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How do American Muslims practice inclusivity and bridge religious differences in U.S. civic life? Sociological research on bridging focuses mostly on bridging efforts on the part of majority groups, leaving unanswered the timely question of if and how inclusivity is practiced by minority groups, particularly religious minorities, in U.S. civic spaces. Drawing on participant observation among two Muslim groups in Los Angeles, this paper identifies two practices of inclusivity that participants adopt to bridge religious difference: the interreligious heritage practice and the shared ethics practice. Both practices simultaneously draw and diffuse group boundaries, emphasize sameness, albeit using different sets of religious meanings, and are grounded in an understanding of civic spaces as implicitly exclusionary of minorities. I find that these practices can create tension points in the pursuit of mutual understanding and create textures of meanings that operate differently depending on the situation and the participants in the interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the U.S. as a religiously diverse nation. It mentions that the U.S. is the most diverse country in religion in the planet. It also states that Los Angeles, California has the most varieties of Buddhism in the world. In addition, it provides information on the history of various religions in the country that is influenced by other nations. According to the author, the complication in North America worsens because of globalization. Moreover, he examines the impact of global factors on different religions in the U.S.