Kansas City Panel Discusses Honoring Faiths in the Workplace Year-Round

December 9, 2005

Source: Centre Daily

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/opinion/13362838.htm

On December 9, 2005 the Centre Daily reported, "Mathematical equations about slopes, lines and parallels filled a dry-erase board in a classroom on the Pioneer Campus of Penn Valley Community College. It all looked unintelligible. By the wall containing [these equations] sat a panel talking about something equally as difficult for many Americans to understand. Other faiths seem so undecipherable to many of us, especially during the Christian holiday season. Yet the panel, like math teachers, helped people at the 'Acknowledging Religious Holidays in the Workplace' forum understand the tough subject. The Kansas City Diversity Councils Roundtable was sponsored by Kansas City Harmony — National Conference for Community and Justice. The panelists were Aasim Baheyadeen, [a] Muslim; Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa, a member of the Sikh community; and Lama Chuck Stanford, executive director of the Rime Buddhist Center and Monastery and Institute of Tibetan Studies... People who attended the program... wanted to know how they could honor people of different faiths where they worked without seeming intrusive. They were advised to think about putting together panels on religious diversity for the holidays and asking co-workers of different faiths who they might recommend for it. But people also have to be cautious, because to some the topic is touchy... The key is for people of different faiths to find ways to talk."