Building Interfaith and Intercultural Understanding

 

Interfaith Council of Sonoma County 

SonomaCountyInterfaith@sonic.net
Contact David Hoffman, (707) 206-2650

 

Neighbors in a Trying Time  We are folks who live in Petaluma who are interested in creating an inclusive and friendly group to welcome our Muslim neighbors.

  • Sharon Davie ( Facilitator)
  • Carol West
  • Suzanne Clarke

 

Potluck with our Muslim Neighbors in Petaluma – Reflections from Sharon Davie
During the potluck on February 21, the special speaker of the evening said to me that Unitarian-Universalists were counted by Muslims as among their best friends—across the country. I’m so glad some of you were close by. He said he hoped for the honor of meeting you.

I know all of us who attended have our own reactions to the evening. For me, the experience of joining with our Muslim brothers and sisters was very powerful. From the moment I took off my shoes I felt that I was in the present moment—and I stayed there, at first shy and later filled with joy.

What stood out for me were the moments of connection, of relationship, of the stirrings of empathy–from my time with the women downstairs, to the clarity of the speaker and his wise choice to give most of his time to our questions, to the decision to have both women and men in the main room of the mosque, to the sharing of food at the Potluck.

“This time is sacred because we make it so.”  With all the fellowship and fun, for me this time was sacred—a clearer glimpse of the possibility of peace in our torn world, of John Lennon’s vision that we can “live as one.” He goes on, of course: “You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”  I know that so much more clearly now.

Salman Hameed…. “It was a pleasure to have you all and hope everyone had an enjoyable evening. I was glad to see so many people turn up and I’m grateful that people took time out of their busy schedules to attend this event. Hopefully we can all stay in touch and stay connected.”

Sharon Davie…”We had a very enjoyable evening, but much more than that. The new knowledge about Islam offered so eloquently, the warmth of new friendship, and the sharing of what is most important in this life, all these experiences joined the pleasure of the evening.

We too would very much like to stay in touch and stay connected.”

Jodi Boyle…”Agreed! It was lovely and informative. I very much enjoyed meeting new friends and reconnecting with my old friend, Huma! May the blessing of our new relationships continue.”

 

Learn about President Obama’s visit to a mosque:

Sabah Muktar introduces President Obama

President Obama rebuts anti-Muslim rhetoric

 

JusticeMiddleEast

Learn about the proposed UUA resolution calling for divestment of corporations complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights.

 

Pacific Central District Leadership DayPCDlogo4web100

The focus of the leadership workshop was what is and how to approach interfaith and Intercultural work as UUs. George Beeler, Sharon Davie, Ruth Lorain and Carol West were our representatives from UUP. We shared a ride to San Jose and back which gave us plenty time for leisurely chatting, getting to know each other better as well as living into our principles as earth stewards.  The first part of the day was history and theory of interfaith and intercultural work within the UU tradition. The ultimate aim is to build individual and congregational knowledge and skills needed to truly recognize and value the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

The speakers stressed the importance of maintaining a compassionate curiosity, asking questions and active listening with the intention of greater understanding and covenant of right relations.
We explored the difference between covenants in a faith setting versus contracts in a business setting. Both are a kind of promise.  A contract outlines expectations in specific detail over a finite time period, with negative consequences/ penalties for breaking that promise.  A covenant, on the other hand, is an over arching promise; that we know we will not be able to keep over an indefinite time frame; but does include the intention to always work to get back into right relations.

We ended the day with a role play around developing a congregational response to an attack on a marginalized minority in our community.  We were interviewed by an “aggressive” news reporter who wanted to know who we were as Unitarian Universalists and why we were taking that specific stand or action. This made us think about our seven principles and how they apply to interfaith and inter cultural bridge building.

One take-home message for reaching out across differences is modification of the golden rule: “Do unto others…” not as you would have them do unto you, rather “Do unto others as they would like you to do unto them.”