Transcript Interfaith Council - Binghamton University

Interfaith Council at Binghamton
University
Fall 2011
Community Engagement Program
Asian and Asian American Studies
Department
Chartered by CEP Students:
Kayla Natrella
Apoorva Aggarwal
Faculty Advisor:
Professor Lisa Yun
Graduate Advisor:
Sandy Woo
Our Mission
To found a council of
student representatives
who will work together to
promote campus-wide
mutual understanding,
respect, and appreciation
for the diverse faiths and
religious traditions.
Interfaithmall.com
Goals of Interfaith Council
1.
2.
3.
“No human life together without a world
ethic for the nations.
No peace among the nations without peace
among the religions.
No peace among the religions without
dialogue among the religions.”
– Hans Kung,
Christian Theologian
4.
5.
To hold council and general body
meetings on alternating weeks.
To plan two main annual events:
i.e. Interfaith Music & Culture
Night and Interfaith Panel/Forum
To coordinate community service
and host discussions and forums
that initiate dialogue and nurture
relationships among people of
difference
To challenge the taboo against
religious dialogue and address
misconceptions about
religions/faiths
To support and defend victims of
religious discrimination on campus.
“Peace among religions is a precondition
for world peace.”
Swami Agnivesh
Initial Inspiration
In September, for our class, we read
Asian American Literary Review:
Commemorating the Tenth Anniversary
of Sept. 11 (Volume 2, Fall 2011) and
met issue co-editor and Washington DC
attorney, Mr. Parag Khandhar. He
visited our class to discuss “Post 9/11
Immigrant Communities: the backlash on
the Middle Eastern and South Asian
American communities” and the need
many members of these communities
felt to prove their “Americanness” or
patriotism. The discussion really got us
thinking about ways to address this
type of backlash and ignorance and
educate people about religion.
Testimony (page 25)
“The way you see Muslims treated in the United
States, it’s kind of similar to the story of Moby
Dick. It’s about a captain who gets his leg bitten
off by a whale and now seeks his revenge on all
the whales in the sea. It’s linked to the lives of
American Muslims—we are always judged in an
unfair way by the terrorist attacks of 2001, just as
all the other whales were treated unfairly in Moby
Dick.
I wish that people who don’t like Muslims would
give us a chance and try to understand how
Muslims are trying to make it up to the United
States. We feel really bad, but it’s not really our
fault. How would you feel if someone from your
religion did something bad and then you
experienced bias because of that? Violence isn’t
the key to resolving all the issues that we face
today. Try to resolve issues with peace; then you
will get more allies.
For me, the community I want to live in is where I
would feel safe and comfortable to interact with
others without having the thought of something
bad happening to you” – Unais Ibrahim, Age 13
Importance of Interfaith dialogue Post9/11
After 9/11, Sikh Americans
(primarily from the Punjab
state of India) were victims
of backlash and
marginalized as pseudoAmerican because they were
mistaken for being Muslim.
These kinds of mistakes are
the result of a lack of
understanding about
different religious traditions.
Post 9/11 Backlash Victims
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Balbir Singh Sodhi
Waqar Hasan
Vasudev Patel
Adel Karas
Ali Almansoop
Jawed Wassel
Abdo Ali Ahmed
Abdullah Mohammed Nimer
See http://www.themediaoasis.com/hatevictims.html for
more information about post 9/11 hate crime victims.
Furthermore, post 9/11, there has been backlash
and discrimination against Muslim Americans
because their religion is strongly associated with
terrorism and violence due to lack of understanding
about Islam.
-
“In June 2002, the National Security EntryExit registration System (NSEERS) was
established; this grossly discriminatory system
requires all male nationals over sixteen years
of age from twenty-four Muslim-majority
countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh
as well as North Korea, to submit to
photographing and fingerprinting at federal
immigration facilities…It would not be too
dramatic to say that many in these
communities feel under siege”
Sunaina Maira, South Asian Muslim Youth in
the United States after September 11th (335336)
Wu, Jean Yu-wen Shen, and Thomas C. Chen. Asian American Studies Now:
a Critical Reader. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2010. Print.
