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March 7, 2003/Adar2 3 5763, Vol. 55, No. 28
Sun Lakes concludes interfaith exchange
BARRY COHEN
Editor
A group of interfaith leaders ended their one-month religious dialogue by talking about the end of the world.
Protestant, Bahai, Cath-olic, Jewish, Hindu and Muslim representatives met Thursday afternoons in February at Sun Lakes United Methodist Church to discuss a variety of topics.
These topics included the central messages of their faith, a description of God, what constitutes a righteous life, and visions for the end of the world, said Larry Gerber, the church's senior pastor.
The Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation and the Sun Lakes United Methodist Church started the dialogue three years ago.
"(This year) we put together what we call a 'hexalogue'," to include six faiths, he said.
Approximately 170 people attended each session.
At the final session, Feb. 27, Rabbi Zev Wellins of Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation represented Judaism; Re-verend Dr. Laura O'Neil, Protestantism; Ken Jeffers, Bahai; Sister Marilyn Bever, Catholicism; and Dasa Rath, Hinduism. Imam Ahmad Al Shqeirat was scheduled to present Islam but could not attend.
When considering the end of the world, Judaism is more concerned with the here and now than with "speculation about what will happen after, what will happen to our souls, to our energy," explained Wellins.
When the prophets spoke about the future, the apocalypse or Armageddon they did not include the end of the world, he said.
"Our prophets talk about the end of days as a time of unity and oneness," he noted.
O'Neil noted that Protest-antism views the end of the world as "an opportunity for the world as we know it ultimately to be saved."
Whether people will be sent to heaven or hell when the world ends is dependent upon humanity's free will, said Bever.
"God has even left us free to reject God," she explained. "That's what hell would be, that complete rejection of the divine."
Whether the hexalogue interfaith religious dialogue will take place next year has yet to be determined, said Marty Silverman, Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation pres-ident.
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