In the article “Many Faiths, One Purpose,” published by the Boston Globe on Monday, September 12, 2011, the author is discussing an interfaith service which was held on September 11, 2011 in Wayland, Massachusetts. The main idea of this article illustrates how people of different faiths gathered at a Muslim mosque on the ten-year anniversary of the terror attacks to show unity as a community, rather than division by their religions.
One point the article made is in the days following the terrorist attacks of 10 years ago, many citizens of the American Muslim community were subjected to suspicion and hostility by the non-Muslim community. Insofar as many Americans placed blame for the attacks on all Muslims, there were still many Americans who did not. In this Massachusetts community, members of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths gathered as one body, sharing a unified belief: that we can live in peace, can hope that justice will be granted to all, and that we will show compassion for each other.
¬¬¬¬The second point made by the article is that those who gathered at the mosque reflected on those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. The victims of the terrorist attacks were of all faiths, one of whom belonged to the hosting mosque itself. The prayerful within the welcoming hall shared messages of inspiration, visions of tolerance and acceptance, and a unified body of faithful believers.
I chose this article for Journal I as I am encouraged by reading stories that illustrate compassion for each other, regardless of our cultural and religious differences. I enjoyed learning that three very different religions: Jewish, Christian and Muslim, set aside their particular ways of worship to gather as one to see each other as people with a commonality, rather than people who are decidedly different. We as a nation are unified, regardless of our faith, in