Mansquito - Malaria No More Blog

Follow this to our guest post at Malaria No More. Their blog is great!

Malaria

If you're here, you've probably seen the horrifying MANSQUITO roaming around campus. If you didn't get a chance to donate directly to the monstrosity, you can use this ChipIn widget to send money through PayPal. Thank you very much for your donation. If you're looking for other ways to get involved, email IFA President Kyle Kissick at kyle.kissick@du.edu

MnM Party - Eradicate Malaria

So we're working on some public advocacy events in the Spring quarter here on campus. The University of Denver Interfaith Student Alliance will be joining up with Malaria No More, the Interfaith Youth Core, and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation to raise awareness and funds for the fight against malaria.

We're having our kick-off event this coming Tuesday, February 24th at 7 pm. Check out the MnM Party Facebook event.

malaria, tony blair, interfaith, ifa

Hinduism and Buddhism

This last Sunday, I had the privilege of attending an interfaith lecture on Hinduism and Buddhism at the Tri-State Buddhist Temple. We heard from Yogacharya Srinidhi Baba of the Kriya Yogic tradition who spoke on the history of the Sanantana Dharma (also known as Hinduism) in India, as well as the nature of God-Realization and the Soul in Vedic tradition.

We then heard from the Venerable Claude d’Estrée, who is a lineage holder in both the Tibetan Gelugpa and Korean Son traditions, as well as a professor of the University of Denver. He discussed some of the basic tenets of Buddhism, addressed the differences between Hindu and Buddhist conceptions such as karma, dharma, and the soul (atman). He then taught a meditation in mindfulness colloquially known as the raisin meditation.

This event is one in a series of lectures on different religious traditions organized by the Youth Interfaith Group of St. Paul, Denver. The next lecture is on Judaism and Islam, and will be hosted at the Denver Islamic Society Mosque (2124 S. Birch St) at 2:30 on March 1st. We hope to see you all there.

A Statement on Gaza

UPDATE: Visit this letter at the University of Denver's Clarion newspaper.

In light of the renewed conflict in the Gaza Strip, the University of Denver Interfaith Student Alliance (DU IFA) wishes to extend our condolences to those who have suffered as a result of the recent violence. Both the people of Israel as well as the Palestinians living within Gaza have lost family members, friends, and fellow citizens. For years, many innocent lives have been lost due to the complexities of a region long fraught with violence. There are no easy answers to the questions facing the people of Israel and Palestine. A long history of violence plagues the story of this region, as well as the story of all of humankind. The pages of our collective past are riddled with accounts of conflict and hostility, hatred and fear, war and genocide. Much of this hostility is a result of our tendency to react rashly to difficulties that we all face. As humans we too often view violence as a viable solution to the problems we face living together in our ever shrinking world. We must not succumb to the all too human error of failing to see that we all share these problems, that we are all merely people trying to live together in peace, and that we are all subject to our own prejudices and misconceptions about our fellow men and women.

The members of the DU IFA believe that the wisdom of our collective faith traditions compels us to call for peace, understanding, and compassion. As an organization, our mission is to promote understanding of the full diversity of religious expression. We seek to achieve this goal by promoting dialogue among our members of different faith traditions, with the belief that understanding leads to tolerance, tolerance to acceptance, acceptance to compassion, and compassion to peace. Dialogue is not a debate; dialogue is collaborative discussion that can educate us and enlighten our attitudes. In this way we hope and pray that the parties now entrenched in violence abandon their hostility, and embark upon the seemingly difficult road to peace through dialogue and diplomacy.

The University of Denver prides itself on its diversity. The Interfaith Student Alliance welcomes this diversity in all its forms, whether it be cultural, ethnic, or (especially) religious. Many of our students are Jewish and many are Arab or Muslim. That's not the whole story, of course; DU has many different student faith communities. But whatever religious or faith tradition we call our own, wherever we hail from on the globe, and whatever our political persuasions may be, we all have at least one thing in common here: We are all University of Denver students. We are committed to leaving this school and making a difference. We are the practical idealists and the future leaders. We are all in this together. Only by talking to one another can we achieve truly rewarding happiness in this life.

