Interfaith Club visits diverse religious sites in Salt Lake

On March 30, the Interfaith Student Association headed down to Salt Lake City to explore diverse religious sites of significance. Any student who signed up had the opportunity to attend and learn about the traditions and practices of a variety of different religions. 

August Groesbeck, the vice president of the interfaith club, was involved with the planning and coordination of this year and last year’s event. 

“Religion is a touchy subject, even though within the club we’re trying to make it less of one,” Groesbeck said.  

According to the Pew Research Center, around 55% of the adult Utah population is Mormon. This leaves a remaining 45% of the adult population who identify with other religions.  

“It helps to realize that in places like Utah where there is a majority religion, that there are nuances and differences around us that we need to be aware of and respect,” Groesbeck said.  

According to Groesbeck, the club often strives to visit religious sites that are outside of the majority religion in order to gain experience from different cultures. 

In previous years, the club visited religious sites such as the Krishna Temple, a Muslim mosque and the Cathedral of the Madeleine. 

“They’ve always been very kind and lovely to us,” Groesbeck said. “They love knowing when we’re going to be meeting up again.”  

This year, the group was able to expand their horizons and visit two new locations, the Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple and the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple. 

The day began with an early morning meeting at the Merrill-Cazier Library, where the group discussed the plans for the day. From there, officers and members of the club carpooled down to their first site, the Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple. 

The group started with a self-guided tour around the grounds, before making their way inside the temple for the official tour. 

Andrew Hunting, the president of the interfaith club, attended the trip. 

“They’ve got a number of altars with images and idols for several different Hindu deities and pantheons,” Hunting said. “Each of them have really complex back stories, and they told us all about it.” 

The website of the Sri Ganesha Temple lists the various deities who are worshiped in their temple. Some of these deities include Sri Durga, a protective mother figure of the universe, and Radha Krishna, the god of compassion, love and tenderness.  

The second location the group visited was the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple. They were able to sit in the chapel and ask the staff questions about the Buddhist faith. 

At the third and final location, the Khadeeja Islamic Center, the group attended one of the Islamic prayers and spoke with the mosque’s teachers.  

“It never ceases to amaze me just how willingly people are to talk about their traditions,” Groesbeck said. “Especially in Western culture, where I guess we see religion outside of our own a bit of a taboo.”  

Though the religious sites varied greatly in architecture, practice and beliefs, many uphold similar values. 

“Every place we visited kind of shared a similar sentiment,” Hunting said. “At the end of the day, we’re all just human. We’re all having the same human experience and we’re just trying to make sense of it.” 

According to Hunting, every religious site they visited expressed an understanding that though identities seem to define one another, everyone is still just human. 

“I really believe that we are going to have more and more exposure to people of different belief systems,” Hunting said. “We don’t have the toolset to deal with it the way that we live right now.” 

According to Hunting, society is built in a way that often encourages people to stick with those who are similar to them and to ideas they already agree with. 

“You’re just setting yourself up for hate, for disagreement, for misunderstanding,” Hunting said. “People need to have the chance to connect with people that are just so crazy different from them to see how cool the world is.”