Interfaith panel discusses religion, sexuality
Recently, religious leaders from Sikhism, Christianity and Islam congregated on our campus to discuss topics chosen by 200 anonymously polled students. The topics discussed in this open, public event included the afterlife, homosexuality and general misconceptions about each faith in attendance.
The panel, moderated by Diversity Initiatives coordinator, Hoss Brown, consisted of Imam Jawal Rasul from the Islamic Society of Augusta, Reverend Paul Bush from Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, and Narinder Singh Malik from Guru Singh Sabha Augusta.
To begin, each faith was asked to explain the basics of their faith. Malik spoke first, with a brief history of Sikhism.
Sikhism, based upon Guru Nanak’s spiritual teachings, and originated at the end of the fifteenth century C.E., is the fifth largest religion in the world. The basic three principles of their faith are selflessness (sharing and giving to others less fortunate), honest living (living without deceit, exploitation, or fraud), and meditation while keeping God in mind at all times.
About the Islamic faith, Rasul stated, “we [Muslims] believe that it [Islam] is the first religion, and it was there from the beginning of humanity.”
The first pillar--of the five pillars of Islam--is absolute marthism, which means to declare that there is one God almighty. Since there is only one God who deserves worship, it is done according to the way he wants to be worshiped.
The second pillar is a requirement of five daily prayers, following a schedule set by the motion of the sun.
Pillar three states that once a year, for the month of Ramadan, Muslims are required to fast from dawn to sunset. They cannot consume food or drink during the 14 hours between dawn and sunset.
The fourth pillar is that each Muslim that has wealth is required to give 2.5% of his assets to the needy of their society.
Finally, the fifth pillar is to perform a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime, if a person is able to afford it, though Rasul added, “These days the cost is close to ten thousand dollars.”
Bush affirmed that in Christianity there is only one God and that Jesus Christ is his son. Bush stated, “We acknowledge that man, once God had created him, sinned and fell away from God.” The baseline of Christianity is that Jesus Christ was sent to earth by God to redeem man, that he was born of the Virgin Mary, died by the cross for the sins of the world, rose on the third morning after he confessed, and now sits at the right hand of the Father, acting as an advocate for humanity and their sins.
Christians believe that humans are God’s creations, who are sent here to love one another, and that there is one ultimate judge: God.
Bush stated that “as a whole, Christianity is to love man for who he is and what he is, to treat him as a human being with love and leave all judgments of their lifestyle that person lives up to God.”
A similarity between the three religions is that they each believe in one God, even though they are interpreted differently. One difference is in how they pray to God.
For Islam, there is a “good” afterlife and a “bad” afterlife. In the “good” afterlife, a person will never need or want for anything and desires are instantly granted. It is said to be a lush garden with a river running through it.
The “bad” afterlife is similar to the typical Christian hell, with never-ending hellfire and torture, the difference is that Allah will “harass” you for not following him in life.
In Sikhism, they do not believe in heaven or hell. They believe in karma and reincarnation. One’s good or bad actions in one lifetime determine the form of their souls in the next rebirth.
On the topic of homosexuality, Bush and Rasul agreed that it is “sinful” and “a choice.”
“What we choose to do is what we have to deal with,” said Bush, regarding the consequences for “choosing” a lifestyle other than heterosexuality, specifying that “scripture” says it is wrong, though he added, “love the sinner, hate the sin.”
Rasul said that he believes that there was a rise in homosexuality starting in the 90’s, partially due to the over-sexualization of the female body. He said that men have become bored with women and began desiring the novelty men.
According to Malik, Sikhs believe that all people deserve equal treatment, even if they make different choices.
“We will not treat them any different because of the principle [that] all people should be treated equally,” said Malik about the Sikh faith. “It’s their personal choice on how they want to live their life.”
“We are all God’s children and we should be treated equally no matter what our choices are,” he continued.
The topic of misconceptions in each religion was not discussed at length, but Rasul mentioned that since Muslims and Sikhs are “both brown,” they are often confused for one another.
