Hello friends of Multifaith! Last Thursday, we had an interesting conversation on religion and its influence on pop culture. Celebrities that are religious and non-religious often have some sort of impact on how we see certain religions.
Scientology is one that has been noted in the public sphere for some time now. There are quite a few celebs who have been (fairly or unfairly) associated with Scientology, including John Travolta, Will Smith, and Tom Cruise. Unfortunately, Tom Cruise may be the one that comes to mind first. His very odd public outbursts have made people think that it’s the religion that’s making him “crazy”. Being in the public eye can cause a lot of false information to develop and it’s very easy to get wrong ideas traveling fast.
In the case of Scientology, because there was so much media attention, the true meaning of the religion was lost. When looking into what Scientology actually consists of, it is heavily weighed on helping your community and striving to be the best that you can possibly be. The most important thing is to make yourself a better person, and helping whenever you can along your own personal journey. The morals of the faith are lost when looked at from a public lens, and it shows that it’s important to educate ourselves before we jump to conclusions based on what we’ve heard.
In the case of Scientology, for example, what makes a religion or its practitioners authentic? When unraveling this question, a large amount of our time was spent discussing cults. What makes a cult… a cult?
The word usually has a negative connotation to it, but in reality, a cult is simply defined as followers of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices. So, technically, Christianity and Buddhism are cults, along with all the other beliefs and religious systems in the world.
But why have we come to have negatives ideas with the word cult? A lot of the time, we throw that word out there because the thing the group is practicing is uncommon and unfamiliar to us. It doesn’t go with the usual belief system that one might follow. It’s something that’s ‘strange and not normal’, so you instantly put a label to it, usually ‘cult’ because it’s a word that should spark fear and unease to a person.
For example, we talked a lot about Branch Davidians, Heaven’s Gate, and other cults – what makes them uncommon, unfamiliar, strange, abnormal? What makes them incite fear and unease? What crosses the line, and who decides?
So while discussing religion, pop culture, and public opinion – and developing a deeper conversation about public opinion, cults, and connotations – the real question becomes: What makes a religious tradition authentic, what makes cults abnormal, and who decides?
November 2010 to April 2011: What If to Better Together
We all know the narratives by now. “Different religions can never get along.” “Organized religion is stupid or useless.” “Faith only breeds hatred and mistrust in the world.”
But at Hamline, we know that’s not true! We know that our faiths and traditions can be better together, and we know that it all starts with a question: “What if?” What if people of all faiths and traditions came together to do good work? What if Muslims and atheists, Christians and Hindus, Jews and Sikhs, all came together to share our stories and change the world? What if we all chipped in, learned to get along, and helped our communities together?
In November, we asked, “What if?” On a rainy Wednesday night in November, over thirty members of the Hamline community and guests all came together to share food, conversation, and stories. All around me, I watched as people of all genders, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and religious traditions bent their heads together to talk, ask questions, listen, and learn. All around me, the conversation just kept coming. People wanted to talk. People wanted to help. And we wanted to do it.
In December, weformed a partnership with Taking Root, an interfaith refugee resettlement program, to prove that our religious and cultural traditions really are Better Together! We kicked off on December 15, when a young widow named Paw Say and her children arrived in Minnesota. They were Christian Karen refugees from Burma, persecuted and displaced in their home countries by religious and ethnic violence. Upon arriving, a multilingual and interfaith team met them at the airport and took them to their new apartment. There, they were welcomed into a fresh, clean apartment, complete with furniture, beds, kitchen supplies, food in the fridge, welcome kits, and school supplies for the children! Taking Root has provided additional financial and life skills support ever since. Today, they are on their feet and part of Minnesota’s international culture.
I am proud to say that I, along with another Better Together member Adam Zagoria-Moffet, helped volunteer to make it happen. Along with other volunteers and a mountain of donated goods, we spent several hours moving and sprucing up the family’s apartment. After lugging furniture, putting together beds, stocking the kitchen, and more, we finally called it a day and surveyed our handiwork. That weekend, they would be reunited with their family. The whole family would get to enjoy the new apartment that I had helped pull together. Everyone would get the best Christmas present ever, and a sustainable one at that, all because of interfaith service work.
