{"id":432,"date":"2013-11-27T05:07:11","date_gmt":"2013-11-27T05:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=432"},"modified":"2013-11-27T05:07:11","modified_gmt":"2013-11-27T05:07:11","slug":"interfaith-panel-seeks-to-enlighten-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2013\/11\/27\/interfaith-panel-seeks-to-enlighten-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Interfaith Panel Seeks to Enlighten Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JOHN WYATT <\/strong>– STAFF WRITER<\/em><\/p>\n

Centre College has always prided itself on bringing in students from all walks of life, giving Centre more diversity. A religious panel between Centre\u2019s various faith organizations seeks to open up dialogue between various religions that Centre represents. The religious panel will be hosted in Newlin Hall, Thurs., Nov. 21, at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

The panel is organized by each of the Centre\u2019s faith-based organizations: Centre Christian Fellowship (CCF), the Jewish Student Organization (JSO), the Muslim Student Association (MSA), and CentreFaith.<\/p>\n

Paul L. Cantrell Professor of Religion Rick Axtell will be moderating the panel. The panel will start with some general questions directed toward the panelists in regards to their faith experiences and encounters with people outside of their own faith.<\/p>\n

Then, each of the organizations will provide a question, particularly directed toward theology and practice. After each group has asked their question, the session will be open to student questions, which will be submitted on note cards.<\/p>\n

Each organization is bringing in a speaker to represent a particular faith. Panelists were chosen either from scholars or clergymen of particular faiths. For CentreFaith, members decided to bring in Dae Gak to represent the Zen Buddhist tradition. Gak is the guiding teacher of Furnace Mountain in Clay City, Ky., while also serving as a guiding teacher for several other Zen groups across North America, Germany, and England.<\/p>\n

Gak was chosen by CentreFaith (a non-denominational faith group) to represent a particular faith that is not largely represented on Centre\u2019s campus or the surrounding area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe chose to go with a Buddhist teacher because it\u2019s a religion I don\u2019t think Centre students come into contact with a lot,\u201d senior Bill Williamson, president of CentreFaith, said.<\/p>\n

For MSA, students invited Javaid Siddiqui. While not being a traditional scholar, Siddiqui is regarded as being very knowledgeable in the Lexington Muslim Community, according to senior Shafrin Choudhury, president of MSA. \u201cWe feel he can showcase Islam in a mature manner without bringing up unnecessary controversy,\u201d Choudhury said. \u201cThere are many Muslims who go to him with questions about their faith, and he helps guide them on their journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

JSO is bringing in Aaron Shub, who is training at Yeshivat Chovevi Torah Rabbinical School in New York. Shub\u2019s training to be a rabbi makes him ideal for the panel, according to senior Marlena Alleva, president of JSO. \u201cDoing this sort of thing is in line with what he wants to be doing as a rabbi,\u201d Allena said. Shub also comes from an Orthodox background, one that many students are unfamiliar with, even those in JSO. \u201cI think, even for Centre Jews, it will offer a different perspective than most would get,\u201d Alleva said.<\/p>\n

For CCF, students chose to bring in Ted Cabal, who comes from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also general editor of The Apologetic Study Bible. Senior Cody Pritchett, president of CCF, gives a description of Cabal\u2019s history as a Christian.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was actually an atheist for a while,\u201d Pritchett said, \u201cbut he had a conversion experience, and now he\u2019s a Christian who defends his faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each member of the organization stressed that the panel isn\u2019t aimed at addressing political issues, but more about theological issues as well as interfaith. \u201cWe don\u2019t want it to become really political,\u201d Alleva said. \u201cWe want it more to focus on interfaith relations and how to approach interfaith dialogues.\u201d<\/p>\n

All organizations involved share similar goals for the panel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that students will have a better understanding of the different faiths that are presented and have a more open mind to learning about other religions,\u201d Choudhury said.<\/p>\n

Williamson hopes to show that there\u2019s more to Centre than meets the eye. \u201cWhat we want with this panel is to show people that Centre is not homogenous, that we are a diverse place,\u201d Williamson said.<\/p>\n

Please contact those interviewed as well as Dr. Axtell for more information on the panel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By JOHN WYATT – STAFF WRITER Centre College has always prided itself on bringing in students from all walks of life, giving Centre more diversity. A religious panel between Centre\u2019s various faith organizations seeks to open up dialogue between various religions that Centre represents. The religious panel will be hosted in Newlin Hall, Thurs., Nov. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}