The Interreligious Exchange Spot

Let's Raise Some Dough!

 Quick! Get a pencil and grab your calendar!

Save the date for InterAct’s first benefit “Sacred Bread, Let’s Raise some Dough!” One of the things that unite many faith traditions and cultures is BREAD! Though it has different meanings and significance from culture to culture, one thing is true for all: bread is meant to be shared, celebrated and enjoyed. Join us on December 4th, 2010 7 pm – 9:30 pm for a sampling of hors d’oeuvres and delicious breads from Cleveland’s rich religious, ethnic, and cultural traditions. For your seat at the table please visit here.

Also, please know next month we will begin our Annual Appeal. We are extraordinarily grateful for your generosity in the past and know that together we can continue to foster compassion among the faith traditions in our region.

If you would like to stretch your dollar further please donate anytime next week. Our online partner, Just Give, is celebrating 10 years of online charitable giving. To mark the occasion, Just Give will thank donors and increase charitable giving, starting Saturday, October 10, they'll add $10 to every donation made for 10 days. Think of this as a pre-campaign deal. Donate anytime starting Oct. 10 through Oct. 20 and not only will you increase your support to us but you won’t be mailed any annual campaign literature. Save a few stamps, green the world, and support interreligious understanding all in one! Donate here today!

 
More of Greater Cleveland’s religious comings and goings for October/November

• Plan, Organize, Work, and Build the Homeless Stand Down as a Volunteer Leader
• Share the Light and learn more about Islamic traditions in Cleveland
• Buy that perfect fair trade handcrafted gift at the "Fair Trade Holiday Boutique"
• Discuss the separation of Church and State with "Holy Hullabaloos" with author and ACLU
• Participate in a series on inclusion and multiculturalism with the Diversity Center
• Encourage your youth groups to join Cuyahoga's Youth Advisory Committee
• Offer a "Hand Up" to homeless individuals with NEOCH and the Catholic Charities
• "Stop the Hate" and encourage your youth to write essays for the Maltz Museum's contest

Read more about it here.

 

 

Sign to Support Religious Freedom

Friends, members, and supporters of InterAct Cleveland,

As I am sure all of us are aware, there has been growing publicity concerning the building of an Islamic Center near Ground Zero in New York and some indications that members of the Muslim community are fearful about retribution due to the coincidental proximity of Eid al-Fitr and the anniversary of 9/11 this year.

InterAct would like to suggest that this is an opportunity for the interreligious community in our region to respond and offer our support to our Muslim sisters and brothers. If you and your community would join us in signing this statement please indicate that willingness by adding your name in comment box below.

Wishing you peace,

Sister Donna

InterAct Cleveland

 

 

We, the undersigned, stand in support and solidarity with our Muslim Sisters and Brothers during this 2010 celebration of the Holy Month of Ramadan and including the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, the festival at the end of Ramadan, which this year coincides with the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania, as well as the start of the Jewish High Holy Days and Rosh HaShana. This coincidence of events, particularly the proximity of Eid al-Fitr and the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks presents very specific challenges.

All of us have the right to feel safe. We have the right to celebrate our religious beliefs without harassment or harm. We are aware that some of our fellow citizens are filled with many mixed emotions and so we are challenged to find a focus that will continue to unite us as a country that not only tolerates, but holds dear the religious liberty and freedom that is the right of each and of all who call this land “home”.  As reported in a recent article in USA Today, some Christians have suggested that this anniversary of 9/11, because it will be at the end of Ramadan, should be remembered with a “Koran Burning Festival.” We are appalled by this invitation.

We do not accept the conclusion that since the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks were Muslim and seemed to have been religiously motivated, that all Muslims are to be held suspect.  We want our Muslim neighbors to know that we respect them and will work to guarantee that they have the same rights to which we all are entitled.

Signed,

InterReligious Partners in Action of Greater Cleveland

Congratulations and Best Wishes to the Jain Community of Northeastern Ohio

Dear Friend,

July 2 – 6, 2010 marked days of prayer and celebration within the interreligious community in Northeast Ohio as our Jain brothers and sisters opened and dedicated their new Temple in Richfield, OH. Toni Sacco and I had the privilege of representing InterAct Cleveland on July the 5 as guests of Dr. Ramesh Shah and with the help of introductions by Mr. Paramjit Singh. The five days of festivities were attended by well over 800 Jains and well-wishers including members of the Hindu community with representatives from Shiva Vishnu Temple, Sikhs of various Gurdwaras in the area and visitors from across our country and from as far away as the birthplace of Jainism, India. The sight of the new Temple in a beautifully wooded area adds the perfect contrast to the white marble and gold edifice.J

After doing a little research I learned that the adherents of the Jain Religion make up less than 1% of the total population of India. In the United States there are approximately 200,000 Jains. As I continued my searching I found that the tenet that I found most compelling to me is that of Ahimsa, total, absolute non-violence toward all living creatures. I find that an often illusive and challenging goal in my own life.

