Issue 84 Interfaith centers May 24, 2013

An interfaith center is a place where people of multiple faiths may go and pray. Though, these people may not necessarily pray at the same time as a person with a different faith. It seems that such spaces are becoming more and more common with 1,500 in Britain alone. This I find to be a wonderful trend.

Why I like it: For one it brings together people of different faiths. By doing so it exposes people to other ideas and concepts within the faith based communities. While some of different faiths generally do not pray together, there are instances where a Muslim, a Christian and even a Jew pray together. These spaces are in no way limited to the monotheistic religions, as people of all faiths are welcome. These include Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and in some cases atheists. It is a wonderful display of cooperation between the different groups with people either bringing in their own religious items in with some becoming permanent fixtures like Muslim prayer rugs. Some even have the room designed with curtains which cover up other religious items while people of a different faith pray. In Frankfurt's Goethe University they have an interfaith room called "house of silence" (Haus der stille). Here the Protestant and Muslim ministers have taken advantage of the space to hold a monthly peace prayer. It is a wonderful level of cooperation between the faiths and I would like to see more.

Possible future potential: Due to this level of cooperation we may see further expansion of this concept. It is possible that the different faith based groups will share more such spaces as it will decrease there overall costs in maintaining a traditional single faith house of worship. This may also lead to combined food kitchens and food drives that support the poor (something that all faiths can agree on). Basically we may have an elevated level of cooperation in helping those who are down and out as people of different faiths join hands to feed the hungry. Is it far fetched at the moment, maybe as more tolerance and acceptance of each other will have to continue. However, these spaces open up a dialogue with people of different faiths and as such ideas are shared. It will help us reach a better understanding between each other and realize that we all have a lot in common.

Problems: Some people fear that these spaces are Muslim prayer rooms disguised as multi faith spaces. This fear of course stems from the Jihadist terrorists within the Muslim community. People forget that it is only a small percentage of Muslims that are actually out to get them and their more moderate brethren. But most people are thankfully ignoring such fears as according to the Economist article public attitudes show that people are unconcerned about religious differences (Johannes Stuckelberger, Theologian and expert in church aesthetics at the University of Bern in Switzerland).

The one other problem is the overall design of the space. Some things may be deemed offensive like an alter that shifts from one direction to another to comply with Christians and Muslims need to worship in a particular direction. They also may be looked upon as tacky like the German Gebetomat which is a vending booth for prayers in 65 languages. As such most of such rooms are made to be as neutral as possible until the parishioners of the different faiths add there own touch to make it their own.

Conclusion: I have always liked this idea as I have always felt that these sorts of facilities would help bring people together on a more spiritual level. I do hope that these spaces will ultimately result in a dialogue that can bring all faiths together and shunt the violent radicals in all faiths out.