Religious Awareness Days begins

As part of the Religious Awareness Days program "Open Hands Open Hearts: Exploring Diverse Religious Traditions," two events addressing the diversity of religious faiths were held at the Interfaith Center this week.

The lectures were part of a series of events intended to acquaint students with the various religious backgrounds in the local and global arena.

On Tuesday at 7 p.m., Rabbi Shira L. Lander discussed "What Makes a Sacred Space Sacred," detailing the evolution of Christian and Jewish architecture from the temples of ancient Rome. Lander currently teaches at the University of Maryland at the Ecumenical Institute of St. Mary's Seminary, and she is a dissertation fellow in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Lander divided her oration into three primary categories: the Greco-Roman tradition, Jewish holy sites and Christian holy sites. Beginning with Roman temples, she explained that Christian and Jewish architecture evolved from the original Roman designs for worship.

First, she described the Temple of Venus and Rome, built by Hadrian to honor the two patron gods of the city.

"Venus was chosen as a representative of Rome because she was thought to be the progenitor of the Julian lineage," said Lander. Regularly, the Romans conducted ceremonial sacrifices in honor of their deities, which significantly affected the formation of houses of worship.

"Sacrifices were made in front of the temples," said Lander. "But they were never brought inside." In fact, Romans erected a small platform that intersected the front steps of each temple for this very purpose.

Moreover, the sacrificial animals were specifically selected for each honored deity.

"For the goddesses they offered cows and for the gods they offered bulls," said Lander.

According to Lander, the notion of sacrifice extended to Jewish holy temples as well. She further detailed the historic impetus of religions to destroy other faiths' houses of worship for the erection of their own.

"The notion of architectural supercession is part of this tradition," said Lander. "You need to destroy the other sacred places [before you build your own]."

"In the fifth century, the Jerusalem Temple maintained itself as the only temple," sand Lander.

Then, Herod's Temple was erected in Jerusalem, and "only Jews were permitted in the inner court," said Lander. "And according to some scholars, women were not allowed beyond the court room."

Synagogues appeared long after the development of temples.

"Synagogues first appeared in ancient Egypt, and there they were called, 'prayer places,'" said Lander. "They were first built as houses of study and meeting houses for legal affairs. It offered a substitution for what they would have had in Jerusalem."

Moreover, synagogues experienced a definite progression from a house to a hall of meeting.

Christian holy sites developed as a result of Jewish rejection of Christians.

"First, Christians went to the synagogue, but they were not well-received and they were kicked out," said Lander. Many of the Christian houses of worship were concealed in the ancient world, said Lander.

"Christians weren't as public since they were objects of persecution," said Lander. "There are no crucifixion images until the third century."

However, St. Peter's in Rome illustrates the transition of Christians to prominence.

"When Christianity became associated with the empire, there became an alliance of Christianity with Rome, and we saw the rise of the basilica," explained Lander.

Lander noted the significance of holy sites. "When we mark space off as holy, that's the way we differentiate the sacred and the profane experience," said Lander.

On Tuesday, a panel of nine religious figures discussed "Peace-Making in Different Religious Traditions" in the Interfaith Center. University Chaplain Sharon Kugler moderated the event, and the speakers included Rabbi Joseph Menashe, retired United Methodist pastor Dan Gleckler, Rabbi Joe Katz, Unitarian Universalist physicist Larry Egbert, female minister of the Muslim Association Nazish Habib, Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat, and Hoji Scott, a Buddhist.

The panelists addressed the religious tradition of nonviolence and how their religions struggle to "build bridges" with other faiths.

Menashe commenced the discussion by speaking about the Judaic ideal of peace. "The Judaism idea of shalom [peace] is one of the main tenets," said Menashe. "Everything we do is supposed to create shalom, but nonviolence itself is an unmitigated ideal. I don't think it exists, and in Judaism, there are situations in which physical force is appropriate."

Universalist Egbert expressed personal opposition to any violence, specifically citing the current actions in Afghanistan, but he explained the customary tolerance of Universalists.

"Unitarian Universalism starts with the position that everyone has inherent dignity," said Egbert. "The idea of being a Unitarian Universalist is 'I respect you, but I'm me.'"

Scott described the various Buddhist teachings that blatantly oppose violence, naming 10 tenets that attack the basic kernel of violence.

"Most physical violence starts in a quieter way," said Scott. Thus, Buddhism denies actions such as killing, stealing, and speaking falsely.

Habib and Arafat agreed on Islam's inherent opposition to violence, except in self-defense.

"Sanctity of life is sacred in Islam," said Habib. "War is only permitted as self-defense. It's a last resort, and then there's rigorous conditions. For example, you cannot harm women and children or crops and livestock."

According to Gleckler, United Methodism is entirely incompatible with violence. The religion rejects war in a foreign policy, promotes human rights above all other considerations and supports complete cooperative disarmament throughout the world.

Gleckler also pointed out that both President George W. Bush and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton are United Methodists, and neither have opposed war in the past.

After various input from diverse religious figures, Katz summarized the discussion in one sentence: "We have made human beings [inhuman]," said Katz. "When you rob man of the dignity of man, that is the beginning of the end of it."

The two events were part of "Open Hands Open Hearts: Exploring Diverse Faith Traditions," a part of Religious Awareness Days.

"We're trying to show religious diversity and take a step to understand each other," said Shamim Ahmed, organizer of the panelist event.