Orthodox rising

Visiting St. George Greek Orthodox Church is a full sensory worship experience.

Incense hangs heavy in the air filling your nostrils and clouding your eyes. Icons with pictures of saints and scenes from the Bible remind you of the purpose of this place and engage your mind with their stories. Congregational prayers and chants delight the ears and elicit response from the parishioners. Gestures and postures (crossing oneself, bowing, standing, kneeling) keep the body active and connected with the rhythm of worship.

It's easy to see why people have fallen in love with the worship, and the church has doubled in size in three years. My reporting led me to some fascinating folks, who have really prayed and studied to find this new church home. Jason Foster had even made a career out of their Southern Baptist faith.

Converting to Orthodoxy meant he and his wife had to ask themselves some hard questions and grapple with issues of salvation theology, Mary, the saints, the Eucharist. That's not easy stuff to understand, and it was compounded with negative reactions from some friends who just didn't understand. "They think we worship Mary and worship icons," Ashley said. Of course, neither of those things is true, and they're hard to explain if people don't want to hear it.

The Fosters stay confident because they have studied. They are also thankful for their Protestant upbringing and its high view of Scripture that has informed their belief. Talking to them made me wonder if I would be willing to face that kind of criticism for my faith.

Have you ever faced those sorts of criticisms? How do you handle it?

Photo: Sunday liturgy at St. George. Shane Bevel/The Times

Pagan Pride Day grows

This year's Pagan Pride Day will have a bit of a somber tone, as the community remembers remember Ken VanLieu, an active member who died this year.

His wife, Trixie Davis, an organizer of the event said he always dreamed of having a Pagan event for Shreveport-Bossier City. He attended several events selling silver jewelry that he made, and he wanted a similar event here to better educate the public about Paganism.

VanLieu would probably be pleased. About 500 people are expected to attend this years event to be held this weekend. Davis particularly encouraged non-Pagans to come and learn and correct any misconceptions they might have.

Several speakers will address various aspects of the religion. And they also hope to highlight the family side of the religion with a baby blessing ceremony on Saturday.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport.

Re-educating the masses

What would you call someone who believes Jesus was born of a virgin, ascended into heaven and will return on Judgement Day?

A Christian? Yes, but you could also call him or her a Muslim.

These similarities are part of the reason Abderazak Benyahia was so dismayed at the graffiti that defaced the outside walls of the Islamic Association of Arabi Tuesday. A little, white house on Youree Drive, the mosque is usually quiet except at prayer times, when the members -- among them doctors, business owners and engineers -- gather to share in worship of God.

To Benyahia, a former Algerian diplomat, the incident is a way to teach people about Islam. He has seen war, chose to leave his homeland in part to find peace. "I prefer to explain my cause."
He is also adamant that Islam does not endorse violence of any kind, and that according to the Quran, killing one man is like killing all of humanity.

He reminded me that Christians and Muslims look to the same set of holy men for inspiration: Abraham, Moses, Jesus. They add Muhammad, who they see as just a man who was particularly blessed to be the messenger of God.

Thankfully, he said he has never experienced any direct threats or intimidation because of his faith. I believe folks here are mostly good people, who have a great deal of respect for anyone's faith. I hope more of them step forward after this incident.