So we kept doing it! In February and March, we held awesome monthly interfaith meals and did group interfaith service projects! We ate great food, heard stories, watched films, learned, donated, and volunteered!
Februarys smash hit interfaith meal
Februarys group interfaith service project!
Marchs (even bigger) interfaith service project!
Just in those two months, we collected:
Eight garbage bags of clothing
Three or four warm winter jackets
Two or three boxes of diapers
Countless baby supplies
Tons of household items
and a TV!
We also packed eight big welcome kits for eight new apartments, including bathroom kits and kitchen kits, pots and pans, utensils, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, and more! And we’ve volunteered for a total of over twelve hours of service work, helping to spruce up and move in:
Paw Say and her children
Abdi, a young Somali man who was reunited with his family here in Minnesota
Ker Ner and Paw Tar Shu, a young couple our age, who are expecting their first baby next month.
And in April, we wrapped up our campaign with our Better Together + Taking Root Finale: Raffle and Art Show! We collected an unbelievable amount of donations, ate more amazing food, shared some inspiring stories, participated in our collaborative art project, and gave away prizes. We finally proved the success of our interfaith collaboration!
This photo doesn’t do it justice, but we collected a HUGE amount of donations! As you can see, we collected toilet paper, baby supplies, household items, kids’ toys and games, household hardware supplies, and more! This picture doesn’t show the additional four big garbage bags of clothing that were donated by Safety and Security, Kaitlyn Ripley, and others by the end of the night!
Donations!
People ate, talked, checked out our art project, and added their contributions!
Margaret Crenshaw telling her story about volunteering with refugee youth, and the power of the Better Together campaign to help relate to their experiences.
Jenna Kallestad discussing her experiences interning with public schools, working with young refugee children, and developing an interest in interfaith refugee resettlement. Now, she works as an intern for Taking Root!
Our huge collaborative art project, to which people added their thoughts and prayers throughout the night!
Prize winners won gift cards to The Ginkgo, Target, and the Hamline Bookstore! Yay!
Over the weekend, Hamline students also donated and volunteered for a new Karen refugee family, Dah Bu (father), Hser Mi (mother), Lah Lah Doo (daughter, 12 years old), Peh Mue (daughter, 11 years old), Chit Koe Nai (son, 9 years old), and Paw Eh Mui (daughter, 4 years old).
Final thoughts: I feel like Hamline University finally understands the real value of asking questions, rocking the boat, changing the narrative, and working together for the common good. Now, the groundwork is set for future interfaith collaborations. Now, we can truly move forward together and make Hamline University a centerpiece of interfaith service!
Thank you all for your part in it, and I hope you’ll join us for next year’s events! We are currently working with the Interfaith Council and The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge to plan next year’s Better Together campaign. See you then!
When I first heard about Better Together + Taking Root, I was so inspired to come out and help families who are coming to America. I understood how it feels to be coming to a new place. My father is from Somalia and a civil war has torn the country apart. My dad brought all of his family to the United Sates in 1992, which was when I was born.
I loved hearing stories as I got older about all the experiences they had. Some were funny, sad, frustrating, and happy. When they came they didn’t know any English, but luckily they had my father, who had came in the 80s to go to college, and also my mother who is African-American and knows the life here (especially as a minority).
One thing that really interested me is that Taking Root helps families who do not have any family here, nowhere to live, and also no support or help. Comparing the troubles that my family had coming to America with help, I couldn’t imagine a family coming with no help.
One of my biggest reasons for volunteering also is because when refugees come from their country, they are often told who are the “good” people in America and who are the “bad”. They are told who to avoid and not avoid. When my family came here to America, their case worker told them not socialize with Black people because “they are not good people”. This has created many issues between people from other countries and African-Americans here already in America. This issue really hurts me personally because I did a study on this, and more than 90% of foreigners from other countries are told that Black people are bad and White people are good. One thing that hurt me the most personally is my family, who have come from Somalia, were also told this, and some of them still have this mentality today.
