As Interfaith Awareness Week begins, a realization that we’re all one but not the same – The San Diego Union-Tribune

It must have been a remarkable sight. A dozen representatives from the worlds great religions, swathed in the dress of their faiths and their cultures, walked hand-in-hand into a Chicago hall on a late summer day 128 years ago as 4,000 participants looked on.

Even in a nation promising freedom of religion with some glimpses of diversity, the scenes from the 1893 World Parliament of Religions had to have been captivating.

There were Bahais and Jains and Zoroastrians and Muslims from faraway lands, along with followers of Confucius and Laotzu and something called yoga.

A Hindu swami from India, his head wrapped in a turban, dazzled the audience with his impassioned call for an end to religious bigotry and violence.

I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal, Swami Vivekananda intoned.

It was not a perfect meeting. There were complaints that Christians dominated it and that American Indian spirituality was largely ignored. But history would look back with at least one proclamation: the roots of the interfaith movement, with pledges from religions to work together in respect and harmony, had been planted.

This evening, as San Diego embarks on an annual, mostly virtual, Interfaith Awareness Week, it is a movement that remains a work in progress.

We havent all quite heard the bell toll, acknowledges Karen Koblentz, president of the San Dieguito Interfaith Ministerial Association.

Still, she adds, I think the strides we have made are enormously successful.

In San Diego County, and in many other parts of the country, there are a variety of interfaith coalitions working together to address such issues as hunger, homelessness, immigration, health care, equal rights and simply understanding each others faith.

And certainly, the religious landscape has changed dramatically.

Many of the religions that took the stage in Chicago now have houses of worship and other gathering places nestled under San Diegos palm trees, along city streets and in our canyons and hillsides. Christians still account for the majority 68 percent of the countys population, while other faiths constitute a respectable 5 percent. The ever-growing nones those with no official religious affiliation make up the rest.

But there also are deep divisions, from the religiously charged debates over homosexuality, abortion and racism to the elephant in the room segments of Christianity who believe their religion is the right one and others need to be converted.

The scenes of some rioters carrying Christian flags and banners exalting Jesus as they stormed the nations Capitol on Jan. 6 were a visceral reminder that our ongoing us-against-them polarization has spilled over into our faiths.

I think the consequences of not being inclusive is exactly what we have, says Koblentz, who is a member of Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Encinitas, which follows a metaphysical, multi-religious philosophy known as Science of Mind.

She suggests we dwell less on our differences and more on our common humanity.

We all want the same thing. We want peace, we want safety, food and shelter and freedom to worship as we choose without repercussion.

Interreligious unity doesnt mean giving up on your particular religion, she adds. It simply means respecting others as equals.

So how can we go about creating a template for this unity? Koblentz believes we already have one: the Golden Rule, an almost universally embraced directive to treat others the way we want to be treated. If we did that, she says, we would not do some of the things, we would not think some of the things, we would not say some of the things. We would honor others as ourselves.

When Bobo Elliott, a member of the Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in San Diego, speaks at Monday evenings program about Domination Decoded, he will revisit what happens when followers of one religion impose themselves on the native inhabitants.

In his case: when European explorers began establishing Catholic missions and subduing the Indigenous people under the pretext of religious and national domination.

When the Spanish mission system got here and started imposing their beliefs onto our people, that was the problem, says Elliott. Centuries later, the damage is still being felt. It ripped and stole many people away from us, and now they dont want any part of us.

Elliott, who is the nephew of the late Leroy Elliott, who led the Manzanita people for 18 years until his passing in 2015, was attracted to the interfaith movement because of its commitment to respect all traditions without promoting one over the other.

We all come from the earth, says Elliott, who describes himself as more spiritual than religious. And unity is possible, he adds, if we can all realize that we are all one just in different shapes and sizes.

The Rev. J. Lee Hill, Jr., a United Church of Christ minister and a leader in the local interfaith movement, argues that weve become so diverse religiously that a fundamental literacy about these faiths is crucial.

What do you call a Sikh place of worship? Is it a good idea to invite your Muslim neighbor over for lunch during Ramadan? If a co-worker has a Shiva figurine on his desk, hes probably what religion? Answers: gurdwara, no, Hindu.

Being able to have arudimentary kind of understandingof faith, and different faith traditions, will help us build a more diverse and just society, says Hill, who is senior pastor of Christian Fellowship Congregational Church in San Diegos Emerald Hills community.

But can there be unity when some Christians feel they must convert others in order to to save their souls?

He answers by suggesting that we look at the Great Commission verse in the New Testament a little differently. Perhaps Jesus hope in calling for followers to make disciples of others also was about making converts dedicated to a loving and fair world.

And if each of us saw God in every person, regardless of creed, then wed see that we are all part of the human family, Hill adds. We have the same hopes and dreams and desires out of life. And when we come together in our diversity, we begin to do the hard work of bringing justice and healing into our world.

But traditional evangelicals remain leery.

Other religions do not believe in the same God, cautions the conservative values group Focus on the Family. As one pastor put it on that organizations website: Lets not forget what our call really is. If you dont share the truth of salvation, have you really loved your neighbor?

There have been six other Parliaments of the Worlds Religions, as they are now called, with an average attendance of about 8,000 people. The next one, scheduled for October, will be a virtual event because of COVID-19.

Koblentz, of the San Dieguito interfaith group, knows that some people dont want to participate and she says she respects their choice.

I think you allow them to walk away, she adds. You gather with those who are willing to have the experience. In politics and religion, I think we need to abandon the idea that unity means oneness.

Instead, when she envisions a healthy interfaith community, she thinks of a tapestry with all the hues and the bumps and the shadows.

Which brings us back to the notion of a work in progress.

We stand shoulder to shoulder for things we support collectively and respect those other things that we may not find resonance with us, Koblentz says. I think thats the only way we can do it.

Sponsored by the Poway Interfaith Team (POINT), the opening ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. today and events continue through Friday, mostly on Zoom. For details and links, or the World Interfaith Networks website.

Dolbee is the former religion and ethics editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune and former president of Religion News Association. Email: sandidolbeecolumns@gmail.com.

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As Interfaith Awareness Week begins, a realization that we're all one but not the same - The San Diego Union-Tribune