Public Forum Project

 

Overview

The Bridging the Religious Divide Public Forum Project consisted of three meetings held at the Downtown Library, the University of Utah and the Sorenson Multicultural Center.  The project encouraged dialogue as a way to greater understanding of religiously and spiritually diverse people and groups in our community.

Over six hundred people attended the forums while many more listened on the radio or saw broadcasts on Salt Lake City’s Channel SLCTV 17.  People at the forums were asked to speak from personal experience and address two questions:

1.      How do we create a more respectful community?

2.      What is your personal role in that process?

There was diversity in the audience, and contentious issues were raised.  The public forums offered people an opportunity to learn about “the other” and to think about the possibility of finding common ground.

The Bridging the Religious Divide Public Forum Project facilitated a community-wide and community-building conversation.  It was the first part of an initiative that continued with the Bridging the Religious Divide Small Group Project.