By Rev. Barry Keatin, Maplewood Presbyterian Church , Edmonds
My name is the Rev. Barry Keating and I am the minister of Maplewood Presbyterian Church in Edmonds, Wash. I am also one of the board members of the Washington State Holocaust Education and Resource Center. You published recently a wonderful article by my colleague Phil Gershon on an interfaith trip to Turkey (“A special visit to Turkey,” June 27). I was with Phil and his wife Ellen on that trip, which we shared with other Christian and Muslim people. I am writing to thank you for publishing the article and to reinforce my support for all sorts of efforts in promoting this form of dialogue.
I live and work mostly in a Christian milieu of parish and church commitments. Many of my co-religionists in our global community, with obvious changes in the local community, find themselves fearing the “˜other.’ This fear prompted by differences in belief systems and cultural roots can only be addressed by seeing the “˜other’ as a neighbor through being willing to share, work together and discuss. I am on the board of the Holocaust Center because I believe the murder of 6 million Jews and others considered undesirable by the Nazis should not just be a Jewish memorial. Such human tragedies must be talked about not only to give voice to the silent victims, but also to teach subsequent generations about the consequences of religious or racial arrogance and triumphalism.
I lived for the first 32 years of my life in my birthplace, Belfast, N. Ireland, witnessing the brutal violence that marred our history and the recent past. Intolerance, colonialism, religious bigotry, discrimination, the inability to share a common piece of real estate and biased interpretations of a common history have caused countless amounts of human suffering.
Sadly, I believe we have not learned the common lessons of Irish history and the European Holocaust, as we are still plagued with war, religious fear and intolerance for difference. It is for this reason I feel so passionate about the need for education, honest dialogue, listening to our witnesses and victims of terror and violence and promoting honest, gutsy dialogue.
Finally, I would like to say that as a person who seeks to follow the God who created the rich human tapestry and natural life of our world, I have learned more about spirituality, prayer and faith in God from the human relationships I have been privileged to experience. This has been from people of all faiths and some of no faith.
I believe the desire to dialogue is risky for all of us, as it involves perhaps confronting our own hidden demons and maybe being in fellowship with those our friends and loved ones don’t like. I believe it is a risk worth taking for the good of our whole human family. Thank you again for publishing Phil Gershon’s article of the wonderful learning and love we experienced from many of the Muslim people we met in Turkey.