Acts of Faith interweaves accounts of how religious totalitarian groups engage youth with Patel’s own story of growing up Muslim and angry in America.  His unique understanding of the importance of positively engaging religious youth led him to found the Interfaith Youth Core, an energetic organization that seeks to counter religious totalitarianism by building an interfaith, pluralistic youth movement.  Addressing the key questions of this emerging movement, Patel shows us how to engage religious conservatives and, most importantly, how to positively focus the fires of youth.

Eboo Patel, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core, an international nonprofit building the interfaith youth movement.  His media appearances include CNN’s Sunday Morning, NPR’s Morning Edition, and the PBS documentary Three Faiths, One God.

The Young Professionals (YP) series is designed to engage people under the age of 40 in discussions on world affairs. YP programs offer young Chicagoans the opportunity to hear from influential experts and policy makers while networking with others who share their international interests.

Recorded Thursday, September 20, 2007 at The James Hotel.