Interfaith Youth Core

Interfaith Youth Core

Patel had taken a family trip to India with his family while in high school and disliked everything about India. He disliked that there were no showers at his grandmothers and that they did not have Frosted Flakes cereal. Along with man y more things once he had arrived in India. But now six years later after he had matured and went to college he and his good friend Kevin were about to take a trip to India again so that he could learn to appreciate his culture. Once Patel and Kevin arrived in India one of the first things Patel wanted to do was go and buy Indian clothing. One thing that Patel had to get used to was the fact that many people in India that had some sort of money owned servants and this was a shock to him to and his friend. They didn’t understand why and felt that they could do the daily duties for themselves. But Patel learned to accept it because it was part of his culture. Patel had been struggling to learn language and had finally picked up enough to communicate with the people.

“The dream of India is the dream of pluralism, the idea of different communities retaining their uniqueness while relating in a way that recognizes they share universal values” (Patel,92). Over weeks of reading books Patel and Kevin got the chance to meet the Dalai Lama. They meet in a meeting room of his place; Kevin was the first to speak to the Dalai Lama and he identified Kevin as a Jew after her had spoken and commended Kevin for deeping his study of his religion. Now it was Patel’s turn and the Dalai Lama did not ask questions he just stated that Patel was a Muslim and suggested he visit the Tibetan Muslims and Patel replied. Patel then took the opportunity to explain the program he had developed called the Interfaith Youth Core. The Dalai Lama felt that the program was a very good project and asked if he was too old to join which left them all laughing and carrying on.

The interfaith Youth Core was started by Patel to “build mutual respect and pluralism among young people from different religious traditions by empowering them to work together to serve others” (IFYC). After Patel’s visit with the Dalai Lama he was more encourage and excited to return to the United States and progress in the development of the interfaith youth group. This group has brought together more people than could be imagined and all with different religious backgrounds and cultures. In June President Obama made a speech saying “Indeed, faith should bring us together. That is why we are forging service projects in America that bring together Christians, Muslims, and Jews.…Around the world, we can turn dialogue into interfaith service, so bridges between peoples lead to action whether it is combating malaria in Africa, or providing relief after a natural disaster” (Kirby& Patel). With this being said it has been proven thatdifferent religions and cultures can come together and had a mutual ground with some similarities.

Patel, Eboo, Kirby, Samantha, Tikkun. Hungry for Change: Interfaith Service in Action. Sep/Oct2009, Vol. EBSCOhost. 24, Issue 5. Web. 1 Dec. 2009

Patel, Eboo. Acts of Faith. Boston: Beacon Press, 2007.

"Interfaith Youth Core". IFYC. December 3, 2009. http://www.ifyc.org/about_movement.