Several days ago I attended a presentation in my parish church on the “Jewish Roots of Christianity”. This occasion was a part of the Lenten Reflections. The presenter was Sr. Lucy Thoron from the Interfaith Desk of the Scarboro Missions.
I am very glad I attended this gathering. To me the presentation went beyond the religious values and information that were imparted by the speaker. This is an exchange of views that bridged the spiritual and the everyday social lives of the participants in the presentation. It had an impact on the concept of tolerance.
March 21 has been designated by the United Nations as the day to observe the Elimination of Discrimination. On this day, individuals and organizations committed to the cause of elimination of discrimination would review how far and how much has been accomplished and what more can be done by government and non-government agencies to lessen discrimination.
It is important to recognize that discrimination exists and continuous vigilance is necessary to insure that it is controlled.
Discrimination is the active result of the lack of tolerance. That lack of tolerance may be against race, color, religion, age, political beliefs, sexual orientation and other factors. Discrimination may be practiced by individuals or by groups. The greater the power an individual or group possesses the more is the ability to discriminate.
The continuous efforts to fight discrimination have shown visible positive effects in democratic countries like Canada. Some very evident results of such movements are the creation of Human Rights Commissions, passage of anti-discrimination laws and existence of what are called equal opportunity employers.
Only a week ago, on March 8, International Women’s Day was celebrated pointing out discrimination on the basis of sex. Spokespersons during the celebrations pointed out the disparity in the remuneration of men and women performing equal responsibilities as well as the greater number of men than women in positions of leadership.
I want to focus this article on discrimination based on religion, which is related to that presentation I attended.
We cannot deny that the present world upheavals involve religious faith. A group that believe their faith dictated their actions committed the 9/11 tragedy. The Gaza Strip War early this year, that cost more than 2000 lives and enormous destruction of property was between two nations of different faiths. Even the Holocaust during the Second World War was motivated by the wish of one man to annihilate a nation of one faith.
That is why I greatly appreciate that the pastor of my parish church welcomed this presentation showing the close connections of Christianity and Judaism.
Sr. Lucy Thorson is a member of the Order of Scion and had lived in Israel for a long period of time. She has made extensive researches on Judaism and is considered an expert on the topic of the relationship of Christianity and the Jewish faith.
During this Lenten Season, Christians will again be reminded that the Jews killed Jesus Christ. In her presentation, Sr. Lucy pointed out the fact that Jesus was a Jew; he lived his life on earth as a Jew, and he daily prayed the Jewish prayers. The Christian Holy Book is the Bible while the Jewish’ is the Torah. Are we quite aware that the Torah contains the Hebrew Scriptures that are the same as the first five books in the Christian Bible, which we call the Old Testament? The books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Jewish prayers, both oral and written, are rooted in tradition coming from three sources. The Torah, Prophets and Writings. Many of the Christian prayers have also been derived from said sources. “Our Father”, the prayer known by heart by most Christians, was derived from the “Writings” known as the “Eighteen Benedictions.”
The term “dialogue” is often heard as a means of communicating, connecting and a means in resolving conflicts. The new president of the United States often use it in many contexts: a means of achieving bipartisan cooperation, a way of securing other’s opinions, a strategy for talking even with enemies, etc.
Sr. Lucy in her talk referred to dialogue as willingness to pass over other beliefs, an openness to listen to the faith experiences of others. It is in listening with an open mind that we learn to understand the commonality in many religious faiths thereby leading us to be tolerant.
I was brought up in a very strict religious faith wherein entering a church of another faith, even of Christian denomination, was a sin. In my youth, I had a very good friend who belonged to a Protestant church. She kept on encouraging me to attend her church and one day I did. I liked the way the members of that church socialized after the religious service. They were very friendly and they even served, refreshments. That was the time when the priests in the Catholic churches did not even stand by the door of the church after the mass. But I kept that visit a secret! I never let my family and other relatives especially my grandmother to know about it.
About three years ago, a dear friend of mine, Dr.. Helen Ijaz, the former first head of the Race and Equity Section of York Catholic District School Board invited me to attend with her an interfaith workshop that lasted a week. The group of about forty-five people attended lectures and visited churches, temples, synagogues every day. The talks included history, beliefs, traditions and practices in Christianity. Judaism, Buddhism, Shin Taoism, Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism and some other not too prominent faiths. There is one commonality in all these religions. All of them profess brotherhood and peace among all people. Not one mentioned of vengeance or of ill will.
In the Holy Book of Islam, the Qur’an, the prophets Abraham and Moses, John and Jesus are mentioned. Patriarch Abraham is seen as the prototype of the Muslims. Moses is one of the most frequently mentioned of the prophet. John and Jesus are seen as members of the righteous family of Imran, among the children of (Israel, Islam, G. Brazilier, New York 1962, pp 26-31) Adam is recognized as the first man on earth (Ibid, p.15) and the Archangel Gabriel as a messenger of God. (Ibd, pp 66-68).
Allah is the Arabic word for God, Yahweh in Hebrew, Khuda in Persian, Tauri in Turkish, Deus in Latin. Does this not show that different faiths may be worshipping the same God and that only the languages bring about the difference?
This world will be a more peaceful and happier place if we keep an open mind and tolerate the idea that nobody has a monopoly of heaven, More knowledge and information provided by available resources in this age of technology as well as presentations like this one by Sr. Lucy Thorson would increase our understanding and make us more tolerant.
It is indeed a very positive step undertaken by my church to make such a presentation available to its members.