Redefining Religion

Growing Through an Interfaith Perspective

Junior Hannah Jordan considers her experience at a Hindu Temple while on the Interfaith Fall Break Trip.

This fall break, the Chaplain Office’s Interfaith Trip ferried me to Washington D.C. to sample the vast ocean of world cultures through experiencing a few different faith traditions.  I’ve grown up with a Christian background, and continue to walk in that faith tradition today, so I know the Protestant Church pretty well.  But I had never been to a Hindu temple, a Muslim Mosque, or even an Orthodox Christian Church before this trip.  While each house of worship struck me in different ways, the place that surprised me the most was the Hindu temple.  At first, it was the most uncomfortable for me.  Our group found  ourselves seated on the floor in a large room, encircled by Hindu deities: small statues that Hindus believe to be manifested by the gods themselves.  I watched people filter in—some sitting immediately, others making the rounds, saying  prayers to certain deities.  All the while, a priest played music, chanting in Hindi words that I could not understand. In all honesty, I felt out of place.

But, as the service progressed, we had a chance to talk with one of the elders of  the temple and hear stories from him about his faith tradition.  It was  fascinating.  After hearing from him, we were invited to share a meal with the people at the temple. But they didn’t just invite us to eat with them.  They invited us into their lives, into their tradition of living.  I felt honored to be a part of it.  This is just one example of how, after entering into and experiencing these houses of worship, I understood in a more tangible way that these buildings carry with them much more than mere “religion.”  These houses of worship carry traditions, faces, and ways of life that were previously foreign to me.  It’s beautiful.  I gained so much through experiencing these new faith traditions.  It made me think a lot more about what I believe and why I believe it.  It can be a healthy thing to broaden your perspective so as to deepen your own beliefs. On a larger scale, I think it’s essential for our society to experience new things,  especially in regards to faith traditions.  How else can we engage in meaningful dialogue with others whose beliefs are different from our own if we have no common ground?  Interfaith allows barriers to be broken and stereotypes to be stripped away so that people and their stories replace “religion”.

Lessons on Truth and God

“Jalal-ud-Din Rumi used to tell a story about a far-distant country, somewhere to the north of Afghanistan. In this country there was a city inhabited entirely by the blind. One day the news came that an elephant was passing outside the walls of this city.

“The citizens called a meeting and decided to send a delegation of three men outside the gates so that they could report back what an elephant was. In due course, the three men left the town and stumbled forwards until they eventually found the elephant. The three reached out, felt the animal with their hands, then they all headed back to town as quickly as they could to report what they had felt.

“The first man said: ‘An elephant is a marvellous creature! It is like a vast snake, but it can stand vertically upright in the air!’ The second man was indignant at hearing this: ‘What nonsense!’ he said. ‘This man is misleading you. I felt the elephant and what it most resembles is a pillar. It is firm and solid and however hard you push against it you could never knock it over.’ The third man shook his head and said: ‘Both of these men are liars! I felt the elephant and it resembles a broad pankah (fan). It is wide and flat and leathery and when you shake it it wobbles around like the sail of a dhow.” All three of the men stuck by their stories and for the rest of their lives they refused to speak to each other. Each professed that they and only they knew the whole truth.

“Now of course all three of the blind men had a measure of insight. The first man felt the trunk, the second the leg, the third the ear. All had part of the truth, but not one of them had even begun to grasp the totality or greatness of the beast they had encountered. If only they had listened to one another and meditated on the facets of the elephant, they might have realized the true nature of the beast. But they were too proud and stead preferred to keep their on half-truths.

“So it is with us. We see Allah one way, the Hindus have a different conception, and the Christians a third. To us, all our different visions seem incompatible and irreconcilable. But what we forget is that  before God we are like blind men stumbling around in total blackness…”

-William Dalrymple, City of Djinns (280)

What Does Interfaith Mean To You?

Davidson junior, Nina Anand, shares a personal reflection about what interfaith means to her.

I will never forget that afternoon, sitting in the gray-walled room  at Ascension Lutheran Church with my 8^th grade communion class. I asked my lifelong pastor during a discussion about Heaven and Hell, “What about my dad?  Will he be “saved” too, even though he is Hindu?”

Moreover, I will never forget the reaction of my pastor, who had baptized my sister and me as babies, and watched my father, whom he considered a friend, come to church with us on most Sundays.  He was left speechless, pausing with a confused look on his face before ultimately changing the subject.

My mother is American and grew up in the Midwest with a strong Lutheran upbringing.  My father is Indian and grew up in New Delhi with a pious Hindu family.  I grew up surrounded by both religions but mainly followed the rituals of Christianity and took active leadership in the Lutheran church and Episcopal school that I attended.

When I left home for college I became intrigued by my Indian heritage, and attempted to learn Hindi and study South Asian religions at NYU, before I transferred to Davidson.  I have gained remarkable insight from both religions and respect different customs from each of them.

Furthermore, I find many similarities in both religions.  For instance, the dharma (or duty) of a Hindu consists in fulfilling a proper role, such as father, son, wife, or king.  These duties are measured in values extremely similar to the virtues that Jesus Christ stressed, like selflessness, compassion, and truthfulness.

But the question still puzzles me.  How can you have faith in something that would consider your own father a heretic?  In Hinduism, one of the most fascinating things I learned is that believers can ascribe to many faiths.  Mohandas K. Gandhi exemplified this religious pluralism in his practice of Buddhist thought and beliefs and readings of the New Testament.

Through interfaith, I am beginning to understand that it is possible to learn about and respect other faiths even if you do not choose to ascribe to every particular belief.  Personally I believe that my father is a wonderful person who serves God and others through his work and good deeds.  I think my pastor agrees, which is why he could not come up with an explicit answer.

Through the study of religion in college, I am able to learn about other views and remain open to their pertinence in every path of life.