With the Better Together campaign, I wanted to show my face, and help to show that we are not all what they say about Black people. Black people in this country have gone through so much, and with their help, refugees are able to make a new life here today.
Want to join the Better Together + Taking Root campaign? Join us for our final event, the Better Together + Taking Root Finale: Raffle and Art Show! Food. Music. Raffle. Art Show. The more donations you bring, the more money goes into the pot, and the better your chance to win. Prizes up to $150 and all proceeds go toward Taking Root’s interfaith support for refugee families in Minnesota. Even better, you can contribute to our collaborative art project and share your prayers, wishes, and stories of interfaith cooperation for the common good! Wednesday April 13, 7:30pm, Kay Fredericks Room.
Join us for one amazing month of interfaith events at Hamline! Come one, come all – tell your friends and tell your classes!
30 Hour Fast:
11:00am Wednesday April 6 – 5:00pm Thursday April 7
Empty Bowls:
5:00pm Thursday April 7 Hancock Recreation Center
Today, fast and show your support for those suffering from hunger (and support those fighting to end it). Tomorrow, break your fast at Hamline’s Empty Bowls event! Empty Bowls is an international fundraising event where participants pay a little for a handmade bowl, soup to fill the bowl, and entertainment. After the fundraiser, participants take their empty bowls to remember that there are people in their communities and around the world who are hungry. Proceeds from the FREE will donation this year will go to Keystone Community Services and White Earth Land Recovery Project.
Multifaith Alliance: Spring Holidays
Thursday April 7, 7:00pm
Bush Student Center Chapel
Join Multifaith Alliance for an annual classic, our “Spring Holidays” event! Learn about Easter, Vaisakhi, Passover, Ridvan, Imbolc, Holi, and other seasonal holidays! Where do they come from? What do eggs have to do with anything? What do these festivities have in common? How are they different? What fun customs do people participate in? (There might even be dying of eggs!) As always, free food and safe space!
Better Together Finale: Raffle and Art Show
Wednesday April 13, 7:30pm
Kay Fredericks
The Better Together + Taking Root campaign: You’ve been with us from the beginning. You’ve chipped in your religious and philosophical backgrounds, and you’ve helped make Hamline’s interfaith work possible. Thanks to you, local Somali and Karen refugees like Abdi, Paw Say, Ker Ner, Paw Tar Shu, and their families are enjoying new homes, safety, and the welcome of a peaceful community.
Join us for one last service and celebration event, the Better Together Finale: Raffle and Art Show! Food. Music. Raffle. Art Show. The more donations you bring, the more money goes into the pot, and the better your chance to win! Prizes up to $150 and all proceeds go toward Taking Root interfaith support for refugee families in Minnesota! Contribute to our collaborative art project and share your prayers, wishes, and stories of interfaith cooperation for the common good!
Chocolate Seder
Thursday April 14, 7:00pm
Sorin A/B
Passover is almost upon us – and Jewish Student Life is hosting the annual Chocolate Seder! Join in for a hilarious version of the traditional seder in which we only eat chocolate and learn a bit about Passover in the process! Everyone is welcome to attend, and no experience with a Seder is neccessary. Multifaith Alliance will be attending in lieu of our typical Thursday night gathering!
Islamic Awareness Week
Monday April 18 – Friday April 22
Join the Muslim Student Association (MSA) for the first ever Islamic Awareness Week at Hamline University. This event is going to occur in third week of April. So enjoy a week of fun filled activities.
Monday – Henna 5:00pm
Islamic Fashion Show 6:00
BSC HUB
Tuesday- Movie Night
6:30pm HUB
Wednesday – Hijab Day
Speaker. Discussion in BSC HUB 6.00pm
Enjoy your new home in Minnesota! With love and respect, the Hamline University Better Together Campaign, 2011
The Better Together + Taking Root Finale: Raffle and Art Show!
