Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity & The American Promise.

• Author: Davis-Sowers, Regina

Patel, Eboo. Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity & The American Promise. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018. vii + 219 pages. Paperback: $17.95.

In Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity & The American Promise, Eboo Patel, a former faith adviser to Barack Obama and the founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, a non-profit organization that promotes interfaith leadership on college campuses, examines the topic of religious diversity. Patel surveys what diversity in religion could accomplish in America, specifically as it pertains to Muslims in America.

Many of his arguments derive from his belief that the "American Founders set for themselves the remarkable task of building a religiously diverse democracy, an experiment never before tried at such a scale in human history" (p. 3). This book is testimony to his faith in America, the most religiously diverse country in the world, to fulfil its promises of religious freedom to all groups.

A strength of this work is Patel's use of personal stories, his own as well as those of other Muslims, to highlight the difficulties and controversies associated with being a Muslim in America. The story in Chapter One of how he came to live in America is poignant and instructive of how the acceptance of religious pluralism found on college campuses could serve as a template for religious diversity throughout the country.

Descriptions of the diversity among Muslims in America and of the tensions that arise between Muslims of different generations, nationalities, belief systems, and ethnicities help in understanding that Muslims are certainly not a homogeneous group. However, stories of intragroup cooperation and assistance to each other and non-Muslims result in a fuller picture of Muslims in America than the stereotypes would make us believe.

Another strength is his use of historical documents and the writings of historical figures, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Also, across several chapters, Patel scrutinizes how Jewish and Catholic immigrants, once viewed similarly to Muslims as threats to American values and nativism, found acceptance and became part of American religious diversity. His explanation of the emergence of the term Judeo-Christian, which seems to negate the belief that America was created as a Christian nation, adds validity to his arguments.

A third strength is Patel's strong demonstration of the power of dialogue in politics and on perceptions of...