Battle Ground Community United Methodist Church Pastor Susan Boegli talks with Islamic Society of Southwest Washington President Shirin Elkoshairi about the specifics of an upcoming panel scheduled at the church for March 23.
Those looking to learn more about Islam will have a chance later this month as the Battle Ground Community United Methodist Church will host a panel and question-and-answer discussion March 23 in order to help demystify the religion.
The event will feature local members of the Islamic community providing a high-level overview of Islamic beliefs before going into a question-and-answer session for the rest of the time. The event came to be through coordination with church pastor Susan Boegli and the Islamic Society of Southwest Washington, a mosque in Hazel Dell.
The decision to have the event was in part spurred by a visit the church’s confirmation class had at the Islamic Society. The group had visited houses of worship for several different religions, part of the confirmation process of letting individuals make a conscious decision about what religion they wish to follow, Methodist or otherwise.
It was the visit to the Islamic Society that drew the most buzz from the church, as Boegli said there were more adults than youth undertaking confirmation for that trip. Initially only planned for 40 minutes, the trip took two-and-a-half hours she added, commenting on the wealth of understanding she gained from the experience.
“I thought, ‘Wow, wouldn’t this be great if we offered it to the whole congregation?’” Boegli remarked, adding that she didn’t stop there and wanted the whole community invited, churchgoers or not.
Shirin Elkoshairi, recently-elected president of the Islamic Society of Southwest Washington, gave a presentation at the church’s visit and will also be speaking at the March 23 event. Boegli said that Elkoshairi’s talk on things such as Sharia Law helped to demystify the belief — initially she believed the law was more punitive and violent, similar to the litany of laws found in the Old Testament that often go ignored, though through Elkoshairi’s presentation, Boegli said the more faithful aspects of Sharia were highlighted.
Born and raised in Virginia by Egyptian parents, Elkoshairi commented on the different times attention was placed on the Muslim community, beginning first in his lifetime with the Iranian Islamic Revolution and especially the September 11 terror attacks in New York.
With the increased media coverage of Islam mostly focused on the more extreme elements, Elkoshairi felt a need to speak up.
“(Islam has) been hijacked by a lot of people and used for nefarious purposes. It doesn’t mean that it itself is wrong,” Elkoshairi said.
Elkoshairi stressed that American Muslims were more concerned with the everyday issues Americans face — getting kids through college, paying bills, etc. — than any sort of cultural takeover of the country.
“We want to take over our car insurance bill because it’s too high,” Elkoshairi remarked.
Ultimately both Boegli and Elkoshairi stressed that building conversation and relationships between religions were their goals to help foster peace among believers of all types.
“It would be really sad not to be on speaking terms with my neighbor because he got his information about me from TV,” Elkoshairi said. In a crisis, he would want to be the first to help out, with distinctions such as religious adherence or political leanings unimportant when it came to neighbors helping neighbors.
Boegli said that through events such as the one March 23, it helps to further the church’s own push to dispel hate and misinformation.
“As we do that one small corner at a time, maybe there can be peace and understanding,” Boegli said. “That’s the goal for us.”