Continued violence can only lead to suffering in a region of this world that has already seen too much human hatred. In the words of one of this country's wisest citizens, the Honorable Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we must remember that "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars." The Interfaith Student Alliance invites all students, faculty, and staff to recognize that whatever might be occurring in the Middle East or indeed, anywhere, we must all continue to learn and grow together in a spirit of fellowship, academic excellence, and above all, peaceful dialogue.

israel, palestine, interfaith, gaza

Welcome to (Your) Church

I was visiting my aunt in Philadelphia this weekend after a long week in our nation's capital. We found time on Saturday night to attend Mass at Old St. Joseph's Church, the oldest urban Catholic Church in America. It's hidden in an alley; a throwback to the days when Catholics in America were decried as a fifth column and regularly attacked. It's a sweet little building, too - the interior design is OLD and good.

So we went through the motions and ritual of the Mass, the way I've been doing since I was a wee babe, and then we came to the priest's final blessing. He gave a few announcements and bade us all to leave in peace. But then he did something very, very strange (for me, at least). He asked if any of us were visitors to Old St. Joseph's. I didn't know what to do. Both my aunt and I had never been there before, of course, but the very fact that he asked was completely foreign to me in the context of a Catholic Mass.

I've been to a LOT of different houses of worship, not just Catholic churches, since I started down the path of interfaith dialogue. I try to visit a new one every Sunday/Saturday/Friday/Tuesday/whateverday. One of the things that I noticed was that after or even before every service, visitors would be asked to identify themselves. There would always be someone afterwards who would chase me down and ask me who I was and why I was visiting. Sometimes I'd even receive small gifts! The imam at my local mosque regularly pointed me out in the back of the room as an "honored guest." This has never happened to me at a Catholic Church, and it is one of the criticisms that I have of my religion - it is sometimes quite insular and cold.

Now maybe I've simply been going to all the "non-welcoming" Catholic churches, something I doubt, and hearing a priest ask for visitors was such a shock that it took me a few seconds to stand. But stand I did, and I smiled while rising. He welcomed us, and expressed his desire that we return to share in faith and fellowship. I sat back down.

For the first time in my life, someone was welcoming me to my own church.

interfaith, catholicism

Christmas Comes But Never A Year

Frowny-face in England, from the Telegraph: Christmas banned in Oxford

It's not quite so frowny, though. The glimmer of true holiday cheer is the commentary by Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders in the city. As Sabir Hussain Mirza says:

"I am really upset about this. Christians, Muslims and other religions all look forward to Christmas."

And this from Rabbi Eli Bracknell:

"It is important to maintain a traditional British Christmas."

The concern expressed by these various religious leaders is both a refreshing example of interfaith cooperation and an illustration of the transmutation of Christmas into a holiday of "civil religion." Here in America, of course, the holiday season means a return to the discussion about "keeping Christ in Christmas." I'd be interested to see what the reaction of American Christians would be to having the leaders of different faith traditions backing them up!

Perhaps I have a romantic vision of this season. But if you've ever gotten "Christmas" gifts from a Jewish or Hindu neighbor, you'll understand what I'm on about. Happy Holidays!

Technorati Tags: interfaith, religion, christmas

Mumbai

The Asian subcontinent is often touted as a centuries-long (successful) experiment in the fruits of interfaith understanding, and for good reason. Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Parsis, and Jains are all a big part of the faith landscape of India. There are, of course, others, and next to the US, there is no other country as religiously diverse as India.

Still, there have been tough times. The 1947 Partition, the Gujarat riots, Kashmir and its importance to IndoPak relations, the continuing issues surrounding Ayodhya, and a number of earth-shattering assassinations have soiled the image of India as a multifaith haven.

And today/tonight, the attacks in Mumbai, the glitzy Maharashtran financial capital, add another high-profile case. Like the other instances of conflict and senseless violence, the attacks today have not been purely religious (religious violence seldom is), but their effects will be felt for a very long time.

No matter what the outcome of tonight's/today's/tomorrow's events may be, the memory of the attacks will inform attitudes and actions in India's communities for some time; it is a larger-scale incident with wall-to-wall media coverage. The DU Interfaith Student Alliance stands with people of all faiths in India and beyond. We hope that, as we always have, our human community can move beyond these horrid transgressions in the natural order and continue to grow together.

It's important to remember that in India, and indeed in every village and city in the world, our natural relation with people of different faiths is not predicated on violence, and certainly does not have to be.

