A World of Faith

Introduces the origins and traditions of twenty-eight religious groups, including the Amish, Baptists, and Buddhists.

Greetings from the Interfaith Roundtable of the Salt Lake Olympic Committee

As we prepare to help welcome the world to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, we see an opportunity to increase appreciation of the diversity and beauty of the global human family. Olympic competition brings together people from diverse nations, races and religions. It is a time to celebrate the excellence of the human spirit through its physical manifestations. It is a time of international truce, when people put aside their differences and celebrate the victories of individual striving.

Given the horrific tragedies of September 11, 2001, in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., the subsequent blame and persecution of people of Middle Eastern descent and of the Muslim faith, and the ensuing battles overseas, we feel the message of faith and unity is ever more urgent. Indeed, one potentially divisive issue that has emerged in the 2002 Olympics is that of religion. Some have called these "the Mormon Olympics." It is true that Salt Lake City was founded by Mormons escaping religious persecution, and the city remains the world headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. However, it is a city where, in the year 2001, about 50 percent of the population is not of that faith.

As a sub-committee of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, we have felt a need to acknowledge both the predominant religion of Utah and the many other faiths not only here but around the globe that will be come together for this moment and that otherwise enrich our world culture. Representatives of all faiths were invited to form our roundtable in 1998. Since that time, we have worked together to develop a mission statement and to carry out the goals we set for ourselves. In doing so, we have grown closer as a community in bringing to fruition our objectives. The following are some of our accomplishments.

We invited the community to participate in what we hope to be an annual event of music and blessing called "An Interfaith Tribute to the Human Spirit." We prepared a directory of faith communities and activities during the Olympics to be made available at the airport, hotels, and information booths throughout the city. We have helped arrange for more than 700 host homes for athletes’ families. Together with other groups, we renovated the Fort Douglas Post Chapel, the second oldest military chapel in the nation, built in 1883, as an Interfaith Chapel and center for the Athletes Village on the University of Utah campus. We hope it will remain a permanent fixture of Utah’s pluralistic community long into the future.

With this book, the Interfaith Roundtable hopes to leave another legacy to the world community: increased understanding, appreciation, and respect for the all the world’s religious traditions. The beautiful illustrations and text, as well as the book’s emphasis on the Golden Rule found in all religions, gives a glimpse of the beauty and goodness of the world’s faith communities and should spark a greater desire in readers to pursue more knowledge of world religious and cultural diversity.

The Olympics is a time for those participating to experience the global community in a time of peace. We hope this book will provide the reader with an increased knowledge that will in turn help in building a stronger, more peace-filled society.