Campus Ministry held a dialogue session in Swang Center’s Stowe Hall on Friday following the events that transpired at the most recent Wednesday Night Devo.
The speaker for the night, a Lee University graduate, shared his opinions of salvation and his missionary aspirations, which sparked a response from Samha Siddiqui, an audience member of the Muslim faith.
Siddiqui was part of a panel at the dialogue session, which included Campus Minister Jake Burton, Tom Seals, an associate professor in the Bible department and the staff sponsor of Aurora Interfaith student group, and SGA President Andrew Hunt.
Students who attended also had a chance to pose questions anonymously to the panel.
Burton headed the discussion with a few words on campus ministry’s approach to issues of faith.
“Conflict isn’t a bad thing, in my opinion,” Burton said. “It provides an opportunity for dialogue. That even though we disagree, we can still love one another.”
Siddiqui said she felt that speaking out during Wednesday night’s devotional became necessary when the speaker’s message wasn’t in line with what she believes to be true.
“I feel like missionary work requires a lot of knowledge,” Siddiqui said. “Knowledge of your own faith, knowledge of the people you’re trying to explain your message to.
“It’s because I felt that the speaker didn’t have enough knowledge about the community he spoke about that I felt motivated to speak up.”
Siddiqui said she’s happy to be at the university, and that learning from this event can be the best way to move forward.
“I’m glad I made the decision to come to Lipscomb University,” Siddiqui said. “I’m glad I have the opportunity to learn about the Bible. There’s a lot of things that we do differently, so why not learn. Let this be an opportunity where we can learn.”
Hunt discussed his background with multicultural issues. He said before coming to Lipscomb, his experience with other cultures was limited. But, by being at Lipscomb, Hunt says his worldview has expanded for the better.
“I am very passionate about what Samha and everybody’s been talking about, about how we learn so much through talking to people, and being friends with people and building relationships with people that believe things other than what we believe,” Hunt said.
Seals has been at Lipscomb for over two decades. He said over half his time spent at Lipscomb has been spent involved with international students.
“Whether you’re a Muslim, or a Christian, or a Buddhist or a Jew, you’re going to face opposition,” Seals said. “I want to commend you to maintain that courage, maintain your conventions, but at the same time, be open to challenges that come your way. We grow through such challenges.”
Siddiqui says that the panel could begin a positive trend of interfaith discussions on campus.
“Our university is about learning the Christian faith, but it also supports other faith,” Siddiqui said.
“So the first thing I think this helps promote is understanding of other faiths,” she said. “I think this could be a very good start to what could be a constant interfaith dialogue.”
Campus Ministry dialogue session from lumination Network on Vimeo.