MULTI-FAITH
MELTDOWN IN ABBOTSFORD, BC
By Raheel Raza
www.raheelraza.com
I
’ve spent most of two decades in Canada,
involved in interfaith dialogue, but mostly in Ontario and mostly with
members of the Abrahamic faiths. Last week I was invited to Abbotsford.
BC. I’ve never been there and when I mentioned the name, a friend said
"interfaith in Abbotsford is when a Mennonite speaks to a Sikh
because those are the two largest, most conservative communities
there". I informed my well wisher that there would be six faiths
represented in BC, more that I have dialogued with here. So no judgments
please!
I was a guest of Satwinder Bains, Director of
the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at the University of the Fraser
Valley. I confess I didn’t have time to do my homework so my host filled
me in on the one and a half hour drive from the ferry to Abbotsford which
is beautiful farming country.
It came as a pleasant surprise to know that this
area of the Fraser Valley has the highest proportion of Indo-Canadian
people of any metropolitan area in Canada. The Centre for Indo-Canadian
Studies is also the only one of its kind and is a hub
of information for people who want to do business with India and who want
to understand the relationships and opportunities between India and
Canada. The Centre enhances the economic contribution of the Indo-Canadian
community in BC and has become a national information repository, and a
site for valuable social, cultural, and economic research.
One of the strengths of The Centre for
Indo-Canadian Studies is
that it acts as a catalyst for transforming UFV
into a place that reflects the diversity in the region. It
was to promote this diversity that Bains initiated an interfaith dialogue
at the Centre, titled "The Role of Faith in Promoting Pace and
Harmony in our Communities." Bains had warned me not to
expect too large a turnout because this was a new and unique event for the
Centre. Also it had snowed that night. So it was a wonderful surprise for
all of us when about 75 people from diverse local communities (as far as
Vancouver) turned up at the Centre to attend.
The speakers were Harold Rosen from the Baha’i
faith, David Giesbrecht, Christian, Gurmit Singh Tiwana, Sikh, Kusum Soni
and Oscar Khalideen for Hinduism and me, representing Islam. Our Jewish
contributor, David Mivasair could not make it due to the snow and traffic
back ups.
I was the first presenter so I tried to set the
stage for how important is for people of faith to work with governments
and the secular world to pursue peace. I referred to a lecture I had just
heard by Dr. Stephen Lewis in which he spoke about the G8 summit (being
held in Canada in 2010) where faith leaders are holding a simultaneous
summit to ensure that the millennium goals of the G8 countries are met.
Kusum Soni read from the Hindu Scripture about peace supported by words of
Oscar Khalideen and Harold Rosen spoke about the universal mandate of
their faith for peace and harmony. Mr.Tiwana, a self confessed spiritual
guru and poet, was a delight because he generally slammed all religions
for having moved away from their spiritual message and becoming too
politicized while David Giesbrecht enlightened the audience about the
outreach and charitable work being done by the Christians.
After our presentations we opened up for
questions. It was apparent from feedback that the audience was very
engaged and there was no lack of honesty and directness. Two reactions
amazed me. Nora Field, an elderly Christian lady who had been a teacher
for 47 years stood up and said she had never felt so warm or welcomed
before and she wanted to apologize for the racist feelings she had held
for ethnic communities. She mentioned how refreshing it was to hear that
at the core all faiths were the same. Another young man, came to me and
said he had never met or interacted with a Muslim before and was very
touched and pleased to learn that we are like everyone else! A young Sikh
man (originally from Toronto) addressed the Sikh community and said they
must look inward and work at some of the social issues that plague the
community.
Best part was that the community decided to have
such dialogue and discussion once a month and keep building the fragile
bridges that we started that night. I may be going to Abbotsford more
often – hopefully in the summer this time.
Raheel Raza is an inter-faith and
inter-cultural diversity consultant living in Mississauga. www.raheelraza.com