It is eye-opening how hard it is to get in contact with others and set up meetings. We all lead busy lives, each with our own set of events, priorities, and interests. However, the times that I have been able to meet with youth individually or community organizers, it makes it all worth it. As a young adult, I am encouraged and excited by the enthusiasm that surrounds interfaith dialogue and service work. It makes me hopeful that in the future, people of diverse backgrounds will not only have the tools to talk about their differences, but will want to do so. The youth want to get this going and expand what we are trying to do into their communities. It has inspired me to think of ways that I can improve my own interfaith club in college.

Yesterday was long, full day. Beginning at 7:00 am, Jon and I worked to consolidate the list of youth who have expressed interest in joining KCIYA. One of my roles this summer, along with the other three interns, is to engage the youth and recruit new people through building relationships. It is difficult, however, to think of ways that we can shape interest in the youth and keep it. I heard a speaker at New York University who does research on people from Generations Y and Z (which includes adults in their mid-20s to young children). Something he said that I remember very well is that my generation has shown a tendency to excel in our tasks, but rarely go beyond that which is asked of us. We join many clubs, organizations, and activities, giving 100% to each one. However, we don't stay with any one thing for a long period of time. Our parent's and grandparent's generation is known to choose one (maybe two) cause and stick with it the rest of their lives. We don't. We move on, working on a new cause. Though these are broad generalizations, it worries me to think that it may be difficult to engage the youth for long periods of time. How do I convince people that interfaith dialogue is something that they should practice for the rest of their lives? How do I convince students to help the KCIYA and its efforts to promote pluralism?
While mulling over these questions, I often come back to the same conclusion. As long as we are able to talk to students about interfaith, it will be in their minds. Whether or not they come to our events and meetings, their knowledge still helps spread awareness. We will always find youth who are eager to join groups that promote community service, meet at an ice cream store, and get to talk about difficult topics like faith and coexistence. So, putting my previous pessimism aside, I am excited to talk to people about what we are doing and trying to accomplish. I just have to remember that generalizations, of any kind, can be dangerous.

Yesterday we had our monthly Council meeting. I met several of the new youth, and we discussed plans for our third annual Peace Walk. We chose the charity we will be raising money for: Free the Children. It is an organization started by and run mostly by a group of children who want to make a difference. They try to find sustainable ways to benefit those in need. Organizations like Free the Children and people like the ones I met yesterday give me hope and energy. In a world riddled with difficulties, it sometimes seems futile to try to make change, but my motivation is constantly renewed by this community.
After we finished the administrative part of our agenda, we heard from our guests, a Mormon couple, Laura and Hugh. Laura was warm, enthusiastic, and a lovely Southern belle. She had grown up Baptist in the South and converted to Mormonism as an adult. Her husband, Hugh, is a fifth or sixth generation Mormon, and a scholar of the religious texts. She shed light on many of the Mormon teachings, many of which I had heard before, but often in a negative light. As a Humanist, I often struggle to understand faith. I admire and respect those who have faith and believe in things like a merciful God and a heavenly afterlife. The Mormon tradition is filled with love and acceptance, as are many religions and belief systems. As humans, I think we recognize the importance of working together to achieve a common goal. I do not know what will happen after I die. I do not know if a divine power watches over all of human-kind. However, I do have faith in people. I believe that we are all alive at this moment, and can work to end suffering and injustice throughout the world.
I thank Laura and Hugh very much for talking to us about their faith.

Yesterday was my first day as an intern for the Kansas City Interfaith Youth Alliance. I am the first of four college students working with KCIYA this summer. I first heard the word "interfaith" at the end of my sophomore year in high school. At the time I was very involved with my school's diversity club, SEED, but we never talked about religious diversity. Interfaith made sense to me; you can't fully talk about racial and cultural diversity without including religion. At first, I was nervous about joining a movement about different "faiths" because, to be honest, at the time I didn't know what I was. I identify now as a Humanist, something I learned about through my interfaith work. I graduated from Notre Dame de Sion High School last year (2011), and just finished my freshman year at Harvard University where I continue to promote pluralism through the Harvard Interfaith Council. At the end of my first day, my boss, Jon, posed this question to me:

Why is it important to engage in interfaith youth efforts to build mutually enriching relationships based on respect for religious identity...

a)  … for our society (globally)?

b)  … for the Kansas city metro area?

c)  … for you? 

To begin to answer this multifaceted question, I think I should first describe interfaith and its mission. We celebrate our differences, learn from each other, and try to understand each other. I have a friend (another intern) who says she can't stand the word "tolerate." Interfaith work is about moving past "tolerating" the other, and instead "embracing" the other as a partner in a common goal: the betterment of society. It is important to engage the youth because they are the future. Even in the present, we live in a highly global society. Communication across the world is easier and faster than ever. I can only imagine how much more mixed society will be in the future. It is important, for our society, that we know how to communicate with those who hold different beliefs from our own. It is important for Kansas City, a growing city, to educate its youth in order to be more apt at dealing with a global society, and it is important for me because I can't stand to see discrimination or prejudice. It kills me that those who are ignorant about other faiths choose to judge them and persecute them. I am a Humanist. In a poll, people who did not believe in God were ranked as least trustworthy out of the choices, which included Christian denominations, Judaism, and Islam. Whether or not I believe in God does not mean I can't be a good person, or that I can't respect those who do have faith. 

Interfaith conversations occur daily because it is almost impossible to go through a whole day without interacting with someone of a different faith. Why don't we just bring it out in the open, upholding the highest respect for our peers, especially in light of disagreements?