On Nov. 12 NEIU hosted the 10th annual Interfaith Conference, this year devoted to “Faith and Leadership.” According to the mission statement, the aim of this initiative is to “promote the positive role of understanding and tolerance as a healing and constructive force in life.” By inviting representatives of different faiths who are also community leaders, the organizers hope to increase NEIU students’ awareness of the diversity of religious beliefs in our society, as well as enhance their understanding of how spirituality can help make leadership better.
The conference had the form of three panels, during which the attendees had a chance to hear from the school’s faculty and a variety of guests from different religious groups prominent in Chicago. These included Jews, Jains, Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Muslims, Methodists and Baha’is.
Narendar Rao, professor of finance in NEIU’s College of Business and Management, moderated one of the panels, and expressed that it will “promote a dialogue between religions, and create awareness because that is where respect comes from.”
After professor Rao’s introductory remarks, the stage was taken by Manish Shah, a member of the Jain Center of Metropolitan Chicago. He offered comments on this year’s presidential election, and the three rules of Jainism he saw at work in President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign and political platform.
The first of those concepts is Ahimsa, the principle of nonviolence, which Shah thought was reflected in Obama’s objection to the Iraq War. He mentioned Aparigraha which proclaims non-possessiveness and the lack of desire for material goods. This concept, Shah said, was present in the Democrat’s critique of Wall Street greed and his views on how to deal with the economic crisis. Anekantavada — the multiplicity of viewpoints — which he claimed was embraced by Obama and exhibited by many of his supporters who responded “So what?” to the rumors that he was a Muslim. In view of that last principle, Shah encouraged everyone to explore the ethnic and religious diversity of Chicago, for example by visiting a house of worship different than their own. He concluded by citing Gandhi’s famous formula, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Mehroo M. Patel, a community leader for the Zoroastrian Community in Chicago, gave an example of what this change might look like. She first outlined the philosophy behind her beliefs, which consist of “living one good life,” “building a bridge across faiths” and “reciprocating to one’s community.”
Patel recalled the moment when she and her husband realized they had become successful in their lives, and decided it was time to heed that third principle. They visited the Maharashtra province in their native India and instantly found an initiative they could help develop. At the time they visited, India was in dire need of qualified medical personnel and so they helped set up a College of Nursing in the town of Panchgani. Strengthening her case with her own example, Patel urged conference participants to try to give back to their communities and search for such leadership opportunities. “You are all potential leaders, future or present,” she concluded.
The last speaker was Raijnder Singh Mago, who is responsible for public relations of the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago. He too began by familiarizing the audience with his faith, which is the fifth most numerous in India, with a diaspora of over one million people. As Mago explained, the essence of Sikhism is open-mindedness and respect for the followers of all other religions, to the point where if you study and follow faithfully the tenets of any given religion, you also can call yourself a Sikh, for “Sikh” means “student”. Sikhism, he said, is a goal-oriented faith, which seeks a truth and tries to implement it with conscience. Conscience precisely, as well as compassion, contentment, righteousness and humility are the staples of dharma – a virtuous way of life that Sikhs embrace. Mago expressed hope that contemporary leaders embrace it too.
Sheila, who is a psychology major at NEIU, admitted that Mago’s remarks got her interested in Sikhism. “It’s different and I would like to learn more about it,” she said. The fact that this one panel might have such an effect on students made Assistant Dean for Academic Development Yasmin A. Ranney very glad. She is proud of how the Heritage Conference Series, which Interfaith is a part of, has been gaining popularity over the last ten years. “If we reach one student during an event, we have done our job,” said Ranney.