With religious strife prevalent across the world, a group of
students has come together to offer a possible solution to
seemingly perpetual conflict ““ mutual understanding.
The first of four interreligious dialogues was held Wednesday
evening at the University Religious Conference. The event brought
together students of several different faiths to meet and discuss
their beliefs.
Hosted by Nexxus, a student organization that seeks to promote
friendly interaction among religious groups, the dialogue allowed
UCLA students of a variety of creeds ““ including Roman
Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Sikh and Baha’i ““
to share their beliefs and traditions in an informal and friendly
environment.
Father Alan Oakes of the University Catholic Center applauded
efforts of Nexxus in organizing the interreligious dialogue.
“I just think it is essential in this day and age,”
he said. “With the things going on in the Middle East, and
all the religious hatred and religious misunderstanding in our
world, any way we can build bridges is essential.”
The opportunity to share their individual religious experiences,
as well as to learn about the beliefs of others, drew students to
the dialogue.
“I came here so I would not be ignorant about other
religions and traditions, and that others would not be ignorant of
mine,” said second-year business economics student Sat-Avtar
Kaur Khalsa.
Nearly 20 students participated in the dialogue, which lasted
three hours. After brief introductions and welcoming exercises, the
group discussed the different characteristics of their beliefs that
connected the individual participants to their respective
faiths.
For Class of 2000 UCLA graduate Linda Nguyen, this exercise
proved illuminating.
“I realized that within each faith, people can be really
different,” she said. “Not all Jews or all Catholics
feel the same way.”
Students also praised the manner in which the dialogue
emphasized personal beliefs at a time when so much religious
discussion centers on political disputes.
“(I liked that) there was more emphasis on the individual,
rather than the group,” said third-year political science and
international development studies student Leila Seradj.
One concern among participants was the absence of several
religious groups, most notably Buddhists and Muslims.
Nexxus representatives attributed the lack of involvement by
these groups to scheduling conflicts.
“Tonight was the meeting of the Muslim Student Union, as
well as being (close to) Chinese New Year,” said David
Nevell, a facilitator for the dialogue. “It is not a
reflection on the lack of desire for interfaith dialogue in these
communities.”
Organizers said they could not change the date of the
interreligious dialogue to accommodate these other groups because
the facilities for the event had to be booked long before Nexxus
learned of the time conflict.
Nexxus representative and fourth-year English student Marion
Wise said more efforts would be made to bring Buddhist and Muslim
representatives to future dialogues. However, she said the event
transcended the absence of any particular religious group.
“What we are doing here is important regardless of whether
there are all groups present,” Wise said.
Despite these difficulties, facilitator Tanya Bowers left the
dialogue with a great sense of optimism.
“It is so encouraging to find young people who view
interfaith dialogue as essential,” she said. “It will
benefit the broader world to have these future leaders coming
together from different religions. It offers a lot of
hope.”
Additional dialogues will take place the next three Wednesdays
from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the University Religious Conference.