E Newsletter October 2010 David B. Myers, Executive Director

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1 E Newsletter October 2010 David B. Myers, Executive Director Report on September 12 Ganeshotsav: Hindu Celebration It was a windless clear blue sky perfect Sunday morning: no doubt, from a Hindu perspective, this was due to the work of Lord Ganesha, remover of all obstacles and god of new beginnings. Imagine Hindus processing down a main street, dancing and playing instruments pushing a cart carrying an image of the most popular Hindu deity, the elephant headed god. A town in India? Au contraire: in downtown Fargo, North Dakota did these Indian Hindus process. Tanmayi Vaidya, the choreographer as well as one of the dancers, led her dance troupe while other performers played crashing cymbals and drums. All moved in a colorful and lively procession from the Center for Interfaith Projects on Broadway to the Avalon Events Center on First Avenue. Inside the Avalon, pooja (ceremonial worship) conducted by Jitendra Vaidya (CIP board member), dramatic enactment by children of sacred stories, Indian dances on stage, and a wonderful Indian meal were enjoyed. Board members of CIP one of a number of sponsoring organizations were among the guests that also included the mayors of Fargo, West Fargo, and Moorhead. Two of the mayors agreed to wear ceremonial red headdresses as they joined in the festivities. In addition, members of the Bhutanese Hindu community were special guests, at the gracious invitation of the festival planning team. Murti (image) of Ganesha being pushed on a cart down Broadway (Photo by Estera Favalora)

2 The Mission of the Center We are committed to making a difference in this community as we seek to realize our interfaith mission. There are four components of the Center s mission, namely to: (1) educate the community about different faiths; (2) increase understanding and respect among people of different faiths; (3) foster cooperation among local faith communities to solve common community problems; and (4) help individuals searching for a spiritual home to find one. We invite your ideas for projects and your participation as we pursue this mission. Below are some of the projects we are now working on to make our mission a reality. The Beginning of CIP s Series of Public Interfaith Dialogues Promoting Understanding and Respecting Differences The first in a series of interfaith dialogues took place at the downtown Fargo Main Library: Saturday, September 25. It was titled: An Atheist and an Orthodox Christian: Two Journeys/Two Worldviews. Over seventy people attended this civil but lively exchange between Professor Davis Cope (NDSU Mathematics Department) and Father Oliver Herbel (Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church: Fargo). They told their personal stories, discussed fundamentalism and evolution, and responded to questions from each other and the audience. The next in this series will be a trialogue: Three Views of Jesus Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. I (Reform Jew), Rev. Sue Koesterman (ELCA Lutheran), and Dr. Ahmed Kamel (Sunni Muslim) will be the panelists. From our different faith perspectives, each of us will respond to the question: How Do I Understand Jesus? After we explain our different views of Jesus, we will discuss the common ground that motivates us to engage in interfaith work. Rev. Koesterman (Elim Lutheran Church) and Dr. Kamel (Concordia College) are members of the Board of Directors of the Center for Interfaith Projects. The event is scheduled for November 14, Sunday, at 2 p.m., in the Community Room of the downtown Fargo Main Library. We look forward to a dialogue with each other and with members of the audience. Speakers Bureau The creation of an Interfaith Speakers Bureau is still in process. In the meantime, we are already getting requests for speakers. For example, we provided panelists for a joint Hospice and Veterans Hospital Conference (October 5) titled Enhancing Care: Ethical and Spiritual Perspectives in Palliative Care. Four perspectives were presented: Buddhist (Mary C. Struck), Muslim (Dr. Ahmer Qarni), Christian (Rev. Mike Montgomery), and Atheist (Jon Lindgren). Our aim is to be able to provide speakers who are knowledgeable about major world religions, Native American Spirituality, new spiritual movements, and the interfaith movement. If you are knowledgeable about a particular faith tradition, or know someone who is, please contact me. We would like to create a large pool of speakers.

3 The Need for Religious Education A recent Pew Forum survey found that Americans are generally ignorant not only about other religions but also about their own faith. A 15 question quiz was used to measure religious literacy. The highest scoring groups which may surprise some readers were atheists, agnostics, Jews, and Mormons who outperformed evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, and Catholics about core teachings, history, and leading figures of major world religions. If you wish to see the full report and would like to take the quiz, go to the website of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: The first component of the mission of the Center is to educate the community about different faiths. We are working to accomplish this through our interfaith library (a modest but representative collection of books on world and native religions), the creation of the Interfaith Speakers Bureau, our series of interfaith dialogues at the Fargo Public Library, and one on one guidance for those who are interested in learning about the world s faiths. In the future we are planning to offer classes on world religions. Invitation to Join an Interfaith Action Coalition Because of the new wave of anti Muslim events, I had been thinking of creating Friends of the Muslim Community, a group that would stand in solidarity with Muslims in the FM area. After discussions with Muslims and non Muslims, I decided, on the advice of those with whom I talked, that it would be best to create a group whose scope would be broader namely a group that could be responsive not only to negative rhetoric and behavior directed at Muslims, but to attacks on any faith community. A second component of the Center s mission is to promote respect for members of different faiths. Disrespect can take many forms: misrepresenting a faith tradition, name calling at work or school, discrimination in employment, vandalism of holy places, opposing the building of houses of worship, identifying all adherents of a faith with the actions of extremists, not allowing those in a vulnerable place (for example, a jail) access to devotional materials or the right to practice their faith. All faiths have at some time, in some part of the world, experienced mistreatment. Those with historical memory of disrespect for their own faith tradition (whether in the United States or elsewhere) should be sensitive to the negative treatment of members of any faith. Although we live in a community that is generally tolerant toward minority faiths, most of us involved in interfaith work are aware of cases of religious intolerance and religious prejudice in the FM area. Often this is a result of religious ignorance that manifests itself as a fear of, and hostility toward, those who are religiously different. Our principle is this: To stand together in solidarity should any of our faith communities suffer harassment or attack. This was in fact the principle affirmed by the first interfaith organization I helped to create in the FM area: The Abrahamic Interfaith Group. While this principle, as formulated by AIG, applied only to the

