“Our goal is to highlight assumptions and biases guests may have,” said Syed. “If guests will attend the program with their preconceived notions about various religions and leave with a better understanding of where those notions arrived from and how the media plays a role in shaping those narratives, I believe we would be successful.”
Religions represented on the panel will include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baha’i and Buddhism. Noted panelists will include Yair Walton, student rabbi for the United Hebrew Congregation, Brad Selby representing the Buddhist viewpoint, Shahin Mayfield speaking for the Baha’i community and Faizan Syed, executive director of CAIR-Missouri, representing Islam.