Wednesday April 13
7:30pm
Kay Fredericks
Food. Music. Raffle. Art Show. That’s right.
Raffle: The more donations you bring, the more money goes into the pot, and the better your chance to win! Prizes up to $150 and all proceeds go toward interfaith support for refugee families in Minnesota!
Art Show: Music, video, blog posts, essays, photos, and more! Contribute to our collaborative art project and share your prayers, wishes, and stories of interfaith cooperation for the common good!
Why are we doing this?
The Better Together campaign is partnering with our friends at Taking Root, an interfaith refugee resettlement program, to provide a safe, warm home for new neighbors from abroad. Many refugees come to Minnesota to put down roots and build a new life. We want to help them do it.
… On November 10, we asked “What if?” at the What If Speak-In.
… On February 8, we joined for an interfaith meal and heard stories about refugees like Gangaj, or Paw Say and her children.
… On February 12, we helped volunteer to move in Abdi, a young Somali refugee reuniting with his family.
… On March 8, we shared another interfaith meal and watched a film about the stories of refugees like Consolata and Julia.
… On March 12, we helped do the best interfaith service day yet – spending all afternoon scrubbing and setting up the best apartment ever for Ker Ner, Paw Tar Shu, and the baby they are expecting in May!
We’ve collected diapers, food, clothes, boots, warm shoes, a TV, sweaters, towels, pillows, blankets, pots, pans, utensils, baby items, and more. We’ve packed welcome kits for kitchens and bathrooms. We’ve raised money.
Now, we’re celebrating with our finale event and service day, and we want to see you there!
… Yes, it sounds like the start of a joke, but it’s not! It’s actually a snapshot of the overwhelming success of Saturday March 12’s Better Together Interfaith Service Day!
Twelve students of all different faiths, traditions, and cultural backgrounds all came together to help support the family of Ker Ner and Paw Tar Shu, Karen refugees from Thailand who are expecting their first baby in May!
After we talked through some pre-volunteering interfaith discussion, we loaded the back of our Hamline van with donations from our neighbors and headed off to the apartment. Once there, we got right to work!
Everybody split up into groups twos and threes, and every room of the apartment was filled with the sound of chatting, laughing, scrubbing, hammering, cleaning, and more!
We set up the bathroom…
… cleaned, scrubbed, and put up the kitchen…
… prepared the baby’s crib and gifts…
… and so much more! Everyone chipped in, worked hard, and shared some great conversation and stories!
Afterwards, we headed back to Hamline for pizza, a movie, and packing welcome kits for new families coming to Minnesota.
Altogether, it was a wonderful time and a powerful interfaith volunteering experience for everyone involved. We made new friends, helped our neighbors, and prepared a fresh, warm home for Ker Ner, Paw Tar Shu, and their baby.
Led primarily by Representative Peter King, the hearings target American Muslim politicans, advocacy groups, community organizers, and more, questioning them about terrorism within the Muslim community. Key trials have included CAIR and Minnesota’s own Rep. Keith Ellison.
For some, these hearings are strongly reminiscent of the McCarthy trials of the previous century. For others, they offer an excuse to question the Muslim community. “A Congressional hearing on Thursday addressing homegrown Islamic terrorism offered divergent portraits of Muslims in America,” wrote the New York Times, “one as law-abiding people who are unfairly made targets, the other as a community ignoring radicalization among its own and failing to confront what one witness called “this cancer that’s within.”
In Orange County, regardless of ICNA’s individual motives or agendas (which may or may not be reprehensible), protests can and should be examples of fair, peaceful, inclusive, and nonviolent action for change. Even if the above video has been edited and marketed unfairly, even one bad apple is too many. Vitriolic racial and ethnic hatred is unacceptable. We should all learn from these experiences and use them to produce better dialogue in our public sphere — especially regarding religion.
