The fifth Parliament of the World’s Religions concluded Wednesday night at Melbourne’s Convention and Exhibition Centre after 600 separate meetings over seven days. According to the BBC, the Parliament was attended by thousands of people from 80 nationalities and 220 faith traditions. The theme of the Parliament was: “Make a world of difference: hearing each other, healing the earth.”
Around 100 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participated in the Parliament. On Saturday evening (5 December), members of an 80-voice Samoan Latter-day Saint choir thrilled the audience with their infectious rhythm, harmonies and smiles. The next morning, senior Latter-day Saint leader, Elder David Hoare, led a worship service that included sermons, music, prayer and video excerpts from the Church’s last General Conference in Salt Lake City.
On Tuesday Professor Daniel C. Peterson, from Brigham Young University, chaired one of the most talked-about sessions of the Parliament, titled, “Islam and the West: Creating an Accord of Civilizations.” Professor Peterson teaches Islamic Studies and Arabic at B.Y.U. and serves as editor-in-chief of the university’s Middle Eastern Texts Initiative.
During his closing remarks to the session, Professor Peterson cited the late Lutheran Bishop of Stockholm, Krister Stendahl, encouraging attendees who wished to learn about another religion to ask that faith’s adherents about what they love about it. He also said that we should compare “the best of our own faith tradition to the best of others’ religions; not our best to their worst.” Finally, he suggested that we should keep room for what Stendahl called “holy envy,” the capacity to see the good in other religions.
After the Parliament Peterson said that the Latter-day Saints’ involvement in the event “shows our willingness to serve as a bridge and to be a friend to all nations.”
His B.Y.U. colleague, Professor Fred E. Woods, also presenting at the Parliament, agreed. He said that the Church’s local Melbourne history of reaching out and befriending those of other faiths is one of the best examples of interfaith dialogue and collaboration that he has seen anywhere in the world.
And he has some experience in that. He holds the Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding at Brigham Young University, which role, he says, has opened doors to him to communities the world over where he has seen interfaith understanding being developed.
In a session on Wednesday, Professor Woods spoke about the extraordinary love and service demonstrated over many years by Catholic, Protestant, Latter-day Saint and Japanese Buddhist residents of Kalaupapa, Hawaii. Many in the community suffer from Hansen’s disease (formerly known as leprosy) and some have shared with Woods that their personal challenges have brought them together.
Professor Woods told his audience that “the charity and uncommon service rendered at Kalaupapa serves as a reminder of the importance of erecting bridges instead of barriers, finding common ground instead of battleground, and in valuing one another regardless of ethnicity and religiosity.”
Two other sessions on the Parliament’s final day involved members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Dr. Lindsay Sanders, a Melbourne-based educator by profession who also serves as a Mormon stake president (lay minister), led a session on how a weekly family night can strengthen a family. A highlight of this session was when the Thatcher family demonstrated how a Family Home Evening, as Mormons call the weekly event, can be held.
Following this meeting, Latter-day Saint leader Elder Dirk Smibert chaired a panel discussion about the importance of the family. One of the panelists, Rabbi Rayna Gevurtz, shared how she and her husband are striving to create a home where there is a sense of sacredness nurtured. In addition, she said that families should strive to help each other to achieve wholeness as individuals as well as establish an environment of openness and giving to others.
Elder Smibert read the Latter-day Saints’ doctrinal statement “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” as part of his presentation. He, Rabbi Gevurtz and fellow panelists Professor Daniel C. Peterson and Mejinderpaul Kaur, fielded questions from the audience about threats families are facing today and offered ways to respond to them.
Professor Peterson cited Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, from the earlier session about Islam and the West, on the subject of families. He said that Dr. Muzaffar had said that any God-conscious nation will not allow the institution of family to be eroded.
Melbourne Latter-day Saint young adults Sharon Kloester and Juanita Afamasaga saw the Parliament grow from planning stages to fruition. Both have served on the Parliament’s Youth Committee for the last 18 months. For Sharon, it was a transformative experience. “I wanted a bigger picture of religion in general,” she said. “Being involved has done that and it has also helped me define what it means to me to be a Latter-day Saint.”
“Each meeting,” she said, “someone in the committee would share a 10 or 15 minutes presentation about their faith tradition. Not only do I have a better understanding and appreciation of other religions now, it’s helped me gain a deeper appreciation of my own faith.”
“I respect the beliefs and practices of my friends. But the process has forced me to look much more closely at how I live my life and how I want to live in the future. The principles and values of my church, and how it is organized, they all make sense to me and it is what I want to be part of.”
Sharon says that she and Juanita have made lifelong friends through their involvement. Even though the Parliament is now over, the group want to keep meeting with each other, and are even contemplating organizing an Australian Youth Parliament of Religions.
Other Melbourne-based Latter-day Saints also helped organize the week-long Parliament, including Murray Lobley, the Melbourne Australia Temple President, Pam Mamouney, Graeme Cray, David Cray and Alan Mauger.
Speaking of the desire that many Latter-day Saints have to reach out to those of other faiths in a spirit of goodwill, and at the same time stay true to their firmly-held beliefs, Church Apostle, Elder Neil L. Andersen said the following at the April 2009 General Conference: “We must remember, my dear brothers and sisters, who we are and what we have in our hands. We are not alone in our desire to do good; there are wonderful people of many faiths and beliefs. We are not alone in praying to our Heavenly Father or in receiving answers to our prayers; our Father loves all of His children.
We are not alone in sacrificing for a greater cause; there are others who are unselfish. Others share our faith in Christ. There are loyal and decent fathers and mothers in every land who love each other and love their children. There is much we can learn from the good people all around us. Yet we must not shrink from what is uniquely and singularly found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