Technorati Tags: mumbai, terrorism, interfaith

Dialogue and Grapes

The DU Interfaith Student Alliance ACTION TEAM (acronym forthcoming) traveled to the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies last night for an evening of education and dialogue. The Interfaith Alliance of Colorado organized the event as part of its regular series, and Acharya ji Kailash Chandra Upadhyay, the head priest at the temple, was kind enough to host us.

We did a bit of background on dialogue work and various techniques for listening and voicing and such, and then Acharya Kailash spoke for some time about Hinduism and South Asian belief systems. We retreated downstairs and had a bunch of interesting food. There were many grapes, and they appeared in different forms in a few dishes. I've never seen so many grapes. This is why I mentioned them in the title.

We settled down into separate groups to dialogue about what it means to live in a "culture of fear," what fear means to us, and what we can do to allay both our own fear and the fear of others. We had about an hour of really good dialogue - the kind that doesn't necessarily blow one's mind but that does give one a more rounded idea of a particular thing. In this case, I gained a better understanding of how fear can affect the lives of those around me, even if I myself am oblivious to that fear.

It was all very nice, well-run, and re-warding. Fear is bad; grapes are good.

Technorati Tags: hinduism, interfaith

Soul Food

This post originally appeared at Aurora University's Monthly Musings archive in January 2007:


Soul Food

I enjoy visiting our local Hindu temple, especially on weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays, it’s full of people, and the place is awash in a rainbow of multi-colored saris and flower garlands. The aromas of burning incense waft about, and the Sanskrit prayers are a real treat. That makes sight, sound, and smell. Since it would be bad form to touch the statues, that only leaves one sense: taste.

The temple itself is only one part of the complex. There’s also an auditorium. But the real gem for me is the attached dining hall. On the weekends, the kitchen churns out all kinds of wonderful foods; chakkulus, murukulus, masala dosa, idly, mango lassi, and a host of other palate-defying tastes. I usually shoot for the tamarind rice with some chakkulus on the side. The rice is nice and spicy, and you get a lot of bang for your buck. But on my last visit, I was notoriously lacking in the “buck” department.

I hadn’t brought any cash, and the change in my pocket wasn’t going to cut it. The lady at the counter asked me if I wanted anything, and I told her that I would have to pass. And so I left. I was halfway across the parking lot when shouts from the temple entrance caught my ear. Someone was waving to me to come back. Uh oh. What did I do?

Apparently, word of my fiscal ineptitude had spread, and as I reentered the dining hall, I was led over to the kitchen and instructed to order whatever I felt like. I tried explaining that I could not pay, but the woman I had spoken to earlier smiled and said, “This is a temple. No one goes hungry here.”

And I didn’t go hungry. I had a large masala dosa with potatoes and sambar and chutney. People kept coming by and asking how I found the food. I had offers for mango lassi, which I declined, but I was brought water and more smiles.

As I drove away, satiated both physically and otherwise, I was reminded again just how deeply such generosity is built into our world’s religions. This wasn’t my first head-on collision with hospitality, and it certainly won’t be the last, but I am consistently floored by such tiny events. They always seem to reaffirm my hope for things and, in the case of munchies, give a whole new meaning to the term “soul food.”

Voting in America

From the Huffington Post, Amazing Voting Images.

I've included a few in particular because I find them particularly important for America:







Technorati Tags: islam, election, america, judaism

Jack O' Lanterns and Jesus Christ

For some strange reason, I felt it necessary to attend 6:30 a.m. Mass this morning at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception here in Denver. It's a beautiful place, and I don't stop by often enough. The crowd was sparse, as many early services tend to be, and was largely populated with the "older set," i.e. I was probably one of about 5 under the age of 25.

The usual rituals ensued, and continued up to the homily. The priest began by relating an archbishop's recent statements concerning the PAGAN FESTIVAL OF HALLOWEEN. It was the typical rehash of why it's really a hollow holiday, and should always, always be relegated to American "civil religion." Now the funny part: He contrasted it with today's celebration (All Souls Day) and how this is a day that, like Halloween, we are to honor our friends and relatives who have passed on. I forget exactly what differences he was pointing out. All Souls Day, like All Saints Day on November 1st, didn't happen by chance.

I giggled because I feel that the priest may have been willfully ignoring the ways in which pagan/nature holidays have informed, almost exactly, the calendar of the Catholic Church (and Christianity in general). All Souls and All Saints line up with Halloween, Christmas trees and Christmas time have their roots in Germanic myth, and the very word "Easter" may have been named after an old goddess figure. There are also a variety of ways in which Christian holidays fit in with the holidays of their Jewish ancestors. Many of them line up, in one way or another, with the observances of other faiths.

