SMU’s Veritas Forum questions God

by Mallory McCall of The Daily Mustang

Students, professors and Dallas community members filled the Hughes-Trigg Theater Tuesday for SMU’s first-annual Veritas Forum.

Chairs squeaked as the restless audience waited for what could possibly be life-changing statements of either blasphemy or salvation. The room was heavy with curiosity and anxiousness.

Five men lined the stage, each representing a different religion. The moderator, Dr. Robert Hunt from SMU Perkins School of Theology, then asked each panelist, four sensitive questions:

What does it mean to be human? What is the nature of God? How can we know God? How does knowing God make a difference in one’s life?

Rabbi Howard Wolk from Jewish Family Services, Dr. James Denison from Park Cities Baptist Church, Imam Zia-ul-Haq Shaikh from the Islamic Center of Irving, Pandit Mahendra Persad from North Texas Hindu Mandir and Eddie Mowrer, a Buddhist from Dallas-Soka Gakkai, shared their perspectives on some of life’s hardest questions in regards to religion.

After each panelist shared a brief synopsis of his faith, the floor was opened to questions.

Without hesitation, students filed behind the open mics to ask questions about free will, the role of women in religion, the legitimacy of Jesus Christ and the omniscience and existence of God.

“I don’t think anyone got concrete answers,” said freshman Alex Vernon, who was frustrated with the incompleteness of the question-and-answer session. “I didn’t hear anything I didn’t already know.”

The audience’s questions were cut short because of time. The students and community members still in line were sent back to their seats disappointed.

Although the open mic allowed for crowd interaction, some students were content with the inter-religious panel discussion.

“The forum portion is most important because it actually gets discussion started”, said sophomore Jordan Chlapecka, who said there is an overall lack of academic conversation on campus.

“It’s really cool to see SMU engaging in a conversation that will hopefully last beyond Tuesday and Wednesday night,” said senior David Fultz, who spearheaded the event. “It’s time we really start talking about things that matter.”

The Veritas Forum is not over yet. The forum continues Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in Hughes-Trigg Theater with Christian writer and social scientist Os Guinness. Follow-up groups are also in the works, and a Facebook group– “Veritas Forum-SMU”– will continue the faith-based discussions online.