction and prayer. Ghazi noted the discomfort she felt as a Muslim in the space led her to consider appropriate ways of engaging with religion in public life.  

“It really made me want to think about the story that I've been told about the division of faith and public life or religion and government, what's it really about? And what are the rules we should be following as we enter into this new world of hyperactive engagement between government agencies and faith communities?” 

Ghazi brought these questions to her work at the U.S. State Department. There, she conducted trainings for Religion and Global Affairs where she demonstrated to foreign policymakers how to engage the deeply held beliefs of faith communities, through wide-reaching social issues while staying within “the parameters of the first amendment.” 

Kelly Raths discussed how HDS’s focus on the human aspect of systems guided her mindfulness initiative for corrections officers in Oregon. She shared, “HDS equipped me to ask how do you bring this system to the history books and to the love and care for incredible public servants in those prison systems, while using tools that are different than the tools that created this punitive system?” 

Hayward posed the question, “How can you work within the government system to advance justice without inadvertently reproducing or reifying unjust practices and agendas?” 

Each panelist shared their perspective on the balance between pursuing social change from within and outside of government systems. Rath reflected on the need for workers in this sphere to have self-awareness and openness to criticism considering its “incredible complexity.” She also noted the unique understanding that leaning into this tension can elicit: 

“I think the other thing for me that is challenging, and particularly important in these times, is to not exacerbate fault lines. If I were to stay cloistered in my ideals, I would have missed a great deal of understanding that, just as I pray for the system to be dismantled, there are wives and loved ones of the people that I've worked with, who pray every day just as fervently to protect their husband or wife who's an officer as they go and protect the community. How do I reconcile my prayers with their prayers? I couldn't have understood and contributed to change had I not been a part of the thing that felt a little scary.” 

Gary Burrill shared that his experiences working in both the Canadian parliament and community organizing led him to approach this question as “How do we actually accomplish things that seem as though they can’t be accomplished?” For him, this came down to the mutual reinforcing power of governmental and extra-governmental action: 

“I would say that when there is convergence of these two worlds and social change — this is where the gas is, this is where the power is — when you have progressive, committed legislators on an issue, at a time, in a context, where there is real popular mobilization around that issue, things can be accomplished in the public sphere that people would have thought there was no chance of accomplishing.” 

The event closed with two questions from the audience: How have the panelists dealt with value conflicts they have encountered between themselves and the institutions they represent and how they separate their personal religiosity from public policy? Responding to the first question, Senator Collins discussed how enacting commitment to criminal justice reform has often entailed engaging with lawmakers that do not hold shared values.  

“Hopefully, they’ll hear me and make change. But if not, I have those advocates on the outside fighting and uplifting the voices of the incarcerated [and] the formerly incarcerated. But I’m not going to change my values or who I am.” 

To the second question, Burrill highlighted the balance between holding to one’s faith while  recognizing the multiplicity of viewpoints that come together in pursuit of the same social goals. “I think we need to cultivate and try to live within this, this kind of combined confidence in what we believe and at the same time, humility about one's own formation.” 

Access the full recording of the October 3, 200 event here. 

By Atéha Bailly