Hindu, Muslim students at Duke create a prayer room together

In Durham, North Carolina, Hindu and Muslim students have cooperated at Duke University to create a campus prayer room.

The founder of Hindu American Seva Charities, Anju Bhargava, is a member of a White House advisory body that is concerned with faith-based and neighborhood partnerships. According to Duke Associate Dean Christy Lohr Sapp, the groups are a model of how differing religions can work together toward common goals. The groups also share office space at Duke, as well.

The New York Theological Seminary is an institution dedicated to diversity, multiculturalism, social justice and religious tolerance. The mission of the seminary is to prepare men and women, from every background, for careers in ministry.

Sojourners seeking to raise the level of religious conversation

In Sojourners: Faith, Politics, Culture there is "A Covenant for Civility" circulating, which seeks to solicit "…a pledge by church leaders from diverse theological and political beliefs who have come together to make a covenant with each other to model civility in the public square."

Among the seven elements of the covenant there is: "We will ever be mindful of the language we use in expressing our disagreements, being neither arrogant nor boastful in our beliefs."

The New York Theological Seminary is an institution dedicated to multiculturalism, diversity, social justice and religious tolerance. The mission of the seminary is to prepare men and women, from every background, for careers in ministry.

Does Muslim center project test religious tolerance for some?

Has the proposed Muslim community center project in Lower Manhattan tested the limits of the American public's tolerance? AP National writer Allen G. Breed questions U.S. society's commitment to "freedom from bigotry or prejudice."

As the Muslim community center project takes center stage in the media, Americans are now forced to examine how truly tolerant they are – or aren't.

In 1790, a letter to newly-elected President George Washington from Rhode Island's Moses Seixas concluded "God's hand" was in the establishment of a government free of bigotry. In reply, President Washington assured the Jewish leader that the United States represented a new chance for people to enjoy freedom and respect.

American history is resplendent with examples of religious tolerance, some unparalleled in human history. So, does the Muslim community center project represent a change of some American attitudes, or values, on any levels?

The New York Theological Seminary is an institution dedicated to diversity, religious tolerance, social justice and faith. The mission of the seminary is to train men and women for careers in ministry.