Panel forum addresses ‘Faith in the Face of Disaster’

This article highlights Sig Eps doing things you would not nomally expect a group of "Frat Boys" to do. That is, of course, beause they are Fraternty Men. An earlier post about the forum is here.

Representatives from faiths ranging from Baptist to Lakota Indian gathered for a panel discussion of religious faith’s role in natural and human affairs last Thursday in the Watkins Auditorium. “Faith in the Face of Disaster” was sponsored by the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
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Luther Mercer, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, moderated the event. Panelists discussed how their faiths deal with tragedy. Panelists included Dr. Tahira Arshed, a Muslim; Richard Saunders, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Michael Riley, a Buddhist; Brendan Sweetman, a member of the Maori tribe of New Zealand; J.J. Kent, a Lakota Indian and Jane Ogg, a Baptist representing the evangelical Christian faiths.

Mercer opened the discussion by asking panelists why a loving creator would allow disaster to happen. Arshed, who is also a UTM physics instructor, said that the tsunami disaster is a natural phenomenon, a result of the system God set up, not a result of God’s anger. “The world works in natural laws,” Arshed said. “But that does not prevent us from helping others. (Disasters) are considered a trial or test.”
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Sigma Phi Epsilon Vice President of Member Development Kevin Teets said he and Multicultural Affairs director Luther Mercer were “very pleased” with the forum. “There were many more people who attended than we expected, and all those who attended were educated and informed about the faiths represented in society,” Teets said.

Panel forum addresses ‘Faith in the Face of Disaster’