4 Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities, we seek to make this principle of solidarity applicable to all faith communities. An example of the kind of the solidarity such a coalition would represent is the letter that CIP sent to The Forum. It appeared September 26 in the editorial section called Your Opinion. It was endorsed by all 11 members of the CIP Board of Directors whose names and faith perspectives were listed. Here is an excerpt: We ask that others join us in showing support for Muslims in the FM area. A fundamental principle that cuts across religious and nonreligious world-views is the Golden Rule. If we take this principle seriously, then we should treat Muslims as we would want to be treated--giving them the same respect that we believe we deserve. Just as none of us wants to be judged on the basis of what extremists have done in the name of our religion or ideology, let us not judge Muslim Americans by that standard. Instead, let s get to know our Muslim neighbors, end our fear, and live out the Golden Rule. Certain situations may call for more than writing a collective letter to the editor. There may be occasions when we decide to march in interfaith solidarity, organize a public discussion of an issue, or, when the legal right to practice a faith appears to be violated, pursue legal action to protect that right. We seek to create an inclusive interfaith coalition that is open to individuals from all faiths and those who have no religious affiliation. If you are interested in joining an interfaith action coalition whose members agree to stand in solidarity with each other, and come to the aid of those who are treated with disrespect, please let me know. Relevant Upcoming Event: Islamophobia in America. Monday, October 25, 12 1pm: Room of Nations, Memorial Union, NDSU. Sponsored by the Student Activities Office and Muslim Student Association. Interfaith Community Service The third component of our mission is to foster interfaith social service to solve common community problems, such as hunger and homelessness. We seek volunteers interested in organizing interfaith service groups volunteers who are willing to take the initiative to do what needs to be done to bring together people to engage in cooperative action for the benefit of the community. Those interested in this can learn valuable lessons about interfaith community service from the pioneering example of Eboo Patel, a young Ismaili Muslim who created the Interfaith Youth Core in Chicago. I recommend his book, Acts of Faith, an autobiographical narrative that will be instructive for anyone who wants to learn how interfaith dialogue can emerge out of interfaith community service. This book was summer reading for incoming Concordia students. Moorhead s First Congregational Church is also using Patel s book in their current exploration of Abrahamic interfaith dialogue, a project we are assisting them with. Rev. Mark Pettis, pastor of this church, has been very supportive of the Center s work.

5 Guidance The fourth component of our mission is to help individuals in search of a spiritual home to find one. What does this mean? It depends on an individual s needs. Some people are searching for a spiritual community that will meet their religious needs: they are interested in finding a religious tradition that feels right and a particular faith community that professes that tradition. Sometimes individuals raised in one faith tradition find that their spiritual needs are better satisfied by a different religion. For others, coming home spiritually means finding a practice that works for them as individuals, which may have nothing to do with organized religion. These are people who are likely to say that they are spiritual, not religious. For such individuals spirituality is a private rather than a communal enterprise, something solitary rather than something shared. The Center provides objective information for those who are searching; we do not push searchers in any particular direction. If you wish to make use of this service, please call or me. Tell others who you think might be interested in one-on-one guidance that this service is offered at no cost as part of the work of the Center. Collecting Spiritual Stories For those who are spiritually searching, it is sometimes helpful to read or hear other individuals stories of search and discovery. One of our ongoing projects is to collect spiritual stories--to keep them on file at the Center and eventually to put them on our website (still in development). If you would like to share your spiritual or religious journey with others, please contact Phil Mouch, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Center for Interfaith Projects: pmouch@gmail.com. We invite those interested to submit their stories to Phil (preferably by attachment). We are also open to other ways of recording such narratives, including audio or video formats. For more information, please call me. Fundraising A plea for those with grant writing experience: we need assistance at the beginning this process. Now that we are a 501(c)(3) organization, we have the tax exempt status required to qualify for grants and to more effectively raise funds. Also, if you have fundraising ideas, don t keep them to yourselves. We are exploring the idea of an interfaith concert (dances, songs, chants, etc. from different religious traditions) for the spring (2011) as a fundraiser. We welcome your ideas about how to organize this and to make it a success. Donations Please donate! Checks should be made out to Center for Interfaith Projects. They should be mailed to 111 Broadway: Fargo, ND No donation is too small: every contribution helps us to continue our important work in the community. Center for Interfaith Projects 111 Broadway Fargo, ND centerforinterfaithprojects@gmail.co

6 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS David B. Myers, practicing Jew and Buddhist, is the founder and Executive Director. He is advised by an interfaith Board of Directors whose members represent a wide range of faith perspectives: Sr Andrea Arendt, Catholicism Brandon Baker, Humanism Rick Henderson, Baha'i Faith Ahmed Kamel, Islam Rabbi Janeen Kobrinsky, Reform Judaism Pastor Sue Koesterman, Lutheranism Phil Mouch, Mysticism Mary C. Struck, buddhadharma practice Trish Tallakson, Christian Pluralism Jitendra Vaidya, Hinduism Prairie Rose, Native American Spirituality