Representing Your Individual Religion

EDMOND— When he first moved to America from South Africa in 1994, John Mkhize couldn’t sleep. The echoes of firing AK-47s would ring through his head all night. “Have you ever heard the firing of an AK-47?” Mkhize asked the group of students gathered at Oklahoma State University’s Oklahoma City campus Saturday morning. “It would literally ring through our entire house as they were shooting outside — louder than imaginable.” Mkhize was one of four men participating in an Interfaith Panel discussion featuring Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Bahá’í and the Jewish religions.The panel was presented by the Respect Diversity Foundation, and the presentation was for Upward Bound, a government-funded program that provides fundamental support to participants in their preparation for college entrance. Students came from Putnam City West, Western Heights and Northwest Classen High Schools. “All the students here today are first generation possible college students,” said Francie Moss, Upward Bound’s head counselor. “Participants are based on family income and really just the attitude and willingness of each child.” Each representative was given 12-15 minutes to speak on his religion, with questions asked by the students at the end of the lecture.Saad Mohamad represented the Islamic faith, the one faith that received the most questions by the students. And to clear up any misunderstandings of the Islamic religion, mediator Mike Korenblit asked Mohamad to explain briefly the situation of Jihad, one that we hear about in the news so frequently. “Jihad is the act of struggling or fighting for something,” Mohamad said. “As a Muslim, if I know that something terrible is going to happen, it is my duty to stop it. “Everyone has their own struggles and things they stand up for, but the bad things that have happened and called Jihad are not done in the name of Islam, but out of ignorance.” Another Edmond resident in attendance was Hollis Henson, a member of the Bahá’í religion, a faith that started in 1844 in

Iran

. Henson, 25, described his faith as not just a religion, but an “independent investigation of truth.” “We don’t meet and lead worship,” Hollis said. “You don’t have to do this, this and this to become a member. Anyone is free to become a member of the Bahá’í Faith.” Kevin Jones spoke on the Buddhist religion, explaining to the students about the lack of “church assembly” for Buddhists. “Once a month we gather together to speak about peace, culture and education — our main concerns and goals,” Jones said. “We believe in dialogue and working together in order to come to a solution in things we deal with daily. Going to church and having one main speaker is not something we practice regularly — rather we invite the dialogue of everyone.” Korenblit, a member of the Jewish faith, spoke about some of the celebrations Jews participate in annually. “I always feel sorry for faiths that don’t have many celebrations,” Korenblit joked to the other panelists. “I think that the Jewish faith has so many, we could actually spare some.” Korenblit told of the Jewish calendar, which is based on a lunar 253 days, as opposed to a solar 365 1/4 days. “Jews actually have a way to ensure that holidays always fall in the same season each year,” Korenblit said. “Every seven years, we just add a new month to the calendar.” Mkhize was representing the Christian faith, a member himself of St. John the Baptist Catholic Parish in Edmond. He is also a chairman of the Religious United Committee of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches. Mkhize was also a 1992 recipient of a Martin Luther King Peace Award, a great honor given civil rights and equality leaders. “I was living in Africa during Apartheid — I literally couldn’t attend any other school than a black school or attend any other church than a black church,” he said. “ The tension that the people felt ended up forcing the African nation to result to arms.” Mkhize, though, was one of the men responsible for the end of Apartheid, and the

return of a non-violent country. “I met with people and we convinced our country to put down their arms and talk.”