Jain Spirit 2004 10 No 20

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 72

70 INTER-FAITH
FAITH UNITED
SIMON COHEN EXPLAINS HOW TOLERANCE CAN BE LIVED WITHOUT ANY NEED FOR SPEECHES OR SERMONS
You know when a moment is magic, when the very thought of it makes you laugh or cry. It is a moment of such unbridled emotion that it etches itself into your memory for evermore. An under-12 football match in North West London may seem an unlikely setting for such an instant, but for me the memories of that cold winter morning in '89 still warm the cockles of my heart. It was the stuff that inter-faith dreams are made of. "Ali the Muslim passes to Sanders the Christian. He nonchalantly flicks it to Cohen the Jew, who plays a one-two with Wong the Buddhist, and unleashes a superb shot into the top left corner of the net to win the game. A pre-pubescent shrill of jubilation echoes across the capital, and Cohen is crowned hero of CLS F.C." As a cocky schoolboy with a penchant for the limelight, I was more interested in basking in goalscoring glory than reflecting on the theological views of my team-mates. After all, we were there to play not to pray. In hindsight, however, I realised that the magic of that day transcended the sublime move or the sweet finish. That football match had unwittingly played a key role in forming my early attitudes towards people of different faiths and how to relate to them. Children's early experiences of interacting with people of different religions are central to the formation of their attitudes about faith and diversity. With adolescence comes the cognitive ability to reflect and interpret, and so does the development of religious identities and beliefs. Their opinions are no longer a regurgitation of their parents' or teachers' views, but the product of their own experiences. If children have positive early inter-faith encounters, they become partially protected against the preconceptions and stereotypes they may encounter later on in adolescence and adulthood. No one could convince me that my team-mates were somehow not on my side because they belonged to different religions. The game bound us like brothers. We were Inter-Faith United.
Every football fan in the world
can empathise with the trials and tribulations of supporting
his or her
As well as binding teams, football also has the potential to bring together the supporters on the sidelines. Frustration, elation, despair and delight, these shared emotions have the power to unite. Fritz Williams said, "Suffering and joy teach us, if we allow them, how to make the leap of empathy, which transports us into the soul and heart of another person. In those transparent moments we know each other's joys and sorrows, and we care about their concerns as if they were our own." Inter-faith relations suffer largely because people are indifferent to making the leap of empathy with people of different religious faiths. Every football fan in the world can empathise with the trials and tribulations of supporting his or her favourite club. This empathy may be on a human level and not a theological one, but these shared experiences and emotions are powerful means of bringing together the diverse religious faiths in our society. In Nigeria, for example, a country blighted by religious differences and ethnic clashes, the whole country came together to support their football team. Their former coach, Paul Hamilton said of the fans, "When the victory they hope for comes they are united, as if they were from the same womb." Football can transcend all racial, ethnic, social, gender and religious barriers. In fact, every team sport has the intrinsic ability to cultivate tolerance in society. As David Wolff, London F.A. Vice
favourite club