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World
Religion Day
The
history of man's cultures and civilizations is the history of his
religions. Nothing has such an integrating effect as the bond of
common Faith. The history of religion shows that all religions had
this unifying power – the power to instill in the hearts and minds of
their adherents the fundamental verities, the vital spiritual standards,
and thus establish a unity of conscience for motivating man towards
founding great cultures and civilizations. (Excerpted
from www.worldreligionday.org)
In Citrus County each year a panel
of members from Faiths as diverse as Hinduism, Christianity, Native
American, Buddhism,
Islam, Judaism, and Baha'i share a little bit on a given topic.
Similar programs take place on the same date from Albania to
Zambia. In Canada and Chile, in Lithuania and Liechtenstein, in Slovakia
and Sri Lanka, peace loving peoples of the world will strive to find the
aspects of their religions that they share, and seek to understand other
aspects that have, until now, been a mystery.
According
to www.worldreligionday.org
“World Religion Day observances, (are) dedicated towards encouraging the
leaders and followers of every religion to acknowledge the similarities in
each of our sacred Faiths, (so that) a unified approach to the changes
that confront humanity can be agreed upon and then applied.”
With
wars and tribulations facing many countries throughout the world, the
upcoming World Religion Day may bring a welcome respite to many who are
weary. The basis of world peace is already in the teachings of all
religions. When those who are interested in world peace and achieving love
and harmony between people see the speakers from these programs
representing the different faiths and the harmony and agreement between
them, interest in other religions and love between people of all different
religions will begin to be established.
In
Citrus County, in the past we've explored themes such as Life After Death, Blessed Are the
Peacemakers, and Prayer. This year we explored the topic "The
Golden Rule." Our distinguished panel this year was:
Rabbi Cyrus Arfa representing Judaism
Rev. Linda Harbin representing Christianity
Dr. Riadh Fakhoury representing Islam
Dr. Santosh Kamath representing the Baha'i Faith
It
is interesting to note that none of the panelists had any shortage of
information to present on this topic. In fact, each of the
representatives of the different Faiths had something wonderful to
say.
In
addition to the spiritual food for thought, there was also incredibly
uplifting music provided first by Madelena Cuambe-O'Connell,
formerly of Mozambique, performing three short tunes in
Portuguese. Then, the formal program concluded with a stunning
performance by the up and coming teen pop phenom Sarah Spencer and her manager, Shannon
Riley.
Following
the presentation there was excellent dialogue between the audience
and the panelists. Some very insightful questions were asked, and
(hopefully) answered.
Finally,
we were able to socialize and continue our discussions over sandwiches,
cookies, and punch.
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