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Coming Together
Campus group working to encourage interfaith understanding and cultural sharing
By Mercedes Rodriguez, Herald-Times Staff Writer
March 8, 2004
In a world where there is prejudice and division, sometimes all it takes to begin change is a little time for fellowship.
At its core, the Bloomington Muslim Dialog Group, a group based on the IU campus dedicated to promoting peace through interfaith dialog, creates opportunities for just that learning about different faiths and establishing real relationships among a diverse group of people.
"If you don't talk or of you don't listen, then you feel that the other person or group is strange or is the enemy," said president of the group.
Through the group's activities, members hope to foster acceptance through learning and friendship in an atmosphere where participants don't have to feel embarrassed to ask questions about different faiths. It may not change minds, but it can plant a seed of tolerance.
"Maybe we are only a step. Maybe someone prejudiced will come in and change their minds a little," said Fatma Nur Koksal, one of the group's members.
Just the simple act of sharing can be the beginning of peace.
All the dialog group's activities are chances to share and learn. Regular coffee hours and open discussions provide informal settings for dialog. Also, members often visit local churches and form connections with local clergy.
Thursday, a panel discussion addressed the topic "How and why should we thank God?" in which IU students from different religious traditions spoke. Following the discussion, everyone gathered for a bowl of ashura, a traditional dish made with dried fruit, grains and sugar.
The hope is that these discussions help people see the commonalities, the many aspects that religions all share.
"Through this we find that we are brothers in faith in so many ways," said Darrel Davis, a Bloomington management consultant, a Christian and a friend to many in the group.
Even though speakers at their discussions may be of different faiths or have different opinions, interfaith dialog helps to emphasize the common concepts on which most major religions are founded.
"At the end, they were almost all saying the same things. It was very refreshing," said Uyar, describing an earlier discussion group that addressed the meaning of prayer.
Thursday's discussion illustrated those commonalities. Speakers representing Christian, Jewish and Islamic religious traditions were there. Though four spoke, the message was one: that giving thanks and praising God is something that benefits people.
"When you fail to give thanks, it hurts your own heart when you fail to acknowledge the beauty," said Kate Ball, a panelist representing the Islamic tradition.
In the same vein, Helen Wright, one of the panelists representing the Christian tradition said, "We thank God to strengthen ourselves."
Often, many who attend discussions are only aware of the differences that exist. It is the goal of the dialog group's activities to help reverse that. Inclusiveness plays an important role in that.
The group is mostly made up of graduate students from Turkey, but membership is open to everyone, regardless of background. Facilitating discussion and talking to local clergy has been a learning experience for the group's core members, who are mostly Muslim.
"We also learn so much about other faiths, about Judaism and Christianity. . Before, Christians were always 'the others'. I didn't think we had commonalities," said Bulent Koksal, vice president and Fatma's husband.
It was a desire to help people learn about other faiths that propelled the group into being. Even before 9/11 Bulent and others saw a need for dialog, but then those events made the need for it more urgent.
"I thought, what a tremendous amount of courage for them. They were the ones who wanted to initiate the outreach. and succeeded in bringing together many people, including many Christians," said Davis.
After some time visiting churches and holding informal discussions, a formal group came together. Today is the first anniversary of the Bloomington Muslim Dialog Group's official inauguration.
After a successful year, the dialog group's has some ambitious plans. Currently, they are seeking people interested in going on an interfaith tour of Turkey in June. The tour group will see prominent religious sites for Christianity and Islam.
Most importantly, they are looking to involve more people, especially ordinary members of the community, in their activities. The group would also like to work with more local groups and churches to create opportunities for people to interact on a personal level through volunteering, sports and social activities.
If you want information
For more information about the Bloomington Muslim Dialog Group or the interfaith tour of Turkey, see http://www.bmdg.org.
Reporter Mercedes Rodriguez can be reached at 331-4380 or by e-mail at
mrodriguez@heraldt.com.
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