Written by Alex McClain
Almost 80 students in Harding’s living world religions course traveled to Dallas over the weekend to visit places of worship for other religions.
While in Dallas, the students visited a Buddhist temple, a Hindu temple and a Muslim mosque, among others.
“They have read about these religions in their textbooks, but now they meet Sikhs and Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists face-to-face and have conversation,” course professor and dean of the College of Bible and Religion Dr. Monty Cox said.
The class not only toured the sites but also witnessed some practices of the religions. They saw families sacrificing to shrines in the Hindu temple and participated in a question-and-answer session with the temple’s leaders. Senior Matt West said Cox instructed the group to stay away from subjects that could be taken as offensive.
“The questions we asked were very carefully framed so they didn’t seem like an attack,” West said.
West also said the people they met from all the religions were very excited to have them visit and learn about the differences between their belief system andJunior graphic design student Kari Dingus said the devoutness of the people practicing other religions really challenged her as a Christian.
“They really live out their religion, ” she said. “As Christians, we are called to do that but often limit it to Sunday mornings.”
West said there were people in the mosque who were younger than the group saying their daily prayers and actively practicing their religion.
“I’m sure there are apathetic people in other religions, too, but everyone we met was so fervent in their belief,” he said.
One religion that impressed students is the Baha’i faith. Baha’i is the ninth largest faith in the world and builds on the foundations of older religions. Those practicing Baha’i follow Baha’ullah, a prophet who came after Mohammad and taught unity. They accept leaders from many different religions including Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Confucius as “gates” to an ultimate goal.
Some of the traditions of the Sikh peaked the curiosity of junior Andrew English.
“They tuck their holy book into bed; it has the master bedroom in the house and, I think, they kiss it before going to bed each night,” he said.
“This class is about trying as best as we can to understand where people are coming from, why they believe what they believe and learning to engage in respectful conversation,” Cox said.
After touring the different religious centers around Dallas, the group came together at the conference room in their hotel for worship.
“The worship we did at the hotel was so powerful. I felt closer to God than I usually do in group worship,” Dingus said.
The service was simple, singing songs of praise, prayer and reading scripture, but the students were very impacted.
“Seeing these other religions has made me appreciate Jesus more,” West said. “Their faith is their truth, Jesus is my truth, and I feel so blessed to have a personal savior.”
