On the 8-minute “dates,” participants of Speed-Faithing attempted to answer religions’ major questions.
Believers from a variety of religions sat in assigned groups in the Indiana Memorial Union’s Dogwood Room Wednesday night and discussed questions posed by the cultural and religious organizations sponsoring the event.
“Interfaith events give people a chance to speak with and learn from individuals of other faiths, something that is harder to do in other scenarios,” event creator and sophomore Aatif Basher said. “This is an event where everyone comes for the same reason, making it easier for individuals to ask questions.”
In the first round, a woman studying in a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seminary asked about the basic tenants of each religion.
A Roman Catholic man explained the differences in Catholic and Protestant traditions and scriptures.
Lutheran junior Lauren Krull added her opposing perspective on the distinctions.
Abdulrahman Kurdi, a Muslim master’s student, talked about the portrayal of God in Islam.
Krull said she was intrigued by comparisons between Islam and Christianity, specifically relating to sin and forgiveness.
She said the event was overall informational because the structure let people share their personal perspectives instead of a leader speaking about generalities of a religion.
“I hope that participants will learn something about a faith that is different from their own and something interesting about practices that are different from their own,” Basher said. “I hope that they will gain a deeper understanding of others around them.”
Kurdi said he gained a new perspective of not only other religions but also his own.
“God is not an easy thing to understand,” Kurdi said. “It’s not easy for the limited human mind to grasp or experience that concept.”
This was the first year for Speed-Faithing, but Basher said there have been other interfaith events in the past, most recently last November. Basher said this new event allowed participants to interact with more people, ideas and faiths with the new structure.
The event was organized by Indian Student Association, Chi Delta Phi, Muslim Student Association, Bhakti Yoga Society, Lutheran Campus Ministries and UKirk Ministries.
Basher is religious chair for the Muslim Student Association. He said he wanted people to know Islam is a religion of peace and to counter the perception created by small groups of violent radicals.
When people don’t understand other religions, they make assumptions based on stereotypes and judge others, Kurdi said. Those judgments can lead to fear of people and faiths.
Kurdi said attending interfaith events such as this helps to educate people and stop negative stereotypes from spreading.
“We hope that through events such as this, it will take our large IU community and make it a little bit smaller and help unite us, despite differences that we may face,” Basher said.