As I sat pondering all of this gobbledigook, the priest moved on to speak of Purgatory, and how we ought to be helping those friends and family who are waiting there. And how do we do this? The priest said, "Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting." Of course, as he spoke it, I was reciting the analogous terms in Islam: zakat, salat, sawm.

I left the church reminded again of the relative ease with which we can find points of convergence between and among our traditions, provided we are on the lookout for them. Happy Belated Halloween.

Interfaith Coalitions and Revolution

I was sitting there in my "Introduction to the Middle East and Islamic Politics" course today, listening to Dr. Hashemi lecture about the relationship between authoritarian states and their effect on political expression. He did this through a case study of Iran, explaining the ways in which politicized Islam grew to be a legitimate outlet for Iranians because there was no other outlet. This is what happens when a government squeezes its own civil society.

As he was speaking, I zoned out, and found myself wondering (because I've never checked it out) where the other religious groups stood in those months leading up to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Despite Tehran's vociferous condemnations of Israel, Iran still boasts a population of 25,000-ish Jews (they've been there a very, very long time). At the time of the Revolution, there could have been as many as 80,000. There are of course Christians of various shades and Zoroastrians and probably bunches of others. I'm going to do some research and see if I can find out how involved, if at all, these groups were before, during, and after the Revolution. And of course find out if they are involved today.

It's worth noting that interfaith coalitions are really a value-added way to promote revolution/social change. Martin Luther King walked with Abraham Joshua Heschel. Gandhi collaborated with Indian Muslims and the panoply of South Asian faiths. There were Christian/Muslim/Jewish coalitions working to end apartheid in South Africa.

In all these cases, and for our current hour, the power of people of faith cooperating to do good things is readily apparent, and cannot be underestimated.

Religion and Politics Roundtable - A Long Post

The Center for Religious Services hosted a "Religion and Politics Roundtable" last night. The idea was to get a representative panel together, have them give different perspectives on the role of religion in political life or vice versa, then have Q&A time. We had a good crowd. The University Chaplain opened it up by explaining a bit about the contemporary American religio-political scene.

The first speaker was an organizer with the Navigators, an interdenominational Christian ministry. He started out with Matthew 22 and Leviticus 19 which state, respectively, "love the Lord your God with all your heart," and "love thy neighbor." His view was that Christians who held these passages close to them ought to care deeply about our election process, since the elections will affect the lives of all people. He mentioned how the Bible doesn't explicitly talk about every political issue, but it can help to provide us with a normative moral framework to figure it out. He also spoke to the dangerous ways in which politicians claim God to be on their side during elections, something that seems against the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven not being on earth.

The next speaker was a representative of FOCUS (Fellowship Of Catholic University Students), and he began with the distinction between himself and his parents, who he referred to as an "older generation" of Catholics. This older generation was still concerned, as it always had been, with things like civil liberties and worker's movements. In his mind, younger Catholics have become concerned more with issues of LIFE, and the sanctity thereof. In one sly turn of phrase, he was stating that workers have a voice, while the unborn lack that luxury. It was very curious and clever.

Next up was a member of our faculty who happened to be a Turkish Muslim. He spoke about Turkey's secular nature and the mandatory nature of their elections, i.e. you have to vote. Turkey's ruling party is the AK (Justice and Development), a slightly Islamic party. He noted that the President and the Prime Minister are both "practicing" Muslims. But he was also quick to note that the Quran deals overwhelmingly not with political life, but with the life of the individual, and about how to be a good person. This was what he saw Islam meaning for political life - making decisions, even in elections, that help us be good people.

Our rabbi from Chabad rounded out the panel by explaining a large part of Jewish history - the Chaplain had to eventually cut him off. But the gist was that for the fifteen centuries after Moses had been given the LAW, Jews had ruled themselves by Divine Governance, although there had been kings who slipped. But then the Babylonian Captivity began, and the Jews found themselves under the control of someone who did not share their faith. The question became - How do we keep the faith when our system of law and our truth are not running the show? He explained that since then it has been a waiting game. The Messiah will eventually come back and restore the original plan. But he was very clear in pointing out that the quietist version of Judaism has been in effect since the destruction of the Second Temple. Jews were faced with a bit of a "Hobbes' Dilemma." It was better to have a repressive government than complete anarchy. This was, however, beginning to change as Jews came into their own in the political life of America.

