Interfaith Dialogue promotes tolerance
Posted on Sep 25, 2012 in News
On Wednesday, September 19, The Interfaith Dialogue hosted Religious Violence: Living in a Post-9/11 World.
Among the topics discussed was the video “Innocence of Muslims” that defamed the religious beliefs of Islam made by Sam Bacile.
MCT Campus
“Innocence of Muslims” described all Muslims as being radical and immoral particularly toward Christian groups and sparked violence in the Middle East.
Interfaith tries to emphasize that it is not beneficial to express religious beliefs violently; instead, people should gain knowledge about what the different religions really do.
“We try to create an environment that is comfortable to discuss topics that are hot button; we try to understand each other rather than making the topic more divisive,” says Majaliwa Mzombwe
“It is a defining thing in our day and age, we have to stop drawing lines. We need to encourage people to stand on the side of religious pluralism, instead of religious totalitarianism,” says Mzombwe.
“When you start discussing your religion, you can see similarities between theirs and yours,” states Leyah Scharwtz, who recently spoke at Interfaith. Major religions believe in love, community and honor for their respective higher beings. On the news, a completely different side of those beliefs is publicized. When people are hurt, just like those accused in the video, they act out.”
Joe Dentici, leader of Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), comments that UAB does a good job of showing its students and faculty how to treat others with respect. He puts it best by saying “there is no one size fits all religion”, so we need to accommodate them all. The Interfaith Dialogue meets once a month.
Carlene Robinson
Staff Writer
drcarob@uab.edu