And in Elk Grove, 65 year old Surinder Singh and 78 year old Gurmej Atwal were gunned down in broad daylight. Their murder is under investigation as a hate crime directed at Muslims. When will this end? When will the misguided hatred and violence stop? “During a news conference Monday at a Sikh temple, a spokesman said the recent violence has scared some temple-goers into concealing any indicators of their religion. Sikhs often are mistaken for Muslims and have been the subject of occasional violence across the country since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”
However: This week, we are fighting back with a better story.
This week, the Hamline University Better Together + Taking Root campaign is coming together to share an interfaith meal, collect donations, and volunteer for a young refugee family from Burma.
Karen refugees Ker Ner and Paw Shu are 19 and 23 years old, and they are expecting their first child in May. Hamline interfaith students are bringing together their faiths and traditions and giving them a helping hand!
Join us on Saturday at 2:00pm. Meet up at the statue of Bishop Hamline on Hewitt Avenue in Hamline’s campus, and we’ll head to our service site in a Hamline van! We’re also going to share pizza and work on packing welcome kits! Key donations include pots/pans, bakeware, silverware, can openers, new towels, new pillows, waste basket, broom, mop, new toilet paper, new shampoo, and baby items.
Also this week, Hamline University’s Multifaith Alliance shared an awesome event about welcoming atheists into interfaith dialogue.
After setting our safe space and digging into our lasagna, we talked about a lot of important questions. What is atheism? What is interfaith? These simple words actually encompass a wide variety of personal perspectives and worldviews. How can we welcome them all?
With the help of a fantastic video by notable atheist Chris Stedman of NonProphet Status, we listened to stories and shared our own. How can we make new friends? How can we develop some more inclusive language? What do we want to learn more about? How can people who care about interfaith work be welcoming of atheists? How can atheists, Humanists, Religious Humanists, non-theists, Freethinkers, and more be receptive to working with all members of our community?
Most importantly, how can all of our faiths and traditions make an impact?
Things might be scary, friends. The hearings might be frightening; violence and shootings might be terrifying. But if you listen and look, there is a stronger, more powerful story being told. It is a story of welcoming strangers as neighbors. It is a story of welcoming non-believers as brothers and sisters. It is a story of bringing our traditions to the common good.
Thank you all so much for such a wonderful event last night! Amid food, friends, and stories, I hope you were all energized to come together and work for new families in Minnesota. I know I am!
It’s hard to identify what was most exciting about last night’s event; it’s hard to say what encourages me to chip in and do my best to help…
Was it Lynea’s fantastic story – her first day on the job, being thanked tearfully by a young mother of several children – a story that continues to inspire all of us?
Was it our heartwrenching, emotional video, a video that motivated us to jump on board and dedicate ourselves to sharing what we have?
Was it my own personal experiences volunteering with refugees, my friendships with people of all faiths and backgrounds, my passion for interfaith action, that compels me to donate and volunteer?
Whatever the reason, I know you’re inspired too! So, join us:
We’re having another fun interfaith volunteer day on Saturday March 12 at 2:00pm! We’ll be helping to move in a young refugee couple, Ker Ner and his wife Paw Tar Shu, Karen refugees from Thailand who are expecting a baby in May!
Meet up at the statue of Bishop Hamline on Hewitt Avenue in Hamline’s campus, and we’ll head to our service site in a Hamline van! We’re also going to share pizza and Craigslisting for free donations!
Also, Better Together + Taking Root is collecting donations for the young family. Key donations include pots/pans, bakeware, silverware, can openers, new towels, new pillows, waste basket, broom, mop, new toilet paper, new shampoo, and baby items
Join us for some exciting events at Hamline this week! Come out for food, treats, discussion, volunteering, and show your support for your fellow students!
Crepes!
Crepe Sale!
Tuesday March 8
11:00am to 6:00pm
GLC Lobby
For $1, delicious crepes will be for sale! Proceeds support the Catalyst service-learning trips that are going to New Orleans over Spring Break. They’re only $1, and they go to a great cause! Stop by, have a crepe, and share the event with friends! YUM!
