With the third Sunday in January comes the annual World Religion Day observance, which is celebrated internationally to honor the world’s many varied faith traditions.
The holiday was created in 1950 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States to promote unity among the world’s religions. Another goal of World Religion Day is to highlight the notion that the spiritual principles underlying different world religions are compatible, not in conflict.
Lindsay Mintz, executive director of the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and vice chair of the Center for Interfaith Cooperation (CIC) in Indianapolis, said one common thread that runs through many different faiths is the so-called golden rule.
“I think all faith traditions have some way to express the golden rule, have some way to communicate the need to recognize and honor the humanity in another person and then (expectations about) how we should act as a result of that,” Mintz said.
Charlie Wiles, executive director of CIC, said other similarities among various world religions include how believers care for the earth, how believers are taught to treat immigrants and refugees as neighbors and how believers are taught to care for the less fortunate.
Muzaffar Ahmad, another CIC board member and the treasurer and spokesman for the Indiana Chapter of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, said there are many aspects of Islam that Christians are oftentimes surprised to learn, such as the fact that Muslims believe in Jesus as a prophet of God and regard Jesus very highly, and there’s a book in the Quran named for Mary (Jesus’ mother).
Ahmad said another similarity between Islam and Christianity — one that can often lead to conflict — is the way in which certain scripture can be interpreted.
“Unfortunately, all of our scriptures — whether it’s Bible, New Testament, Old Testament or the Holy Quran — they all have good things, but people can also find verses in these scriptures that can be used to justify violence, and throughout history, different groups have done that,” Ahmad said.
“What Muslims are facing today (with extremism), Christians faced centuries ago,” he added. “Pretty much all religions have gone through this extremism and use of their faith by subchannels of society that are twisting it and using it for violence and their own benefit.”
Ahmad said Muslims in general are going through a turbulent time globally with the recent rise of extremism, and it’s no different in Indiana.
“Muslims are facing discrimination, suspicious eyes and feel like they are under constant demand to clarify themselves,” he said.
For Jews, it’s not much different. Mintz said statistically, the Jewish community remains the most targeted religious and ethnic minority, which can hamper the interfaith community.
“We can get frustrated or become cynical about what’s going on. Whether it’s in other communities or around the world, it feels like a particularly tumultuous time globally,” Mintz said. “Oftentimes people will just say that religion is the cause of problems, and the interfaith community here in Indianapolis obviously rejects that.”
Wiles said he understands where the conflicts among different faiths come from, and it’s nothing new.
“Obviously that whole phenomenon of people being upset at ‘foreigners’ or ‘newcomers’ is something that’s been in our society from the very beginning. People were suspicious of Irish when they first arrived. People were suspicious of Jews when they first arrived. People were suspicious of Chinese when they first arrived.
“In the current climate … It’s very understandable to me why people are frightened. When you see terrorism, when you see people indiscriminately being shot at … Because of bad actions from one person, you can’t extrapolate to an entire population. But I understand most people have never met a Muslim. It frightens them.”
Wiles said CIC actively works to show the community at large the merits of faith.
“Our work is simply trying to present a positive example and positive images of people working together, regardless of their religious background, regardless of their ethnic background … showing that there are good, caring people,” he said.
“Our goal, rather than to try to shame people for their ignorance, is to create an opportunity where they can feel comfortable.”
Though conflicts can and do stem from religious disagreements, Mintz said faith can also be the solution.
“The role of faith communities can be one that heals and brings together and honors our common humanity and also respects differences,” she said.
Education is a major aspect of what Wiles, Ahmad and Mintz — together with the rest of the 40-person CIC board — aim to share with the Indianapolis community.
CIC hosts community events and makes speakers of different faiths available to speak to groups, whether classrooms, religious congregations or something else. Additionally, CIC works to keep the lines of communication open among central Indiana’s extremely vibrant and varied interfaith community. In addition to six or seven different Christian denominations, faiths represented on the CIC board include Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Mormonism, Jainism and Sikhism. Many CIC board members are involved in other faith-based community organizations as well.
One way in which the CIC fosters harmony among central Indiana’s various faith groups is by presenting a united front in times of turmoil, such as a recent attack at a Wisconsin Sikh temple.
“Whenever something like this happens, whenever a violent act is carried out, CIC issues statements and we speak about it, board members write in the media,” Ahmad said.
Wiles — a Catholic — and Mintz recently penned a letter to the editor about anti-Muslim rhetoric, just one example of how the CIC is leading by example.
“In so many cases, when one group was attacked, every member of our board came together and said, ‘That group should not be attacked,’” Wiles said. “After the Wisconsin Sikh temple attack, for example, all of us came together, we met on the Circle, we spoke out very clearly that we don’t stand for any attack. Same thing when the Jewish community was attacked in Kansas.”
Mintz reiterated that the CIC’s work is setting an example for the community to follow.
“The model that CIC has set for this community is one that establishes that we will come together out of respect for our differences with a genuine interest in wanting to understand each other,” she said. “And if we can learn to share the same space, if we can learn to listen, if we can learn to communicate with empathy, that’s what we can do on a local level.”
Overall, Ahmad, Wiles and Mintz said they think central Indiana is doing a good job embracing interfaith inclusion. Ahmad cited the existence of several groups working toward interfaith acceptance and unity, Wiles said the central Indiana community is interested and willing to be engaged on the topic and Mintz said she feels confident the interfaith lines of communication in central Indiana are open.
“I think all of us would agree that it’s still a work in progress though,” Wiles said.
Wiles said going forward, he would like to see more community members making the effort to learn more about other faith communities. Mintz said being willing to learn is key.
“That’s the first thing,” she said. “Everybody can make a choice that they are going to seek out opportunities to learn more about people who are different from them. You don’t need to be a part of an organization to do that. You just need to say you’re going to make that a priority.”
Ahmad said the effort should go beyond just reading about different faiths to something more personal.
“I think most important is for people to meet and to know somebody who belongs to other faith groups,” he said. “I would say try to find a neighbor or a friend or a coworker who belongs to (a different faith) community. Sit with them, learn from them, hear from them … It’s not a very comfortable thing to do, so people will have to make a deliberate effort.”
Mintz said fostering this kind of inclusive environment isn’t easy and takes time.
“There’s no magic wand, obviously, but when people feel listened to and understood and honored, that goes a really long way toward mitigating or preventing clashes,” she said.
Wiles said one idea that keeps him in a place of interfaith acceptance is seeing the bigger picture and realizing there are reasons for the diversity in our world.
“God didn’t make any mistakes, right?”