According to Fenggang Yang and Helen Rose Ebaugh’s Religion and
Ethnicity Among New Immigrants: The Impact of Majority/Minority Status in
Home and Host Countries, “Generally speaking, religion continues to be
important for the new immigrants; that it continues to provide a social space
for expressing ethnic differences; that religious organizations continue to
serve both ethnic reproduction and assimilation functions; and that
immigrants continue to adapt to the U.S. context.”
According to Backlash 9/11: Middle
Eastern and Muslim Americans Respond by
Anny P. Bakalian, Mehdi Bozorgmehr,
“Interfaith exchanges are particularly
significant to immigrant religious groups
in establishing connections and
resources” and “A leader in Dearborn
credited the city’s ability to weather the
9/11 crisis to the religious leaders’
investments in interfaith networks…”
University of California
Press; 1 edition (March
5, 2009)
We believe that the establishment of an
Interfaith Council could have been very
helpful during the post 9/11 period in
offering support and spreading
awareness and understanding throughout
the campus and community.
“ I appreciate any organization or
individual people who sincerely make an
effort to promote harmony between
humanity, and particularly harmony
between the various religions. I consider it
very sacred work and very important
work”
The Dalai Lama IV
Does tolerance or
interfaith work weaken
your own religious beliefs
or faith?
“Dialogue between religions
does not only entail relating
the intensity or depth of our
own faith but also witnessing
and growing in it while
understanding and
respecting the faith of the
other. Students in my
comparative religions class,
which I offer at the University
of Denver, have often
remarked that their faith and
commitment to their own
religious tradition has
been strengthened by
learning about other
religions.” - Professor Liyakat
Ali Takim
Dialogue
From Conversion to
Conversation: Interfaith
Dialogue in Post 9-11
America
Professor Liyakat Ali Takim
University of Denver
Denver, Colorado
http://macdonald.hartsem.edu/articles
/mw943f.pdf
In this context, it is important to note that the
etymology of the word
is
‘dia’ in Greek, referring to the ‘act of
seeing through’. Dialogue should empower
us to ‘see through’ the faith of others, and
enable us to reexamine our assumptions of
the other based on the other’s definition of
itself. Each group is able to better express
what it believes and, in the process, to
understand more deeply the meaning of
what it means to be committed to a
particular faith tradition. The process of selfdefinition also requires that each group
express itself based on its own terms and
for the partner in dialogue to accept
and respect that self-definition. In the
process, our preconceived notions of the
other are challenged and often dramatically
altered. This is the first step to moving
beyond the stereotypes and
misrepresentations of the past.” -
“dialogue”
Forum/Kick-off event
•
•
•
•
•
On November 16, we hosted a forum where we invited Pastor Arthur Suggs
from the First Congregational Church of Binghamton and Imam Kasim of the
Islamic Organization of the Southern Tier in Johnson City.
We attended weekly meetings of religious groups on campus and presented
our council idea. We invited a representatives from each religious group on
campus to the forum.
We contacted a total of 14 student religious groups on campus that are SA
chartered (list on following slide).
The forum was attended by representatives from the following groups:
Binghamton Sikh Association
Hindu Students Council
Indian Christian Fellowship
Korean America Christian Fellowship
Muslim Student Association
Also present at the event, were students who are interested in interfaith work,
share our vision and would like to get involved with the council.
Photo Credits: Professor Yun
SA Chartered Religious Groups at
Binghamton University (2011)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Binghamton Korean Catholic Community
Binghamton Sikh Association
Brothers and Sisters in Christ (BASIC)
Campus Bible Fellowship
Chabad
Chinese Christian Fellowship
Hillel-Jewish Student Union
Hindu Student Council
Indian Christian Fellowship
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship
Korean American Baptist Student Organization
Korean American Christian Fellowship
Muslim Student Association
Three Angels Message Christian Club
Kick-off Forum
At the forum, we discussed the background of and motivation
behind the council. We discussed the importance of religion
in immigrant communities and presented statistics that show
how South Asian Americans and West Asian Americans were
discriminated against because of their religious beliefs post
9/11. We also discussed the importance of interfaith
exchanges and councils in a pluralistic society, and in
responding to events, such as 9/11.
