Religious Leaders Create Better World Through Conversation, Action | Voice of America - English
Interfaith dialogue has gained momentum in the last few years. Especially since Sept. 11, 2001, religious leaders of different faith groups in the United States have made a point of exchanging their points of view and helping their congregations better understand one another. In San Francisco, spiritual leaders are moving beyond just understanding.
Membersof San Francisco's Interfaith Council worship God in different ways, but theyhave more things in common as neighbors living in one community. Wedon't sweep the differences under the table. We acknowledge them," saysRita Semel, one the council's founders. "I, as a Jew, I'm never going toworship the way my Christian friends or my Muslim friends are, but that doesn'tmean we can't be friends and work together." The council began almost two decades ago to help solve urgentchallenges facing the city. "Onewas the situation of the homelessness in San Francisco," she says."The then-mayor called the clergy in and said, 'You got to help with thisproblem.' And so we started an ad hoc committee. "Thenwe had the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, and we set [up] another ad hoccommittee to deal with that. And we said, 'We can't keep having ad hoccommittees,' and someone said, 'Well, we need an interfaith council.'" Creating this council, Semel says, was an opportunity fordifferent faith leaders in the city to tackle a wide range of issues theyconsidered important to all of them. "Forexample, we are calling together congregations to deal with the fact that wewill have another earthquake in San Francisco," she says. "It's notif. It's when. So we want our congregations and their people to be prepared. Wealso are aware of the returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, and we'rehelping clergy understand what they must do to help families of returning veterans." Council member John Oda says the interfaith dialogue in his citytook a serious turn after Sept. 11, 2001.The minister says his Pine UnitedMethodist Church started to reach out to the Muslim community. "Ourchurch is historically a Japanese-American church," he says. "After9/11, when we heard about a lot of the Muslims being detained, deported andquestioned by the government without any reason, the church as a whole reallyfelt that we needed to stand in solidarity with the Muslim community. So that'show the '' dinner started out. It's about loving yourneighbor." "His church prepared the food for us, and it was really nice, having sushiinside the mosque," says Souleiman Ghali, of the Islamic Society of SanFrancisco. He adds the interfaith Iftar dinner during the Muslim fasting monthof Ramadan, has become an ongoing tradition. Ghalisays working with the Interfaith Council provides many opportunities forMuslims to debunk stereotypes about Islam. "We wanted people to know thatMuslims believe in respect of other faiths," he says."We wantedpeople to believe that Muslims really care about the community they are in. Sowhen another community is in need, we want them to know that the Muslimcommunity is there for them. If there is a need for a shelter for homelesspeople to stay, we provide our spaces. If there is a need for a meeting of thelabor union or the church across the street, we invite them to come and use ourfacility." TheIslamic Society has also taken part in the Chaplaincy Program at San FranciscoGeneral Hospital. Program Coordinator Sheila Andrews is a member of theEpiscopal Church. She explains that the program provides training forChristians, Jews and Muslims. "So students from synagogues, churches or other places ofworship can come and be trained to be a chaplain in a hospital setting throughthis program," she says. "One of the most recent developments is atraining program for supporting individuals who have been subject to domesticabuse. And it's just one example we can point to in this wonderful city wherepeople are working across faith lines, focused on acts of compassion, becausethat's what brings us together, I think." Tocontinue working together, says the council's executive director, the Rev.Michael Pappas, the group is getting younger generations involved. "We'retrying at this point to develop an interfaith youth group here in the city ofSan Francisco and to try to foster from a young age that interfaithspirit," he says. "We're partnering with other groups. The councilitself is evolving. We have new members on the board of directors that areadding richness to the beautiful foundation that's been started by good peoplewho had vision." Episcopal Bishop Mark Andrews says he is optimisticabout the potential of interfaith dialog, not only in San Francisco and theUnited States, but worldwide. "Interfaithis not a fad," he says. "Diversity is not a fad. They are the newreality of our world. While we know that it's a deeply interconnected world,where there is nothing that's truly separated, there are many forces ? economicforces, political forces ? that isolate people. Young adults are full ofpassion foe justice and reconciliation all over the world. I see this as agreat sign of hope." Membersof the San Francisco Interfaith Council have faith in their work. They hopetheir efforts will help make their city a more peaceful and prosperous place tolive, and inspire people of different faiths in other cities to start dialogsof their own.