Celebrating Interfaith in America
From the President’s Desk
I’ve been reading “Beyond Tolerance: Searching for Interfaith Understanding in America”. by Gustav Niebuhr
As the United States is the most religiously diverse country in the world, the book sets out to find how interfaith works in America.
Though we are beset with prejudices and conflict throughout the country, still I have to say that America has opened its arms to the religions of the world, and for the most part, we live relatively peacefully together.
There are over 2500 mosques, 3700 synagogues, 300 gurdwaras, 450 Hindu temples and 1,000 Buddhist centers in the US. We also have Baha’is, Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Scientologists, Unitarians, Science of Mind, Christian Science centers, churches and communities, among many others. While some of these numbers seem small, those are thousands of communities where people of all faiths live, work, play and worship together. Communities where people know that’s a mosque, that’s a temple, that’s a synagogue, and they are OK with them being there, and many others embracing them being there.
Freedom to freely practice our religion is part of the American ideal. Coming from all over the world, people value the ability to practice their religion, because many can’t practice it in their home country. Baha’is in Iran, for example, have been prohibited from practicing their faith in Iran for the last 40 years, with businesses by Baha’is closed for no reason, Baha’i Cemeteries bulldozed, Baha’i Holy places destroyed decades ago, Baha’i youth prevented from attending universities, and Baha’is are arrested and imprisoned for years for suspected collaborations with Israel with no proof ever produced. For them, coming here is as a ray of sunshine to be able to practice their religion freely, for the first time for many in their lives. We take that ability to practice our religion for granted.
So let us celebrate America, as the land of interfaith! As we see Ramadan, Passover and Easter come together at the same time this year, let interfaith be our guiding light.
Serene Erby
President