By Curtis Humes and Joseph Krush, Ph.D.
SURREY — A “Building Peace in our Time” community event took place on Sunday, April 3 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Holland Park. The purpose of the event was to bring together generations of people from different faiths to create a dialog to promote peace and understanding in a world faced with extremism and violence. Participants included: Peter Fassbender (BC Liberal Minister of Community, Sports and Cultural Development), United Church of Langley, Surrey Interfaith Council, Vice-Consulate General of Pakistan, Pakistani Canadian Cultural Association, Maulana Naumani (a prominent Muslim scholar), Mawaddah, Friends of Allah Mosque, White Rock Muslim Association, and the Baha’i Community.
David Dalley, who helped organize the event, reflected on why he chose to lend a hand: “The purpose of the event was to communicate a universal goal that our local communities are united in promoting interfaith dialogue and co-operation to end politically and religiously motivated violence, and to create cultures of peace, respect, understanding, and healing for all living beings on earth.”
“People of faith across the globe must realign themselves by bringing religion back to its purpose, namely; to inculcate noble character and live an ethical life of service and devotion. In so doing, extremism and tribalism would find no validation among spiritual wayfarers of every religion,” said Jamil Popatia, a faith-based family relations mediator and counsellor.
“In the midst of a world impacted by violence, those who want to create a society of love and justice must stand together. These violent attacks are meant to divide us, but with love and justice as our common foundation, our differences can be recognized as gifts rather than threats, and those different from us as friends rather than enemies,” says Scott Reynolds an event organizer and Minister of Youth and Young Adults from the United Churches of Langley, Canada.
