Angeline Peng does not come from a strong faith tradition, yet she firmly believes in the power of discussion. In MIT’s Addir Fellows Interfaith Dialogue Program she organizes and leads small‑group conversations that help students—and herself—grapple with big questions. The Addir program was launched in 2005 with a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and is now supported by MIT’s Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life, emphasizing the sharing of spiritual values and experiences rather than mere opinions.
“Addir” derives from the Sumerian word for “bridge,” reflecting the goal of building bridges between people of different walks of life. Weekly meetings consist of five to eight participants who first share their “spiritual autobiographies” and then discuss a chosen topic, striving for a balance of faith traditions within each group. Scheduling proves to be the biggest logistical hurdle.
Peng’s spiritual autobiography: her family is atheist, she was born in multicultural Singapore, and moved to Lehi, Utah at age ten, where the community is largely Latter‑Day Saints. High‑school conversations about belief were occasional; college offered the first real opportunity for exploration. She seeks to understand herself, her principles, and what she values, viewing all religions as varied interpretations of a universal truth, though she remains uncertain about the existence of a single universal good or bad.
Participants span graduate and undergraduate levels and represent a wide spectrum of traditions, including many who are agnostic or hold moderate beliefs. Many join to listen and learn; Peng often plays devil’s advocate to push ideas further.
No one feels compelled to “speak for” a faith; members respond with personal viewpoints, sometimes citing texts and personal or communal interpretations. Discussions extend beyond religion to everyday concerns—regret, guilt, pleasure, pain, punishment—and aim to answer these questions collectively in the moment, recognizing that answers may differ for each individual.
As a math major, Peng sees mathematics as spiritual, a pursuit of beauty and deeper truth. The abstract thinking cultivated by math helps her stay objective, distinguishing core ideas from peripheral details.
Reconciling faith and logic involves choosing axioms. Gödel’s incompleteness theorem states that any axiom system is either incomplete—unable to prove every statement true or false—or inconsistent—capable of proving a contradiction. Mathematicians live with incompleteness, and belief systems face a similar reality. Peng is comfortable with this uncertainty.
The program’s impact is tangible. Over time participants’ opinions evolve, and friendships form. Sustained dialogue enables people to voice previously feared viewpoints, which they then carry back to their own circles, spreading new perspectives. Peng advocates for change at the local, person‑by‑person level, hoping the positivity will ripple outward.
Review