In the Press

Dialogue is the cure for problems as world becomes one global village -- 01-07-2006

RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 1/7/2006

The world is becoming smaller and smaller. Discoveries and development in the area of communication and transportation changed the world to a global village. We cannot ignore our neighbors in this village because the problems begin at the point where communication channels are closed or broken down among the interacting groups.

Dialogue is the cure for the problems of this global village. It is a cure for illnesses such as misunderstanding, ignorance, rudeness, hatred and fear.

Strong bridges between diverse groups of people can be built of love, compassion, tolerance and forgiveness. These are the fundamental and universal values, which are shared by all faiths and belief systems. Furthermore, to forget the past, ignore polemical arguments and give priority to common points, which far outnumber polemical ones. Common points are essential for strengthening the friendship between the believers of different communities.

However, the main difficulty today is not to persuade people about the necessity of interfaith dialogue, it is to convince them to work for sincere and strong dialogue activities. That was the main motivation behind the establishment of Sierra Foundation by a group of Reno residents.

We would like to bring people of different faiths together through interfaith dialogue by sharing the differences in cultures and religions in an effort to achieve world peace in the near future. Since the nice words and the statements are not sufficient, it is our humble intention to accomplish this through some action-oriented activities to be another example in the community. We have been inspired by the success stories of many interfaith devotees.

We welcome all in Northern Nevada to join us in interfaith celebrations and dialogue. We will be celebrating Eid Al-Adha, a major religious event in the Muslim Calendar, starting Tuesday. The Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, which is one of the five pillars of Islam and commemorates prophet Abraham's willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son, will be observed during this four-day festival. There will be a dinner and free programs on Tuesday and Thursday. Come, even if you don't understand Turkish.

Ismail Ozdemir is president of the Sierra Foundation.



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