Director receives rare invite to Middle East interfaith conference

During a year that has been filled with hatred and division in the U.S. and abroad, a narrative of tolerance, understanding and coexistence is needed in the world.

That was the primary message Doug Kindschi, director of Grand Valley's Kaufman Interfaith Institute, brought back to West Michigan after attending the "Growing a Network" conference in Al-Musannah, Oman, November 13-17.

Kindschi was one of only 10 interfaith advocates from around the world invited to attend the conference, and the only representative of the U.S.

"I was just so proud to represent Grand Valley and the United States at this international conference," said Kindschi. "There was such a deep sense of satisfaction and pride in what Grand Valley is doing with our interfaith work through the Kaufman Interfaith Institute."

As a seafaring nation, Oman has emerged for three millennia in intercultural exchanges with people around the Indian Ocean. Freedom of religion is guaranteed in the Sultanate of Oman, where over the years there has been mutual acceptance, understanding and a peaceful coexistence among its varied religious communities.

The goal of the conference, which coincided with this year's International Day of Tolerance on November 16, was to gather a collective of interfaith leaders and brainstorm ways to expand the interactivity of the traveling exhibit, "Tolerance, Understanding, Coexistence: Oman's Message to Islam."

The exhibit was on display on Grand Valley's Allendale Campus in 2014, which was only the third location the exhibit traveled to after it began touring. Since then, it has been displayed in more than 100 settings in 30 nations around the world.

Kindschi said the goal of the exhibit is to encourage a conversation about the importance of religious tolerance and acceptance in any society and culture, using Oman as an example.

"The more people you know, the more tolerant you are," said Kindschi. "If you know one person of another religion, it changes your attitude about that religion, and all other religions."

During the conference, Kindschi suggested that the exhibit visit Michigan once again, but this time to offer programming and foster connections between people on both the east and west sides of the state. In this proposal, the west side conference would be held at Grand Valley, and the east side conference would be held at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn.

Kindschi said the goal of bringing the exhibit back to Michigan would be to begin altering the "hate narrative" in the U.S.

"The country is conflicted and there are a lot of people looking for a different narrative than the Islamophobia, xenophobia and the hate narrative," said Kindschi. "When you trigger hatred against a particular group, it's very easy for it to spill over to other groups that aren't like you. When you start down that path of xenophobia, your world gets smaller and smaller."

 For more information about the Kaufman Interfaith Institute, visit gvsu.edu/interfaith.