Rockbridge Interfaith kicked off the month of May with the Discussion on Reaffirming Our Common Humanity and the Rockbridge Interfaith Community Celebration on May 1 and 2.  Rockbridge Interfaith is a new organization was made by community members with the goal of encouraging interfaith tolerance and cooperation. The events were an effort by the organization to build compassion in the community and to celebrate the diversity of faith.

Members of Rockbridge Interfaith, including Farishte Irani, assembled a panel for the discussion held at the Hillel House, as well as to organize the festivities held at Hopkins Green the next day.

“Our hope is that we will encourage cooperative and respectful interactions between people of different faiths,” said Irani on the objectives of the events. “This form of positive dialogue between community members can only strengthen our bonds and break down barriers that may lead to distrust and fear.”

The discussion was moderated by Afshad Irani, a Professor of Accounting at Washington and Lee and a practitioner of the Zoroastrian faith who moved to the U.S. from Pakistan in 1987. The panel of diverse community members included Mohamed Kamara (a professor at Washington and Lee and a native of Sierra Leone), Mirabai McCleod (a jewish buddhist sufi and a small business owner), and many other representatives of world religions including Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, and Sufism.

Lacey Lynch, an Episcopal Christian who began the Rockbridge Interfaith project and oversaw both events, shared her thoughts before the panel on the importance of the discussion and celebration of diversity in our community.

“The Panel Discussion is a community event that begins the conversation about our diverse communities of compassion. It will highlight the commonalities in values while celebrating and honoring the unique ways in which people worship,” said Lynch. “Our overarching theme is Diverse Communities of Compassion: Reaffirming our Common Humanity.”

Lynch hopes that as the Rockbridge Interfaith project grows over time it will help to educate people about various faiths and increase the tolerance present Rockbridge County.