“Ghosts, Goblins and the Great Beyond” Interfaith Forum on Life After Life

In the spirit of the season of Halloween and to use the interest in the “Other World,” we worked with other groups on campus to sponsor an Interfaith Forum of the Afterlife. We worked with the Muslim Student Association, Indian Student Association, CARP and Unification Campus Ministry to bring almost 50 people to the event. As everyone gathered one could see different faiths were represented.

Rev. Greg Breland, the Unification Campus Minister at UB, served as MC and shared his own experience with the spirit world when he joined the Unification Church while a graduate student at Georgia Tech.

The first panelist was Mr. Zain Seyal of the Muslim Youth of CT who explained that 70% of the Koran dealt with the spirit world. He emphasized that paradise awaits those Muslims who live a good and righteous life. That the reward is greater than anything we could experience here on earth. He stated there is a misconception that Muslims worship the graves of their ancestors.

Next Rev. Glenn Pettway of Friendship Baptist Church in Stratford explained that in Christianity Adam and Eve’s sin separated them from God and the Spirit World. It is God’s plan to reconnect God to man through Christ.

Mr. Thiru Raman of the Mandir Hindu Temple in Wilton, CT then spoke on Hinduism. Explaining that souls are recycled from one body to the next and their belief in reincarnation. He also touched on Karma and how we act now will have affect us later.

Lastly, Mrs. Nora Spurgin of the Family Church of CT, presented the Unification view of spirit world. She explained that our spirits grow while we are on earth in conjunction with the good deeds we do. This will determine the level we reach in the Afterlife, which is a world of love. She mentioned that angels were spiritual entities created by God without physical bodies and are here to help us.

The panel presentations were followed by a Question and Answer Period. Once question was can Prophet Mohamed grant us access to the Paradise. Zain explained that our place in heaven is determined by our deeds on earth. Another question dealt with our inability to communicate with the spirit world. Mrs. Spurgin opined that until our world is made orderly and loving, since the spirit world reflects the physical world, it is probably best that we don’t have open, frequent communication with the other side.

In the spirit of Halloween and to lighten everyone’s mood, we had a guest appearance of the Grim Reaper (Kent Hoffman). Just in case anyone wanted to get the inside scoop on when they could expect to be checking out! All done with an attitude of good fun.

The program ended with Refreshment and discussion on the assigned topic, “Have you ever had a spiritual experience?”

Comments were the program was well received and good to see different faiths coming together to understand and appreciate each other. Special thanks to all the CARP members who served as staff, Ricky de Sena, Danny da Silva, Sungkeel Yamada and Iasmin Lumibao.

Submitted by Greg Breland, UB Unification Campus Ministry