Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

Faith leaders of all backgrounds gathered on Sunday to address the root causes of racism and how society can combat the issue.

The 40th World Religions Conference, hosted by Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at Canada, was held at the Baitul Kareem Mosque in Cambridge, however the audience tuned in virtually.

The issue was discussed from the point of view of several perspectives including Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism and Indigenous Spirituality.

"In a very difficult moment in history, in the midst of a global pandemic, coupled with economic and social anxiety and precarity, events like this remind us of our shared humanity and what can be accomplished together by embracing and celebrating differences in a spirit of open dialogue and togetherness," said event moderator Scott Hamilton, Cambridge city councillor.

The program was described as Canada's largest multi-faith event.

Several experts spokeabout where the issue stemmedfrom and offered solutions.

Guelph's Praveen Saxena, who represented the Hindu perspective, said it starts with educating children while they're young.

"Teaching our children the value of dignity, the value of shared responsibilities, the values of understanding people's religions and really emphasizing that the colour, the language, the cultures do not make a difference. We all have the same DNA," said Saxena at the event.

Kathleen Johnson, who represented the Humanist perspective, tuned in from Alberta to share important steps toward healing.

"People of colour need to have honest dialogue about how we participate in upholding the status quo to establish our own advantages and comforts. Power brokers have to educate themselves on how to interact without imposing Eurocentric standards of what this healing journey looks like, especially when it comes to our spiritual journeys," said Johnson.

Other speakers included:

The event comes amid a dark time for many communities in Canada experiencing an increase in racially-motivated attacks.

In June, four members of a Muslim family in London Ont., were struck and killed by a vehicle while on an evening walk. Police said the targeted attack was premeditated and motivated by hate.

A month later, the Cambridge mosque itself was vandalised in what officials initially thought to be a hate-motivated incident. A police investigation later discovered hate was not a factor. However, throughout the year, there were various incidents involving mosques across the country being vandalized, as well as Muslim women being attacked.

A recent survey suggested more than half of Asian Canadians have suffered discrimination over the past year.According to the Chinese Canadian National CouncilToronto chapter, there were more than 1,000 cases of both verbal and physical attacks against Asians across Canada from March 2020 to February 2021.

Last summer, thousands of Black Lives Matter activists rallied across the country and the rest of the world against system racism and police brutality.

A video recording of the conferenceavailable online to watch here.

Originally posted here:

Faith leaders share perspectives on combating racism in local conference - CBC.ca

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