DZHULETTA AVANESIAN
Campus faith leaders shared advice for coping with tragedy Monday night
as part of the GW “Peace Not Prejudice” Week. Chaplain Meraj Allahrakha , Rabbi Yoni
Kaiser-Blueth , and Father Greg Shaffer shared their views in a forum
sponsored by the GW Muslim
Student Association. The lecture held at Funger Hall was attending by
about 25 people of different
religions. Members of Muslim
Student Association, GW Hillel and Newman Catholic Student Center participated
in the panel discussion.
Each leader shared examples from recent tragedies.
During the discussion, Father
Greg remembered the Newtown, Conn. school shooting of last year.
''We have to cope through
tragedy,faith richness and to gather together. We are dealing with mystery,'' said Shaffer.
Kaiser-Blueth talked
about his rememberance of Hurricane
Katrina and how people dealt with the tragedy that moment, a time during
which he was working at New York University.
''Why did God allow
the Holocaust to happen? Why would something like this happen?'' he said.
Responding to an audience question on coping with disaster, Allahrakha said, ''It's easy to say when you are not
suffering the tragedy.People are not punished collectively. There is a lesson
in every tragedy.''
Participants lauded the event for connecting the different religious
organizations on campus around the common theme of hope. President of the Muslim
Student Association Aabid Mohiuddin reflected on
the event as bringing the campus community together with relatable experiences,
particularly difficult events.
Regardless of religion, according to participants, everyone experience
grief and tragedy. However, a shared desire for healing lies in faith.
“I believe that when faith shines, people who believe in faith and see
the circumstances, come out through that situations stronger than they were
before, '' said Mohiuddin.
Each leader stressed the importance of uniting to find comfort and hope
through faith.
''Just hope. Each
person has a faith,'' said Shaffer.
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