Have dinner
with
a side of religion
By DANA
DUGAN
Express Staff Writer
If there’s
a theme for present day issues, it seems to be religious bias and
prejudices. With that in mind, Rabbi Martin Levy of the Wood River
Jewish Community and the Rev. Brian Baker of St. Thomas Episcopal Church
are initiating a Comparative Religion course, and dinner on Wednesdays
from 6 to 8 p.m. for the next several months.
Call it
dinner and a religion.
Beginning
with Judaism, they will spend three to four weeks on each of the major
religions, with representatives from the various religions invited to
speak.
"It
has been the most requested class," Baker said. "But I’ve
always been reluctant to speak about other religions." Enter Levy,
who came to the valley this past spring as the first full time rabbi in
the valley. Additionally, and advantageously, he taught comparative
religion at the University of Houston last year.
They plan
on being "flexible on the needs and questions," Baker said.
And a suggested reading list will be part of the course.
Baker
said it seemed a timely moment to finally offer this course. "It’s
easy to lampoon every faith, its mistakes and the ways it’s gone
astray. But we want to highlight the wisdom that each tradition
brings."
A caller
to KECH’s Talk of the Town radio show last Wednesday said
"religion is the source of all evil in the world." Levy and
Baker were guests on the show discussing their course.
Baker
said this attitude seems all too prevalent. "Part of the reason to
have this class is to help confront this last arena of prejudice."
And, he
added, "It’s healthy to celebrate diversity."
For more
information on the course call St. Thomas Church at 726-5349. The class
is free and all but the very young are invited to attend.
The
course begins tonight, Oct. 2.