Jonna Anderson was the lay lead for the service and also acted as moderator of the panel. She asked each of the panelists to respond to several questions. In turn, they explained what their religion is and how they came to practice and believe in it.

Finally, she posed the question, "What main points do you want those who practice other religions to know about yours?"

Marilyn Dillon said there is great misunderstanding in the community about the ancient Wiccan/Pagan religion. The major challenge pagans face is helping people to understand exactly what it means to be a pagan today.

Wikipedia (the online encyclopedia) defines neo-paganism as

"An attempt by modern people to reconnect with nature, pre- Christian religions, or other nature-based spiritual paths. This definition includes such religions as Neo-Druidism and Wicca."

Muslim Yousef  Dmairi responded that his religion has taught him "No matter what I look like, where I came from, how I talk and what language I speak, I am your brother. And no matter who you are, where you came from, how you talk and what language you speak, you are my brothers and sisters." He went on to explain that there are five Pillars of Islam. One of them is Charity. He said that Islam teaches "we must acknowledge that poor people have a right to our money; we must give to the poor and needy since it all belongs to God and God provides for all; we must give to receive."

Yousef also said that he would like all Muslims to "get engaged with (people of) other religions, show them that Islam is a peaceful religion, that we love them and care about them" so that the almost totally negative portrayal of Muslims in the news media can be counterbalanced by personal experience.

As reported in the Longview News-Journal, the Rev. Phil Fenton, senior pastor of First Lutheran Church of Longview, concurred with Yousef and said divisions among people of different faiths allow "irresponsible voices to fill in the gaps. That’s particularly perilous while war continues in the home of the three so-called ‘book faiths,’ Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It scares me for our world. We can’t allow these divisions to exist. Issues are for debating; people are for loving."

Jan Statman, a leader at Temple Emanu-El in Longview

explained that Judaism is built on three major platforms. They are Prayer, Study (of the Torah and the additional books of the Bible; the Talmud; and other religious books), and Good Deeds. All of these are important. With Prayer, one develops a relationship with God. With Study, one develops understanding,

and with Good Deeds, one develops respect for other human beings. Good deeds are considered to be the most important because they satisfy the concept of Tikkun Olam (What is our purpose here on Earth?) The answer: To heal the world. To make this a better place.

Jan used two pithy examples to give us the basic tenets of Judaism. First: During the Roman occupation of Israel, a Roman demanded that Rabbi Hillel describe the teachings of the Torah while standing on one foot. Of course this was impertinent and cruel, but Rabbi Hillel stood on one foot and said: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary."

And second, a line from the Prophet Micah: "What does the Lord require of you? Only to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

Neetin Pandya explained that his faith, Hinduism, is not a religion in the sense that the basic tenets are a given that must be accepted without question. Rather it is a search for truth. "But in order to get to the truth, faith has to lead. We have to say, Okay, my God is great, but so is yours."

We have to trust enough to acknowledge we each have only a partial understanding of the whole truth, and each person’s idea of and relationship to God is unique.

Buddhism, like Hinduism, is a personal search for truth. It is a quest to understand non-dual reality and to live a life of generosity, compassion and non-harming. Durren Anderson, a Buddhist, reiterated the concept expressed by the other panel members, that violence is the antithesis of all the teachings of the world religions.

And then we came to every Unitarian’s favorite part of the program: Talk Back. There were several good questions. Two of the most memorable were Bob Cargill’s and Frank Herbert’s.

Bob: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are called ‘Religions of the Book.’ Jews, Christians, and Muslims generally state that their ‘Book’ is the ‘Word of God’. Upon what authority do you, as a spokesperson for your religion, assert that your ‘Book’ is the ‘Word of God’?

Frank: We often hear a popular slogan in America that connects religion to militarism. As we enter a war, we claim to be fighting "for God and country". Killing for God seems to be a contra- diction to the professed tenets of most, if not all of the religions represented by this panel. How do you explain this link between religion and militarism?