A group of Baylor students recently traveled to the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah, as part of a cultural immersion trip with Baylor’s Cross Cultural Ministry. Three of the students who attended the Parliament were BIC students. Dr. Josh Ritter, Assistant Director in Spiritual Life and Rhetoric professor in BIC, also traveled with the group. As part of the trip, each of the students wrote a reflection on their experience. The complete reflections are posted at the Baylor Borderlands blog. Here are a few excerpts from our BIC students who went on the trip.
Diana Castillo
“At the parliament, I learned how to create space for interfaith dialogue. There were so many people with different cultural and faith backgrounds, yet the beauty of us being together at this conference was how we would all come to listen to each other’s perspective and allow for discussions that would help our hurting world… As someone who is involved in the development of communities, the parliament really challenged me to bring this idea of interfaith dialogue back to Baylor and to the places I go in life.” (Read more)
Andres Umana
“The parliament trip taught me something about humanity as a whole. We are all people, we are all set here to survive and share the world together regardless of background or religion. The plenaries especially taught me how people of different backgrounds can be so different in so many ways, but still have the same mind set about important aspects such as war, famine, and nature… Just like in the allegory of the cave, I now need to come back and inform and educate from what I have learned about other cultures and backgrounds.” (Read more)
Valerie Rivera
“[This experience] allowed me to hear different stories and truly develop empathy for others. In class we are taught what love and empathy are, but going to the Parliament made me create and express empathy towards different cultures… When people start to hear stories, something inside of us starts to stir and remind us of our humanity. Although we may all come from different cultures and backgrounds, we are all human and we should never forget that. Sharing our stories allows us to develop empathy, and from that empathy springs action.” (Read more)
