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Religious Gathering Promotes Interfaith Dialogue In Wake Of Bias Incidents

Organizers from the Dayton group Interfaith for Change Wednesday said fears are escalating among many people, particularly minorities, in the Miami Valley after recent anti-semitic and racist incidents across the country.
WYSO/Joshua Chenault

Muslim, Jewish and Protestant faith leaders are calling for unity in the face of what they say is inflammatory rhetoric from President Donald Trump’s administration. Organizers from the Dayton group Interfaith for Change Wednesday say fears are escalating among many people, particularly minorities, in the Miami Valley after recent anti-Semitic and racist incidents across the country.

After the Trump administration’s January executive order temporarily banning travelers from certain countries and restricting refugees from entering the U.S., Dayton Mercy Society mosque spokesperson Sheherazadh Ishaq says Muslim-Americans have been especially concerned for their safety.

She says more education is needed for people of different faiths in the community to help dispel anti-Muslim bias or anxieties.

“For you to get that from someone who doesn’t have that knowledge and has an agenda of hate, then you’re just creating divisions amongst us that don’t need to exist,” she says.

To promote interfaith understanding, Ishaq is calling on religious leaders to provide space for honest dialogue within their congregations about religious differences.  

The Associated Press reports Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday in an interview with CBS "This Morning," that the Trump administration is working to finish a revised executive order. Trump's original ban was blocked by the federal courts.

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