As a Muslim student studying in the United States, it can sometimes be hard and a little lonely to practice and engage in my Islamic faith tradition in the current American political and social context. There are many misconceptions and prejudices against my faith and sometimes it’s quite hard navigating it all, especially on a Catholic campus. Despite this, being a religious minority on campus has helped me grow spiritually in many ways and has also inspired my deep passion for interreligious efforts and peacebuilding.
To promote inter-religious dialogue and solidarity on campus, myself and few other Belle’s have started a Better Together club that encourages diversity and inclusion at Saint Mary’s.
National Better Together Day, celebrated this coming Tuesday on April 10th, is a day of action headed by the Interfaith Youth Core nonprofit organization working towards interfaith peacebuilding, where people of different faiths, worldviews, and traditions can bridge divides and find common values to live peacefully together.
Although Saint Mary’s is a Catholic college, there are many students from various belief systems and backgrounds on campus that believe in working together and supporting one another regardless of religious differences.
Here are some belles that believe we are better together:
Name: Stephanie Snyder
Religion: Roman Catholic
Year: Senior
“Ultimately, people share the same desire to discover Truth. By joining in community with and opening our hearts to one another, we are able to grow spiritually, grow personally, be more understanding of others, and understand our own religions better so that we may achieve our ultimate goal of discovering Truth. We are so much better together!”
Name: Gabby Haff
Religion: Agnostic
Year: Sophomore
“When we communicate with one another and actually listen to each other, we learn more not only about others but about ourselves too.”
Name: Taylor Thomas
Religion: Jewish born – still exploring!
Year: Senior
“I believe it’s important that people from different religious backgrounds work and come together because at their core each religion is about love and justice and if we focus on that, then we can solve any problem. It’s also important to appreciate the differences that each religion brings to the table because then we can begin to empathize with each other on a personal level.”
Name: Jaqueline Rojas
Religion: Catholic
Year: Freshman
“We are better together because apart we miss out on the beauty of each other’s world.”
Name: Sophie McDevitt
Religion: Roman Catholic
Year: Sophomore
“We are better together because humans were made for community and we could solve so many more issues if we looked at problems from many different perspectives.”
Personally, I believe that we are better together despite our differences in race, gender, religion, culture and political beliefs because ultimately we all want the same things for the world as a human family.
“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together” – Desmond Tutu