By Michael Clifton (a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and on the Steering Committee of Interfaith Grand River)
On Saturday, September 21, 2024, IGR Steering Committee member, Michael Clifton, participated in the first ever Interfaith Symposium held at Jamia Riyadhul-Jannah, a Sunni mosque located in Mississauga. The event was jointly sponsored by the mosque and the Church of Scientology. Eight speakers from various faith groups made presentations answering three questions:
What are the core principles of your faith?
What are the distinctive contributions which your faith brings to the wellbeing of our society?
How do we negotiate our differences effectively and courteously?
Overall, the messages of the various speakers shared a common focus on the importance of love, peace, and hope.
A representative from the Metis community spoke about indigenous spirituality and shared the story of the creation of Turtle Island, demonstrating how it teaches that each person has gifts to offer to help build a better world.
The speaker from the Unification Church drew warm chuckles from the audience when he advocated for increased love at home by treating our "in-laws" as "in loves". (During the Q&A, one Muslim lady drew further appreciative laughter when she asked, a little tongue-in-cheek, to be taught the secret for how this could be achieved.)
Michael told the story of the first vision of Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as a background for sharing that even in our darkest times, divine love and assistance can be found. He spoke of the importance of seeking to be a peacemaker in all our relationships.
Rev. Earl Smith from the Church of Scientology, who has spent decades working in interfaith organizations, including the Horizon Interfaith Communication Media Council, shared the Eight Dynamics central to his faith’s teachings about achieving a purer state of harmony with yourself and others.
Teachers from the Muslim faith related stories from the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the Quranic teaching that human diversity is a gift from God that helps us learn to love one another.
Azhar Khan, the Youth Leadership Chair at the mosque and moderator for the event, expressed afterwards how impressed he was that each of the speakers demonstrated a friendly and calm demeanour which he attributed to their lives of faith. He was also hopeful that their positive messages would give encouragement to the young people of his congregation, particularly to a number of them who are international students facing difficulties while being far from family and home. Based on his positive experience hosting the symposium, Mr. Khan said he hopes that they will be able to hold many similar events in the future.
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