Dear Editor:

The Interfaith Action Group has been active on campus for a little more than a year. Recently, we became aware that many individuals are unsure of what our mission is.

As president of the organization, I would like to let students know who we are and why we believe in interfaith dialogue.

We started Interfaith Action Group for many reasons, but possibly the most important is to show that there is no reason to be afraid of holding conversations about religion. Our members come from a variety of religious beliefs, yet have enough in common to be some of the best of friends. What our members want is a place to have dialogue about religion, including their own, and to learn about other belief systems as well.

This means that we want to represent all belief systems, but how can we possibly do that? To be honest—we can’t. The best we can do is make sure that people have access to a wide variety of speakers and dialogue events so that everyone who wishes to express or inquire has the opportunity to do so.

People are people no matter what belief system they adhere to, and as soon as we realize that the most important common denominator—our humanity—exists in each and every one of us, we can be free to believe and practice what we wish without fear of others. It is idealistic and may be considered naive, but if one person has the inherent ability to realize this, everyone does.

Jeremy Fricke