The question surrounding the existence of god and human suffering was posed at the World Religions Conference in Kelowna, B.C., as people of all faiths came to share their answers.
The 11th annual conference, held Monday evening, welcomed those of all religious backgrounds for an open dialogue on spirituality.
“We want to bring all religions together and speak about the same teachings because we believe all religions came from one god, it has to be the same message,” said Imam Shakoor Ahmad.
The conference was held last year in Vernon and they returned to the Okanagan once again this year, welcoming people from the community and across the world to discuss the existence of god and human suffering.
“We’ve been going to different cities even Whitehorse, Yukon. We’ve found we have so many commonalities, let’s discuss that, let’s have something in common,” said Rizwan Peerzada, Ahmadiyya Muslim president
“Let’s bring such an atmosphere then there is love and passion for each other rather than hatred.”
The conference featured a moderator from the Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society, who shared her Indigenous experience surrounding religion.
“At the same time as an Elder as well because of past experiences with colonialism and everything. I’m just learning more in-depth about our Indigenous spirituality,” said moderator, Freda Mclean.
The idea of this meeting was to not only discuss the existence of god but to also show how inclusive religion can be no matter where you’re from.
“We want to remove the differences between us and educate ourselves from each other, learn from each other and then we can have a prosperous and peaceful community,” said Ahmad.
The event also featured a question-and-answer period for speakers to share insight into their faith.