WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – People should be open minded and be aware of equality to create a peaceful society for all faiths to coexist, 6 distinguished speakers and a moderator discussed as a panel Wednesday night on Purdue campus.
We can not have discussion with one another if we are not open to change our minds, said the contributor to MSNBC, Ron Reagan.
American speechwriter, Sarah Hurwitz said, “we are equal to each other.”
Wednesday’s discussion on “Religion, Polarization, and the Public Space” is part of Purdue University’s “Democracy, Civility, and Freedom of Expression,” a series of events held by Purdue, which aimed to engage people in these important social topics. Amy Goodman, the panelist of the speech, was the host and executive producer of Democracy Now! She is also well known as a journalist, syndicated columnist and investigative reporter.
Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, mentioned that, during her childhood, when she did not begin to form into a mature perspective about religion, she was highly influenced by the social religious culture. As she was living in a Christian country, she said, the church had been a part of her life.
But she changed her faith from the time she saw “this white man looking down and surrounded only by white people”.
The white man I saw was the white man abused people who look like me, she said.
For James Woodford, an audience I interviewed, Naomi’s story resonated most with him. As he was also from Africa and lived a religious life since childhood, Naomi’s perspective about her faith did not ask her to respond the society in a nice way impressed a lot, he said.
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