Kick-off Forum
Members of 6 religions
present (Buddhism,
Christianity, Hinduism,
Islam, Judaism, Sikhism)
shared personal stories,
as well as their feelings
about and enthusiasm for
the council.
Photo Credit: Professor Yun
From Pastor Arthur Suggs (bottom left) and Imam Kasim Kopuz
(bottom right), we learned a lot about the interfaith work that is
being done in the local community and what we can do to bridge the
gap between the campus and local community. Both the pastor and
imam are members of Broome County’s Interfaith Clergy Network.
Forum Inspires Ideas….
Photo Credit: Professor Yun
1. Imam Kasim Kopuz and Pastor Arthur Suggs
suggested that we join the interfaith dialogues
in the community and get involved with off
campus congregations for worship or service
to help bridge the gap between the
community and campus.
2. Pastor Suggs, as well as student attendee,
Shen-En Lee discussed their experiences at the
Council for the Parliament of the World
Religions, held every 5 years and presented a
plan to attend the next parliament meeting in
2014.
3. Interfaith Story Circles inspired by Dutchess County
Interfaith Council: "The sharing of interfaith stories in the
sacred circle began in 2004 with women who told faith stories from
their own traditions at the Dutchess County Jail. It features
storytellers who tell a prepared story on a chosen theme and then
open the floor for those in attendance who are inspired to tell a
story from their own tradition on the evening's theme. The Story
Circles are hosted at different houses of worship so that
participants can visit and learn about other sanctuaries of faith.”
4. Small group meetings in more intimate settings
(i.e. Bubble Tea house) to help foster
friendship and encourage trust which leads to
more honest and revealing discussion.
5. Annual Interfaith Music Festival in which
different religious groups present musical
performances from their faith traditions
6. Student attendee, Shen-En
Lee, has connections with a
Buddhist Dharma Master
Heng Shi (恆實法師) from
her Buddhist high school in
California and suggested
engaging in webcam
conversations with students
there or connecting with
Dharma Master Heng Shi
and watching one of his
webcasts. She plans to
meet with him this summer.
SA Charter Process
• We met with the Student Association Executive Vice President and
presented our idea about the council.
• We filled out the new charter application packet, collected 100
signatures of support, 10 signatures of potential members.
• We formed an e-board consisting of President, Vice President and
Treasurer, and formulated a constitution for the group.
• We received feedback from the SA about the constitution and after
making the necessary revisions, we met with the SA Rules Committee. After
answering all their questions, they deliberated and decided to approve
our charter pending Student Association approval the next week.
•The SA approved the Rules Committee’s approval and we submitted a
new charter registration.
Finally, we are a chartered organization on
campus and plan to begin meeting Spring 2012!
Photo Credit: Professor Yun
Photo Sources
http://wallscometumblingdown.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/islamophobia1.jpg
http://www.interfaithmall.com
http://www.sikhiwiki.org
http://www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2010articles/April2010/4192010IslamGulenMovment.php
http://www.purdue.edu
http://www.amazon.com/Backlash-11-Eastern-Americans-Respond/dp/0520257359
http://blogs.du.edu/today/magazine/islam-in-america
http://www.indiatalkies.com/2011/04/hindus-laud-ukraine-lead-interfaith-dialogue.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29021626@N03/4221288212/
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090412/NEWS01/904120403/Imam-Kasim-Kopuz-Muslimcommunity-relies-ACA
http://binghamtonrestaurantweek.com/portfolio/binghamton-university-student-association
http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/index.cfm
http://www.dutchesscountyinterfaith.org/interfaith_story_circles.html
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Heng-Sure/112952792052985?sk=info
http://www.betterworldbooks.com/asian-american-studies-now-id-0813545757.aspx
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N87iFPDTt4/TmpszGRfaqI/AAAAAAAAEP4/GhunRO_Os2w/s1600/AALR.jpg