World Religion Day returns to the Bay

World Religion Day Committee
News Release

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The 2011 World Religion Day, the 22nd of its kind in North Bay, will celebrate the theme “Growing a Community that Cares: From Local to Global” on Sunday, January 16, 2011 starting at 1:30pm at the Elks Lodge in North Bay.

World Religion Day was started in 1950 by the Baha’i community in the United States and is now held in most of the countries around the world. Annual events help foster interfaith understanding and harmony by providing the opportunity to seek a unified approach to the spiritual challenges that confront humanity, and recognizing that the Earth is but one country and humankind its citizenry.

“In North Bay, World Religion Day strives to bring together members from as many religious and spiritual traditions as possible so that we can learn about each other, especially about those beliefs that we have in common,” World Religion Day 2011 Organizing Committee Member Carmel Rouhani explained.

With an emphasis on common religious origins and teachings, World Religion Day calls attention to the harmony that exists amongst the spiritual principles of the world’s religions, and emphasizes religion as a source of unity. The event in North Bay will feature the Baha’i Faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and Native Spiritual Traditions as well as presentations and refreshments.

“The history of religion shows a unifying power that instills in the heart and mind the fundamental foundations required to establish a unity of conscience for motivating humans towards founding great cultures and civilizations,” Rouhani said.

World Religion Day illustrates that humankind stemmed from one origin and must now strive towards the reconciliation of religion, which has been split up. Human unity and equality depend not on past origins, but on future goals - what we are becoming and where we are heading.

The public is encouraged to attend this entertaining and engaging celebration of the unifying power of the world’s religions.

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