After that we went to Q&A. People asked about the tide of secularism in Europe and America and what it meant for us. The Catholic fellow pointed out that Catholics were called by Scripture to spread the Gospel, and that no matter how secular the world got, they would always have that responsibility. The rabbi pointed out that European Jews used to have to wait until a major Christian holiday to get beaten up (har har), but that both Jews and Muslims were being discriminated in Europe nowadays by "religious bigots without faith." It was a very keen reading of what's been going on on the Continent since the end of World War II.

The Catholic fellow mentioned seeing New Jersey Governor John Corzine (who he referred to as pro-abortion) in the office of a local bishop. He confronted the man of the cloth and asked him what on earth the two men could have possibly been talking about. The bishop replied, "Oh you know, the things we have in common - our common concerns, like the poor and civil liberties." He admitted that as people of faith, we can pick and choose when the times demand it.

With the exception of a few more forays into the "abortion issue," the whole thing went quite well. And it ended with a very prescient observation on behalf of the Muslim professor, who said, "Of course, you don't have to vote the same way each time. Every four years you vote again, so if something isn't working, you can change it."

DIYS

When I was working as the Wackerlin Fellow at Aurora University, I organized a Day of Interfaith Youth Service under the auspices of the Interfaith Youth Core of Chicago. The long and short of it was that we took 40 young people of faith (Jews, Catholics, Bahais, Hindus, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Atheists, etc.) and put them together to tie together fleece blankets for our local transitional living community. After the blankets were all set, we gathered around for a massive feast (mostly of junk food) and then retreated to our original groups for some dialogue about the shared value of service.

Most of the kids in my group had already spent lots of time within their faith communities in various incarnations of service; many had spent time working in New Orleans after Katrina. One young man in particular made a very poignant remark. He told us that it was refreshing and welcome to have a safe space where he could talk about issues of "faith" without getting "religion" crammed down his throat.

It's comments like that that remind me why interfaith dialogue is so appealing, and especially to young people. There are precious few opportunities to engage our own faith in neutral, mutually-reinforcing spaces, and sitting down and chatting with other people about shared religious values is one way to make those opportunities available.

Choosing "The American Dream"

New post at the Interfaith Youth Core's "Bridge-Builders" social network. It can be viewed here, and is also reproduced in its entirety below:

It dawned on me some time ago that most nonprofits exist to do good things: fill gaps in social services, provide hope, advocate for a positive future, etc. I tried imagining what a nonprofit organization would look like if it did things that were bad. You know, like a group that tried to ban kittens or keep people in poverty. Maybe a nonprofit that was trying to take aspirin off the streets or something like that. Such a thing, I thought, would be very, very weird. But dangerous...now that's a possibility that I hadn't really thought about.

I have a low tolerance for groups (be they nonprofit or otherwise) that work to keep women in the 19th century, or that espouse radical political programs, or that seek inequitable resolutions to social issues. I don't like the thought of people trying their best to make things worse for most people. And I definitely have no respect for groups spouting hate speech, especially when it comes in DVD format in your Sunday newspaper.

The Clarion Fund, an organization whose stated goal is informing the American public of the threat of militant Islam, has packaged and released a few dozen million copies of “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” to newspaper subscribers in many "swing states," ostensibly to inform them that national security issues (i.e. scary Muslims) should push them toward one presidential ticket in particular. The Obsession DVD is not vital information, it is careless drivel, and those who have seen the film and have the ability to reason will understand this. Let’s be honest here – the Clarion Fund is spending a lot of money to destroy one of the historical roots of America: freedom of religion.

America is a melting pot, right? People of faith have been streaming over here for hundreds of years, yearning for a spot where they could practice whatever religion they felt like and not be spat upon, arrested, or worse. It is part of the American Dream. The Obsession DVD, and other attempts to misrepresent and malign the religion of Islam and its followers, can do great harm to our nation. We will view with suspicion the many Muslims who have come to call America home.

Pardon the violent imagery, but if I could buy an “Opposite Gun,” something that would reverse whatever it was fired upon, I would shoot it at the Clarion Fund and see what popped out. Odds are, the opposite of a group like that would be something like the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), a group based out of Chicago that works very hard to strengthen the bonds of community and cooperation among the diverse faiths of America. Instead of envisioning a western world under siege, the IFYC celebrates our religious pluralism, and posits the very American notion that we are all in this together, regardless of what god (if any) you pray to. While the Clarion Fund and its supporters shout loudly about the incompatibility of American democracy and Islam, the IFYC and its supporters illuminate interfaith collaboration and the shared values of all religions.

