WICHITA, KANSAS: ‘Sikhs in turbans, American Indians in bead sand feathers, Hindus in saffron colored robes and Christians and Jews in Western Business attire made a circle and danced together here in a historic interfaith event.” This is how the Washington Post wrote about, “A North American Assisi” a gathering of 235 people of 12 faiths which together have two billion adherents.

The three day conference from October 30 to November 1 was an American version of the gathering at Assisi in Italy (the birth place of St. Francis) where the Pope John Paul Il hosted a prayer for peace gathering of peoples of the same 12 religions two years ago, Besides the Sikhs, there were Christians, Jews Muslims, Hindus, Jains, Budhists, Shintos, Unitarian Universalities, Zoroastrians, Bahais, and American Indians.

The meeting was held as part of an effort to develop a North American Interfaith Network which could address issues of common concerns and worldwide problems like war and pollution and injustice.

The representatives of these religions spent most of the time explaining themselves and learning about the faiths of each other.

We are all brothers. This is a concept very dear to the Sikh faith, let us get together and see how we can all solve our problems, said Rajwant Singh a member of the conferences planning committees. He is also the secretary of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation in Maryland.

“A devotion to one God, earning an honest living and using those earnings for those in need are the three principles some 350,000 Sikhs in this country follow” said Ralph Singh of Syracuse, N.Y.

“Guru Nanak Dev Ji the founder of Sikhism taught over five centuries ago that there is one God and this is the message of this conference, he added.

‘The last days sessions were moderated by Sikh representative and began with a Shinto prayer. It ended with the Sikh prayer Ardas.

A lecture on the Gandhi and perspective on justice was presented by Prof. Sheshadry Roy who said Gandhi tried to bring justice in the Indian society by talking about the Harijans. To this Ralph Singh responded that Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and his successors had 500 years ago brought changes in the Indian Society with special emphasis on the plight of women and the so called untouchables. The Sikh Gurus always fought for social and economic justice and challenged all those responsible for injustice.

There were eight representatives from the Sikh faith. Rajwant Singh of Silver Springs, Maryland, Ralph Singh and Prof. Gurbachan Singh former editor of the Akali Patrika from Syracuse N.Y., Dr. Kirpal Singh a Psychiatrist and Jagtar Singh from Des Moines, Towa. Avtar Singh Sachdewa of Manhattan and Karta Pukh Singh of Kansas City. Daljit Singh Deol from Chicago brought three hundred year old Sikh relics and artifacts including a Neza belonging to Guru Harobind Singh Ji which were displayed at the conference. As Prof Mahamoud Auoub Professor of Religion at Temple University said, “I regard this very exciting and beautiful mention as an introduction. We patted each other on the backs and that is very nice. But it has to go beyond that.

The interfaith movement must become politically active and I hope it will be soon.

Diana L. Eck, Harvard University Professor of Comparative Religion said there are three approaches on how we react to other religions, the exclusivist one, where we consider our religion to be the only way to salvation, the inclusivist one in which we try to assimilate other faiths in our own, and the realistic one in which we acknowledge the differences in each other’s faiths but at the same time we want to have a dialogue with each other and live together. This is the approach we must all adopt.

 

 

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