As we approached the Temple on Monday afternoon hundreds of people, many in brightly colored saris, children in traditional Indian garb, wizened elders; the newly born, priests, white-clad monks and nuns were spilling out of the main worship space in the Temple into each of its rooms. Closed circuit TVs helped to create an intimate, though dispersed community. Chant, clapping, and shouts of joy were a convincing sign of the gratitude and piety of this community. Our host, Dr. Shah invited us to be introduced and we were greeted with the traditional Hindi “Namaste’” which loosely translated means, “The divine in me greets the divine in you”. We in turn, offered our congratulations and gratitude for the privilege of being part of such an auspicious occasion. The sense of transcendent presence was as tangible as it is at a Tent Revival, on Yom Kippur, sharing the celebration of Eid or sitting in quiet meditation.  

As I drove north toward home in the late afternoon I reflected with gratitude on the depth of hospitality that I had experienced, the joy in devotion of those who follow the Jain path, and an overwhelming sense of “rightness” that such a celebration should happen in America on the weekend that we all mark our independence and with it the precious gift of religious freedom.  We at InterAct thank our friends at the new Temple and wish the congregants prosperity and much happiness.  

Making Memories with InterAct

This summer we at InterAct Cleveland encourage you to make memories and to take many, many photos. Especially photos of religious ceremonies, like baptisms or Pratishtha Mahotsavs, or moments that pluck a spiritual chord in your heart.
Why are we holding a photo bonanza? Religion is alive! But the stark reality is that it’s difficult for those who are not deeply involved in religious life to comprehend how real and integral religion can be. So let’s show them! How do you feel the fullness of your faith? How has the Divine warmed your summer? What has moved you to feel gratitude for the blessings that have surrounded you? Make some lasting memories this summer and help us enlighten others, too. There are two ways you can send us your photos. Share your photos with us on Facebook (InterAct Cleveland) or by sending them via e-mail to us at partners@interactcleveland.org. If you have time please explain what is happening in the photo and why it is significant.
In the meantime, please check out the following events in our pluralistic community this month; (click here)

• Taste-test samples of religious and cultural treats on July 27
• InterAct with like minded, diverse high school students in the Youth Fellows Program
• Volunteer as a Group Facilitator for the Youth Fellows Program
• Tell us "What's your bag?"
• Enjoy favorable realities from our Community Meals Program
• Meditate on impermanence  as a Buddhist at our blog "The Interreligious Exchange Spot"
• Put your faith into action at the Maltz Museum's Volunteer Fair
• Attend a lecture on religious profiling and national freedom with the ACLU
• Embrace the Melting Pot with a dialogue on diversity
• Journey to the Roof of the World with Sacred Tibetan dance and chants
  
• Fill up backpacks with school supplies for local school children this summer

 

PS. InterAct's Sharing Thanks Program was highlighted in the news!Check it out here
PPS: The photos above are from St. Basil the Great's Holy Thursday celebration and St. Basil's feast day.

Weddding Bells for InterAct

Dear Friend, 
What does it take to make an interfaith marriage work? Ultimately, it all boils down to respect, love, understanding, and clear communication, just like any other marriage. However, when a couple decides to embark upon an interfaith marriage, they will likely encounter a number of challenges and trials that other couples probably will not have to face.

Before a wedding can even be planned, many parents express their unease at leting their son or daughter marry a man or woman of a faith that is not their own. In my interview with Jacqi Loewy, who writes and directs plays revolving around interfaith relationships, she said that many parents who are against interfaith marriage are afraid that the religion or culture that has played an integral part in their lives will be lost to future generations once their child marries outside their faith.

One very important step that must be taken before going ahead with an interfaith marriage is for the couple to really think about their future, discuss details, and foster a respect for each other’s feelings and individual beliefs. Too many people get married without first discussing their beliefs, Loewy said, and this can prove to be detrimental to a marriage. Equally important, said Andrew Tevington, assistant pastor at the United Methodist Church of the Servant in Oklahoma City, is that a couple “planning an interfaith marriage should work out in advance the details of where holidays will be spent, which holidays of each religion will be celebrated and how all members of each person’s family will know what to expect.”

Another potential problem arises if the couple decides to have children. In which parent’s faith will they be brought up in? Will they attend Bible school at dad’s church or go to temple with mom instead? Will the family eat meat or will they be strict vegetarians? Will the family continue practicing any religion at all? For some couples this part of their lives is easy to deal with because one partner does not have strong convictions about the religion he or she was raised in and is therefore willing to raise the children in the other partner’s religious tradition. Other couples, however, have strong convictions about two separate religions and this can lead to many difficult issues. For example, if one parent tries to force their religion on the kids or doesn’t allow for equal exposure to the other’s religion, a lasting bitterness and tension can form. But not every couple with differing views on religion has to choose one over the other. In some cases, couples manage to merge their two religions together and allow their kids to experience aspects of both, giving them the chance to make their own decisions about which religion, if any, is right for them.

Interfaith marriages are inevitably challenging. But with love, respect, and communication, it can prove to be a gift for the couple, a way to enrich their relationship in a deep and meaningful way as well as an opportunity for their families to learn and understand more about a faith that is not their own.

Sources:
http://www.america.gov/st/diversityenglish/2008/August/20080811165025maduobbA0.1280329.html
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ifm_fact.html
Personal interview with Jacqi Loewy

Photos:
Top Sanjan Austa's Flickr photostream
Bottom Sneakymoose's photostream