Monday, September 16, 2013

Building Bridges


This past weekend a fire ravaged and destroyed the Islamic Center in the small town of Winona, Minnesota. The fire was tragic event to be sure, but the real story came after the fire died out...

The Central Lutheran Church in Winona, Minnesota, offered worship space for the center's displaced members. While interfaith dialogue is a great concept, thus far it has been mainly just that. There has only been limited engagement worldwide between the Muslim and Christian communities in the way of actively working together. Let these acts of brotherhood be a guide to a new way forward.

Acts such as these are the true work between communities that needs to be highlighted. Rather than simply talking about working together, religious bodies need to become active in uniting for social causes with shared values. Hopefully, out of tragedy we can begin to build new bridges of cross cultural action and unity.