New York,
Jan 17
From building houses for the homeless to tutoring children, young
people of different faiths have been working together under a group
run by an Indian American. The Chicago-based Inter-Faith Youth Core
(IFYC), started by Eboo Patel, brings together youths from various
parts of the world with the aim of promoting inter-religious
understanding.
Patel, a Muslim, had migrated with his parents from Mumbai to
Chicago in 1975. During his formative years in the city, he had
serious discussions regarding religion with his friends who belonged
to various religions.
But the idea of a youth group didn't take seed until he was a
graduate student at Oxford University in Britain where Patel, as a
Rhodes scholar, received a doctorate in the sociology of religion.
"The basic idea of IFYC is that young people from different
religions should be volunteering together, cleaning rivers, tutoring
children, building houses," Patel told the Voice of America (VOA).
"They should use that as an entrée into having a conversation about
how their different religions inspire them to serve others."
First envisioned in 1998 by Patel and a few of his committed college
friends, IFYC has since reached 36,000 people across the world with
its message of strengthening religious identities, fostering
inter-religious understanding and cooperating to serve the common
good.
Every April, thousands of religiously diverse young people who are
members of IFYC come together in hometowns and college campuses
around the world to serve their communities and engage in dialogue.
"People are realizing that this issue of inter-faith cooperation, it
matters in a huge way," Patel, who believes that the most divisive
issue in the 21st century will be religion, or as he puts it, "the
faith line", was quoted as saying.
IFYC has partnered with such leaders and organizations as the Office
of Queen Rania of Jordan, Bill Clinton, the Religious Advisory
Council of the Council on Foreign Relations, the East-West
Institute, the US State Department and the US Institute of Peace.
(c) Boloji.com :
1999–2008 : All
Rights Reserved Boloji.com is owned and managed by Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer
No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
