Column: An interfaith manifesto
April Palo
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Opinion
I want to share something with you.
Right now, there's a movement going on. Right now, thousands of young leaders on hundreds of campuses have found a calling and a cause to which they can dedicate themselves. Seven Hamline students and staff recently became part of it, and we're about to make waves on this campus like you've never seen before. What am I talking about? It's called the interfaith movement and it's about to change the world.
Along with five other Hamline students and one Hamline staff member, I recently attended an international conference dedicated to the interfaith movement. This conference, put on by the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), taught us the key points of what it means to be an interfaith leader.
Simply paraphrased, interfaith leaders strive to create a world defined by religious pluralism. Interfaith leaders reject the unfair idea that faith traditions are inherently evil and divisive. By encouraging respect for religious identity, by committing ourselves to mutually inspiring relationships between different faith traditions and by bringing different groups together for the common good, interfaith leaders are the people who will raise our campuses, our communities and our world to the next level.
What does that mean for Hamline?
Interfaith justice on our campus is more than the occasional religion course, more than the weekly discussion group, more than the rare panel event or two. Interfaith justice at Hamline means coming together, leveraging our diverse backgrounds into a collective strength and creating the world I just described. To steal a great quote from IFYC: "The interfaith movement means building bridges, not barriers or bombs."
Interfaith justice means respecting our religious differences as well as our religious equality. It means understanding why some people don't believe in God, why certain women wear headscarves and why certain professors miss class on Fridays. It means developing authentic relationships of care and trust between every Hamline community -all the way from Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship to the Muslim Student Association - even if such relationships are difficult. It means that the alternative spring break service trips should soon champion an interfaith involvement. Ultimately, interfaith justice means that "faith," "religion" and "spirituality" will no longer be taboo words in our discourse and will be recognized as the highly valuable contributions they are.
Right now, there's a movement going on. Right now, thousands of young leaders on hundreds of campuses have found a calling and a cause to which they can dedicate themselves. Seven Hamline students and staff recently became part of it, and we're about to make waves on this campus like you've never seen before. What am I talking about? It's called the interfaith movement and it's about to change the world.
Along with five other Hamline students and one Hamline staff member, I recently attended an international conference dedicated to the interfaith movement. This conference, put on by the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), taught us the key points of what it means to be an interfaith leader.
Simply paraphrased, interfaith leaders strive to create a world defined by religious pluralism. Interfaith leaders reject the unfair idea that faith traditions are inherently evil and divisive. By encouraging respect for religious identity, by committing ourselves to mutually inspiring relationships between different faith traditions and by bringing different groups together for the common good, interfaith leaders are the people who will raise our campuses, our communities and our world to the next level.
What does that mean for Hamline?
Interfaith justice on our campus is more than the occasional religion course, more than the weekly discussion group, more than the rare panel event or two. Interfaith justice at Hamline means coming together, leveraging our diverse backgrounds into a collective strength and creating the world I just described. To steal a great quote from IFYC: "The interfaith movement means building bridges, not barriers or bombs."
Interfaith justice means respecting our religious differences as well as our religious equality. It means understanding why some people don't believe in God, why certain women wear headscarves and why certain professors miss class on Fridays. It means developing authentic relationships of care and trust between every Hamline community -all the way from Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship to the Muslim Student Association - even if such relationships are difficult. It means that the alternative spring break service trips should soon champion an interfaith involvement. Ultimately, interfaith justice means that "faith," "religion" and "spirituality" will no longer be taboo words in our discourse and will be recognized as the highly valuable contributions they are.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
John
posted 11/10/09 @ 10:45 PM CST
I agree that interfaith dialog is accepting the other in his/her respective position. It is neither proselytizing nor unification of religions. Misunderstandings and misrepresentations are the two most common problems and only through dialogue we can overcome the problem of mistrust and start cooperation. (Continued…)
Sam Interfaithing
posted 11/11/09 @ 11:40 AM CST
Great article April, it's great to see motivated interfaith leaders in other places. Keep it up and people will follow your lead.
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