Nov 6, 2017 By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 7 min read

The study of even one religion can last a lifetime.

But thanks to eight women who participated in a recent panel discussion, those in attendance were able to learn quite a bit about several religions during a single afternoon.

The second South Hills Interfaith Dialogue, which took place Oct. 29 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Upper St. Clair following a similar program at Scott Township’s Beth El Congregation, attracted an audience of about 50 for a discussion that covered basic information and addressed some specific questions about each faith. Stacey Reibach, a Beth El member, served as moderator.

For those who are interested in religions other than their own, here is a summary of what the panelists presented about each of theirs, in the order in which they spoke.

n Diane Bushman, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

“We believe that it is the restoration of the church as it existed in the time of Christ, that we have a similar organization as the church in that time,” she explained. “We believe in the Bible. We use the King James version typically, in America, at least. We have additional scriptures: the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, which covers the early history of the church, Joseph Smith and people in that era.”

Smith founded the religion in 1830, and the church’s current president is Thomas S. Monson, 90, “whom we believe is a prophet, seer and revelator, and so we believe that we can continue to receive revelation and direction from God in the current time,” Bushman said.

n Bernice Natelson, Conservative Judaism

Taking the place of Beth El Congregation Rabbi Schomer Greenbaum, a panelist during the first interfaith dialogue, Natelsen mentioned the four major denominations – also referred to as streams, movements or branches – in Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, Reformed and Reconstructionist.

“The Conservative movement’s mission is to conserve Jewish law while embracing the modern world,” she said about her affiliation. “So Conservative does not refer to political orientation. Conserving Jewish law while embracing modernity means that the movement doesn’t change Jewish law out of convenience, but out of the desire to adapt Jewish law to today’s world, especially where to do so is compassionate and inclusive.”

n Lakshmi Gopi, Hinduism

“Hinduism started as a philosophy,” she said. “We have the flexibility to adopt and adapt it the way it best fits: to do the right thing or feel God in everybody, or be vegetarian. These are all guidelines.”

For example, many practitioners choose to eat meat.

“We believe that there is absolutely one truth and reality, and that is God. And we believe that God is formless, limitless, all-inclusive and eternal,” Gopi continued.

The religion emphasizes beliefs such as dharma – incorporating the concepts of righteousness, morality and duty – and karma:

“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so we truly believe that our karmas are the primary cause for anything that we face in this life and the next life.”

n Lynne Aber, Roman Catholicism

“We are a Christian religion based on the belief of one God in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We believe in salvation through the acceptance of Jesus as our savior,” she explained. “The basic tenets of our faith are love, mercy and compassion.”

Seven sacraments take Roman Catholics from birth to death: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick and matrimony, along with holy orders, the church hierarchy.

“During our Eucharist celebration, which is our Catholic Mass, the priest consecrates the host and the wine, and it spiritually becomes the essence, the actual essence, of Jesus’ blood and body,” Aber said. “So it’s not a symbolic bread-and-wine ceremony, as it is in other religions.”

n Martha O’Grady, Buddhism

“Today, there are maybe 520 million people who call themselves Buddhists, and there are as many kinds of Buddhists as there are Christians,” O’Grady, practices in Pittsburgh with Laughing Rivers Sangha, said.

She spoke about the Four Noble Truths that constitute the foundation of Buddhism: Dukkha, the truth of suffering; Samudaya, the truth of the origin of suffering; Nirodha, the truth of the cessation of suffering; and Magga, the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering.

“Simply put,” O’Grady said about the latter, “to lead a happier life, you cultivate your mind and your actions so that you can develop more presence, more insight and more understanding to go beyond the courses of your suffering.”

n Kira Fisher, Greek Orthodoxy

To describe the religion founded with the First Council of Nicaea in 325, Fisher spoke based on the church’s symbol of faith, the Nicene Creed:

“We believe in one God. We call him Father. He created the heaven and the earth, and everything visible and invisible. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, also called The Messiah or The Anointed One.”

As is common in Christianity, beliefs include anticipation of end times:

“We patiently await the return of Jesus Christ, where we will experience the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven in our newly resurrected bodies.”

n Sebnem Unlu, Islam

The Five Pillars of Islam – Shahada (faith), Salat (prayer), Zakat (charity), Sawm (fasting during Ramadan) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) – are at the heart of the religion, she explained:

“The main pillar of Islam is to believe in the oneness and unity of God. There is none worthy of worship except for the one God.”

A member of the Greater Pittsburgh Interfaith Coalition Organizing Committee and outreach coordinator for the Turkish Cultural Center Pennsylvania Pittsburgh, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting harmony in diverse cultural setting, Unlu also spoke about the accompanying Six Articles of Faith, including belief in the Day of Judgment.

“There will be an end of time when existence as we know it will be destroyed,” she said, “and the eternal life will begin.”

n Robin Pyle, Protestantism

“You’ve heard from several representatives of Christianity, and our tenets, honestly, are the same,” the Westminster member said. “We believe in one God. We believe in Jesus Christ as His Son.”

This year marks the 500th anniversary of Protestantism’s start.

“The emphasis of that, and sort of the short answer in one sentence, is the belief that we are saved by the grace of God, as a gift of God. It’s through nothing that we can do or earn. We can’t do it ourselves,” Pyle explained. “As a result of that, then we’re called to serve God, to be God’s hands and feet in the world, to do good works. And we believe that those are works that God has planned for us from the beginning of time.”