Bob Higgins will be the first to admit there is a lot about a lot of religions that he doesn’t understand.
But there is one thing that he believes is true with the majority of people, regardless of their religious belief: They all are looking for the same thing.
“Really, what we are all striving for, and what we’ve had less success getting, is the ultimate thing, which is peace,” Higgins said.
I was sitting with Higgins and Craig Tally in Tally’s office Tuesday morning. Tally is the pastor of First Community Church, 2007 E. 15th St. in Joplin. The three of us were talking about religion.
This may come as a shock to some of you, but I don’t usually sit around and talk about religion. I come from the sort of Catholics who tend to keep their views to themselves. Most of the folks I was raised around pretty much figured people’s religion was their own business.
Nowadays, it seems as if a person’s religion is everybody’s business. And not in the “Oh, how interesting” sort of way. Nope. Today, it seems, there are people out there who want to use a person’s religion as a way to demonize that person. As a way to cast some sort of distrust or, in extreme cases, to promote fear.
“Fear is a strong motivator,” Tally said. “And there are always going to be people who want to exploit that fear for personal gain.”
That sort of thing troubles Higgins and Tally. They also are troubled by the fact that when it comes to religion, it seems that the squeaky wheel tends to get the grease. The extremist, the occasional nut case, in any religion somehow seems to define an entire faith when, in almost all cases, the opposite is true.
“It’s time for the middle-of-the-road Christian, the middle-of-the-road Hindu or the middle-of-the-road Muslim to start speaking up,” Tally said.
To that end, Higgins and Tally tonight will kick off a series of gatherings that are designed to increase awareness of and understanding about the various faiths being practiced in the Joplin area. Tonight’s meeting will serve as an overview of the next seven meetings and will be led by Kent Farnsworth. Next week’s session will be led by a member of Joplin’s Jewish community. Sessions on Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Confucianism and Shintoism will follow.
I would like to think that Higgins knows a few things about Joplin. The former Joplin postmaster was born and reared in Joplin, and he has seen the town go through several changes. One of the changes that Higgins has noticed in the past 20 or 30 years is the way Joplin’s religious landscape has changed. The way it has expanded, and the way it has become richly diverse. Higgins credits Joplin’s large medical community and Missouri Southern State University, in part, for the area’s religious diversity.
Higgins hopes that having people of different faiths and beliefs get together and chat a bit about not only their religion, but their lives and personal experiences will foster a better understanding.
“Sometimes, there is so much misinformation that forms barriers, and it’s hard to get past those barriers,” Higgins said.
During our discussion, we talked about the misinformation that was spread about John F. Kennedy during the 1960 presidential campaign. Tally remembered hearing stories in high school that suggested that Kennedy, who was Catholic, would take his marching orders from the pope if he were to become the president.
We talked about how far the country’s attitude toward Catholics and Catholicism has come in the past 50 years. We agreed that happened because most of the misinformation has been dealt with and the barriers have been knocked down.
In the coming weeks, Higgins and Tally, I think, are hoping to knock down some more barriers.
The Wednesday night meetings at First Community Church are free. Each gathering will begin with a fellowship meeting at 5:30 p.m. Each session will get under way at 6 p.m. and wrap up by 6:45 p.m.
For more information about the meetings, people may call the church at 417-781-1800.
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