Community Conversations: Religion: Belief, Faith & Misconception

Believers from various faith and non‐believer communities examined the prevailing misconceptions of their respective religions or belief systems. This panel was not intended to function as a debate on the existence of God, or an invidious comparison of respective faith or belief communities. Moreover, to ensure each panelist enjoyed sufficient time to share a substantive and meaningful presentation, the panel format did not attempt to assemble a comprehensive representation of world religions and beliefs. Consequently, the absence of a particular religion was not interpreted as a value judgment, but rather a recognition of the personal and professional connections between the organizers of the event and specific members of the local communities. The panel discussion included: Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, the Bahá’í Faith and Atheism.


Community Conversations is an academic program that is one of the Living Learning Initiatives of University Housing in partnership with the Clark Honors College, the Oregon Humanities Center, and Undergraduate Studies. The goal of Community Conversations is to stimulate intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, contrarian debate, and articulate discourse among the 3,300+ residential students at the University of Oregon.

Download this video