We are hosting another free interfaith meal on Tuesday March 8 at 7:30pm in the HUB. We will be watching a short film, having a discussion, and most importantly, collecting donations for a young refugee couple, Ker Ner and his wife Paw Tar Shu, who are expecting a baby in May! Very needed donations include pots/pans, bakeware, silverware, can openers, new towels, new pillows, waste basket, broom, mop, new toilet paper, new shampoo, and baby items.
Ash Wednesday Service
Wednesday March 9
4:00pm
Sorin A/B
Join us for a time of reflection, repentance, renewal, response, and relationship. All are welcome to commune, think, meditate, reflect, pray, give, and forgive in this important moment in the Christian year.
Better Together + Taking Root
Interfaith Volunteering
Saturday March 12
2:00pm
Meet up at Bishop Hamline (Transportation Provided)
We are following up Tuesday night’s meal with another fun interfaith volunteer day on Saturday March 12 at 2:00pm. We’ll be helping to move in Ker Ner and Paw Tar Shu and making them a warm, nice place to stay! Meet up at the statue of Bishop Hamline on Hewitt Avenue in Hamline’s campus, and we’ll head to our service site in a Hamline van! Volunteer projects will include moving in the young couple, scouting and picking up donations, and more!
This year, we’re sharing a new concept here at our blog: posts by real Hamline students who are passionate about multifaith and interfaith work! Today’s guest post is by Rola Alkatout, a major leader of the Better Together + Taking Root campaign, a student leader of Multifaith Alliance, an RA, and Social Justice major. Rola and her family immigrated to the United States in 1990 to escape the war in Kuwait.
Rola Alkatout
My name is Rola Alkatout, and I am a junior here at Hamline. I’m majoring in Social Justice with a focus on homelessness and immigration rights. Along with my school duties, I’m also involved in the Wesley Center’s Multifaith Alliance.
I first heard of the Better Together campaign through April Palo, who is one of the fellows for Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) this year. After hearing about the intentions and goals of the campaign that would consist of not just the Hamline community but others to come together to learn about other traditions and beliefs and show that it really is better together, I was really eager to see where it could go and was really excited when I got the chance to help join on the planning of events.
The issue of helping out new refugee families is something that is very important to me. My family came to the States in 1990 after Iraq began to invade Kuwait. My parents had 24 hours to decide whether they would come to the U.S. or stay in Kuwait, and they chose to make a big move and migrate to the U.S. At this time, they had 3 kids and 1 infant to take care of, so they chose the best option for the family.
Upon arrival, my family got so much help from friends in the Arab community and also teachers they had met from the elementary schools of my brothers. Without the help of these people, my parents would have had much more of a difficult time adjusting to Minnesota. People let them know of grocery stores, schools, and good places to live. Because of the journey that my family has been on, I feel that it’s a great opportunity to get involved in welcoming families to their new home.
Last June I began to volunteer at Project for Pride in Living, which houses many immigrant families who have just recently come to the States. Seeing how much help they needed and received, I think that it is so important to show families that there are people there for them and willing to help them out during the adjustment period that they will have to go through upon arriving. The feeling of being welcomed to a new place is so important to a family, and I think that it’s a great thing to be a part of.
There are some things that I hope to achieve with the campaign this year. I am very eager to help out with moving families in to their new homes and being there for them in the following months of their arrival. I’m also hoping that stories of other people’s experiences of helping will inspire others to join in and see what it’s all about. Overall, I am hoping that people will be inspired enough to pass on what they’ve learned and be excited to share new, pluralistic ways of approaching things and people that we may not be all to familiar with.
Want to join the Better Together + Taking Root campaign? Join us Tuesday March 8 at 7:30pm in the Hub for a free interfaith meal! We will be watching a short film, having a discussion, and most importantly, collecting donations for a young refugee couple, Ker Ner and his wife Paw Tar Shu, who are expecting a baby in May!
On Saturday March 12, we’ll be volunteering to help set up the couple’s apartment and work on more projects!
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