The Pacifica Institute in Irvine had the pleasure of hosting an interfaith conversation with guest speaker Rabbi Larry Seidman who focused on \u201cthe beginning of religion \u2013 it happened in Turkey\u201d. In his talk, he discussed religion, one\u2019s interfaith work and his personal experience while visiting Turkey through Pacifica Institute just a few months ago. He began by sharing some photographs of historical landmarks he visited in Turkey and their significance towards the civilization such as the Gobekli Tepe consisting of content which he believes \u201cis the beginning of religion, the first time people had some spiritual idea, the sense of a divine, perhaps a God concept\u201d. Through the art on the walls, stones, and their placement around the land, a deeply thorough analysis was done by Rabbi Larry on the possibility and approach towards religion during those times. Bringing up a very crucial point, he calls attention for his audience to \u201cunderstand the almost miraculous nature of doing this with no tools, no government, no domesticated animals, no pottery, only flint tools\u201d. Rabbi Larry states the \u201cpull of the divine [which] precedes organization, and is sense of obligation to a higher being\u2026 and urges [people] to do the right thing\u201d.
\nHe then goes to discuss the \u201cspecific history of the Abrahamic religions\u201d starting with the bible. Comparing the details, Rabbi Larry looks at the Bible, the Torah, and the Koran to see the similarities and differences between the stories of Abraham. This story brought forth the \u201cevolution from idolatry, to monotheism, to the idea of God incorporeal [which] also happened in Turkey, in Harran\u201d. \u201cThe story of the Abrahamic religions is a story of diversifications\u201d said Rabbi Larry. It was also a way of \u201cabstract monotheistic\u201d prayer, he said, because \u201cwe pray to the same God… But we differ in details\u201d such as the names we used to say the word \u201cGod\u201d. He states \u201cthere are many religions in existence today and many more if you count the subdivisions that share the same name\u201d.
\nRabbi Larry highlights that one of the \u201cmajor developments [is] the understanding that every individual experiences the sense of the divine, the voice of God, in a different way [because] the world is changing [and] individuals are developing with different backgrounds, experiences and thoughts\u201d. He also addresses that \u201crather [we] need a continuing evolution of how we understand God, and how we interact with each other in holy activities\u201d. Rabbi Larry also brings up the topic of Tolerance from the Gulen that states \u201cwe should have such tolerance that we are able to close our eyes to faults of others, to have respect for different ideas and to forgive everything that is forgivable\u201d. Another quote from Understanding Fetullah Gulen says \u201cwe should indeed keep the differences and learn to respect the. Each religion has its particular approach to God. But we also have a universal dimension to our traditions that we share and we must emphasize that as well\u201d.
\nTo conclude, Rabbi Larry discusses Claremont Lincoln University and gave a brief background on the University itself. The Claremont School of theology game together with the help of the Lincoln family and said \u201cwe all share some things like the golden, why aren\u2019t we marketing that? Why aren\u2019t we developing that, [Instead] of developing hatred\u201d Provides the \u201cchance to learn and study our religions strongly but also gives us an opportunity to learn about each other\u2019s religions. And understand what the differences are, and what the ideas are, and how we fit in that\u201d. Rabbi Larry closes his discussion with an emphasis of encouragement towards interfaith dialogues amongst the many religions because \u201ceveryone is God\u2019s creation, everyone has a connection to God, to the divine, to the understanding of the universe that surround us\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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