I would prefer that the effects of my Opposite Gun remain permanent, but I know that eventually the intolerant people and organizations that I have shot will return to their regular, nasty selves. The Interfaith Youth Core and all the other good groups will still be out there, too, and they will have a lot of work to do. And regular Americans, be they Christian or Muslim or whatever, will have a lot of work as well. We have to remember that there are in fact groups out there that do only bad things, and that have a very negative view of the world. So will we choose a worldview of negativity and opposition, or one of positivity and cooperation? Let’s stick with the American Dream.

Heartland

Rough news out of Elmhurst College in the suburbs of Chicago: http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1214233,101008attack.article

A Muslim student was assaulted a week after some anti-Muslim graffiti was found on campus. I've spent a lot of time at Elmhurst. I like their programs. They've got some very committed interfaith-workers there. Sad that stuff like this would happen there. All the more reason to keep doing what we're doing.

Yom Kippur

Happy New Year 5769 to all our Jewish friends!

Jesus Mosque

A mosque has recently opened in Madaba, Jordan, 30 kilometers south of the capital Amman. This is not surprising - Jordan is a Muslim country. But this one is interesting; it's name is "Jesus Christ Mosque." 10% of the population of Madaba is Christian, and there is a long history of interfaith cooperation there.  One of the worshippers had this to say: 

"We have lived in peace for centuries with our Christian brothers and now we feel that this mosque symbolizes out fraternity."

Jordan has often pushed itself as a model of good interfaith living, with at least 5% of its population being Christian. There are also Druze and various other Muslim denominations. The full story can be found here.

Films of Hope: Eboo Patel

Find more videos like this on bridge-builders

Eid Mubarak!

As-salamu alaikum!

The DU Interfaith Student Alliance would like to wish a Happy Eid to all of our friends!

An Army of Compassion

Many of us know or have heard of Rick Warren, the author of "A Purpose Driven Life" and pastor of Saddleback Church (the site of a recent debate between our presidential candidates). For some, he represents a key figurehead of the modern American Evangelical movement. I stumbled across some comments that he made at a recent Clinton Global Initiative meeting:

"There are 600 million Buddhists in the world, there are 800 million Hindus in the world, there are a billion Muslims in the world, and there are 2.3 billion Christians . . . And there is already an army ready to be mobilized, an army of compassion, in those villages. They're called churches or mosques or temples or synagogues."

The last line is in bold print because it's important. This is a telling comment, not simply because he's laying out a vision of the power of people of faith to do good in the world, but because he's including all people of faith. Pastor Warren wields considerable influence among American faithful. When he mobilizes his "Army of Compassion," I don't think it'll just be Christians marching to help.

*Disclaimer* I found this quote on a "Biblical End Times" forum, where concerned Christians were venting their frustration with Warren's open message. Still, I doubt he would ever fall that far out of favor.

DU Gleans!

Along with the Office of the Chaplain, DU IFA recently held our first service project of the year. We harvested cabbages at a field in Brighton, CO, along with many other volunteers from the Denver area. The program was overseen and orchestrated by COMPA Ministries out of Denver. In two hours, we collected enough cabbages to send to 170 food banks in the metro area, which will distribute the cabbage to thousands of individuals in need.

See some of Gary's Pictures at https://portfolio.du.edu/pc/port.detail?id=118678

See the DU Today story at http://www.du.edu/today/stories/2008/09/2008-09-30-glean.html

Keeping the Faith in College

Interesting article from Beliefnet about college students and religion:

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/178/story_17848_1.html

Our Welcome

Come, come whoever you are.
Wanderer, idolater, worshipper of fire,
Come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times
Come, and come yet again.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.

-Rumi

The DU Interfaith Student Alliance (IFA) is a group of students committed to facilitating an understanding of the diverse religious traditions that comprise the DU community.  

 

We work to celebrate the variety of faiths on campus through collaborative events, forums and service projects. We provide a safe space for religious dialogue and education, thereby modeling religious tolerance and inclusive excellence on The University of Denver Campus  

The IFA does not endorse any one particular religion or faith tradition, but serves as an equal resource and support for all.

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