Rice University and UH are doing their part to provide Houstonians with a basic understanding of religions, and to generate peaceful coexistence between people of all faiths as well as those with no faith.
“In a university setting people are expected to be open minded and ready to learn. Students come here to be exposed to new ideas and new cultures, so being intolerant of something as universal as religion is simply ignorant,” Hotel and Restaurant Management SGA Senator John Price said.
In 1985, the Religious Studies Program was founded at UH to focus on student interest in religion. The program promotes knowledge of the history, practices and ideas of different religions, citing their importance for the education of attentive citizens and to preserve a free society, according to the program’s Web site.
Professor Lynn E. Mitchell, who proposed and implemented the institution, is the program’s director. Mitchell has been teaching and developing courses in religious studies since its establishment.
Mitchell received his doctorate in religious studies from Rice University. After teaching at the University of St. Thomas for 11 years, he came to UH and began the Religious Studies Program.
The A. D. Bruce Religion Center is the focal point for many on-campus religious activities at UH. The building, which serves as the site of many educational programs and activities dealing with religious issues, provides office space and facilities for eleven charter denominations.
Rice, too, is doing its part. It has brought together speakers and educators from various faiths to lecture on the topic in hopes of revamping the World Religions Lecture Series, a series that focuses on peacefully explaining and discussing the differences (and similarities) between religions all over the world.
The World Religions Lecture Series was started through the Boniuk Center at Rice University.
The Boniuk Center, established in April 2004 with a $5 million endowment from Dr. Milton and Mrs. Laurie Boniuk, was founded to give Houstonians a better understanding of religions, both their own and those that they are not familiar with.
The Boniuk Center has made it easy for people to discuss religion by implementing an open — but always considerate — forum, leading to a peaceful coexistence among citizens of diverse religions.
“So much suspicion and distrust of people of other faiths is rooted in ignorance,” Shira Lander, interim director of the Boniuk Center and an expert in interfaith relations said in a news release.
“If we can begin to dispel people’s misunderstandings about other people’s religions and replace harmful assumptions with accurate facts, then we can begin the road to creating interreligious understanding.”
Houston is one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse cities in the country. According to visithoustontexas.com, the city is 42 percent Anglo, 33 percent Hispanic, 18 percent black, and 7 percent Asian/other, and more than 60 languages are spoken in the homes of Houston’s school children.
Houston is ranked among the top 10 cities in the U.S. visited by Hispanic-American and Asian-American travelers, according to the Travel Industry Association of America.
Houston is home to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Muslims, Jains, Jews, Christians and Baha’is, to name a few religions, as well as the largest church in North America, Lakewood Church, which is only a few miles from both the Rice and UH campuses. The center used Houston’s diversity as its inspiration.
The Boniuk Center welcomes ideas for events and projects from community organizations and individuals who share its mission to bring peace and understanding to all those who wish to learn about others’ faiths.
“I think it is important to be understanding of other people’s religious beliefs because I want to be respected for what I believe in,” education senior Nelsy Alvarez said. “Understanding other people’s religious beliefs helps create more unity between people. When people try and understand other’s religious beliefs it helps unify people of all walks of life. Although I might not agree with other people’s religious beliefs I believe I have to be tolerant of them to create friendship that could be long lasting. It is important to understand other people religious beliefs at UH because there are many people of different faiths.”
