![\"9th](\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/24-0619-s2p-IRTPJ-800x600.jpg\")
Photo caption: 9th Annual Institute for Religious Tolerance, Peace and Justice March in Los Angeles on June 2, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n
Marchers gathered at St. Basil Catholic for a rally before taking off down Wilshire Blvd. to promote their cause. \u201cStep outside your comfort zone,\u201d was the challenge delivered by IRTPJ board member Mohammed Khan. He urged those marching to seek out and walk with someone they didn\u2019t already know \u2014 someone of another faith than their own \u2014 and to learn something about<\/em> that person and from<\/em> that person: What they are concerned about, what is important to them. That is the best way to break down walls and gain understanding, he said.<\/p>\n As in other marches, a megaphone-wielding leader urged those participating to shout slogans. But in this march, the message was one of uniting, not protest, with the purpose of encouraging all Angelenos to work together for peace.<\/p>\n Understanding among diverse communities is particularly important when there are false narratives in circulation. Aziza Hasan, Executive Director of New Ground: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change, spoke of just how insidious false information can be. She shared her story of the intense backlash she and other Muslims experienced after the terrorist attacks of 9\/11.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Americans and Muslims, we were upset and grieving along with everyone else,\u201d she said, but because of their faith and ethnicity, Muslims became the target. She described how her interfaith colleagues \u201cmade a human chain around us…they were there for us when it mattered.\u201d They demanded people treat Muslim Americans with respect. The support she received from people of various faiths bolstered her and affirmed the importance of the interfaith movement.<\/p>\n At the end of the march, Father Alexei Smith, Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, moderated a panel discussion on the crisis in Gaza and Israel.<\/p>\n Fr. Smith explained why he is not working for \u201ctolerance.\u201d Tolerance implies putting up with someone or something. \u201cWe\u2019re certainly much beyond merely putting up<\/em> with other religions,\u201d he said \u201cand we should allow ourselves to be open<\/em> to other faiths. Allow them to nurture us as we nurture and encourage them.\u201d<\/p>\n Although no consensus was reached with the panel discussion, Fr. Smith was not discouraged. \u201cWe don\u2019t always agree. But we must not let our disagreements prevent us from working together for the greater good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Los Angeles Interfaith March for Peace and Justice coalition is the largest coalition of interfaith marches in the world. The Institute for Religious Tolerance, Peace, and Justice serves as the coalition\u2019s international lead. Dr. Greenburg\u2019s mission for the march is \u201cto promote religious tolerance, interfaith dialogue, and education about religions of the world as a pathway to world peace.\u201d<\/p>\n That message may be more relevant today than ever before.<\/p>\n From its beginnings, the Church of Scientology has recognized that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. In a world where conflicts are often traceable to intolerance of others\u2019 religious beliefs and practices, the Church has, for more than 70 years, made the preservation of religious liberty an overriding concern.<\/p>\n The Church publishes its religious freedom blog<\/a> to help create a better understanding of the freedom of religion and belief and provide news on religious freedom and issues affecting this freedom around the world.<\/p>\n The Founder of the Scientology religion is L. Ron Hubbard<\/a> and Mr. David Miscavige<\/a> is the religion\u2019s ecclesiastical leader.<\/p>\n For more information, visit the Scientology website<\/a> or Scientology Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n LEARN MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.scientologynews.org\/press-releases\/<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.scientologyreligion.org\/religious-freedom\/<\/a><\/p>\n VIDEO:<\/strong><\/p>\n https:\/\/youtu.be\/YFDBLZl_9xw?si=YZLxuOo1FpUzgqhc<\/a><\/p>\n
![https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/24-0619-s2p-IRTPJ-300dpi.jpg<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto caption: 9th Annual Institute for Religious Tolerance, Peace and Justice March in Los Angeles on June 2, 2024.<\/p>\nTAGS: #DrArikGreenburg #ReligiousFreedomMarch #IRTPJ #InstituteforReligiousTolerancePeaceAndJustice #ChurchOfScientology<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES, Calif., June 19, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Muslims, Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, Scientologists, and members of other faiths and beliefs or none affirmed their commitment to interfaith dialogue in June at the 9th Annual Interfaith Solidarity March in Los Angeles. Rev. Olivia McDuff of the Church of Scientology International, who served as master of ceremonies, acknowledged Dr. Greenburg for his commitment to bringing the Los Angeles interfaith community together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8949,"featured_media":119175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[608,12804,10,187],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion-news","category-ap","category-california-news","category-los-angeles-news","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":2871,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8949"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/24-0619-s2p-IRTPJ-300dpi.jpg\"){kind=link}