July 20 Tip: Read the CJ's story about Wednesday's amazing Iftar dinner at Second Presbyterian Church

Read the CJ's story about Wednesday's amazing Iftar dinner at Second Presbyterian Church

(The July 20 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace)

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130719/NEWS01/307190124/Church-s-diverse-Iftar-dinner-event-binds-religions

Before the last light fell upon Second Presbyterian Church in Rolling Fields on Wednesday, the Islamic call to prayer carried throughout the church.

More than 350 people from different religious backgrounds gathered at the church to share an evening meal with members of another religion.

Baha’is, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Muslims and Jews sat side by side to share iftar — the traditional evening meal Muslims have when they break their daytime fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

If people with different backgrounds can eat together, then they can learn to tolerate one another, said Terry Taylor, executive director of Interfaith Paths to Peace, an organization that works to bring people of different religions together.

“When we break bread we break our hearts, but in a good way so that love can flow back and forth,” Taylor said.

For the past three years, Louisville’s Pakistani-American community and Interfaith Paths to Peace have hosted the interfaith iftar dinner to promote religious understanding.

The problem is people may want to understand each other but fear the unknown, said Muhammad Babar, an organizer from Louisville’s Pakistani-American community. “We must widen the circle of compassion, so we can reach the roots of the most common citizen,” he said.

[use the link to read more of the story and to see a video]