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News

'True innovator' acknowledged for interfaith dialogue

Mitchell enjoys teaching students to be more 
tolerant of religious diversity

by KHYATI PATEL
The Daily Cougar

The first Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Awards Ceremony was held Wednesday at the Marriot Galleria to honor a UH professor for his work in religious studies and social tolerance. 

Lynn Mitchell, director and founder of the Religious Studies Program at UH was awarded the Outstanding Gulen Award, the most prestigious award given to any of the honorees. The Gulen award is given to those who spread interfaith dialogue locally and nationally and has been in existence for more than 30 years.

"I enjoy teaching the different prejudices brought upon from some cultures and to clarify the stereotypes," Mitchell said.

Mitchell has been a religious enthusiast for many years. As an ordained minister of the Church of Christ for 50 years, he has taught many classes in which his students' beliefs oppose one another. His goal is to teach students to be more tolerant of cultures and faiths that differ from their own.

From Christians to atheists and Jews to agnostics, Mitchell teaches a diverse group of students at UH. Through his teachings, he has created a broader perspective and clarity that invigorates a person's mind from religious oppression, said Guinn Blackwell-Eagleson, president of the Interfaith Ministries at UH and master of ceremonies. 

The Gulen Award Mitchell received is named after an Islamic scholar, M. Fethullah Gulen, a famous Islamic preacher most active in the 1950s. Gulen was devoted to religious peace and solving religious conflicts faced by people today.

"At a time when humanity is in desperate need of leaders and role models, we find a true innovator and an inspirational leader as well as a deeply good man in M. Fethullah Gulen," Blackwell-Eagleson said.

The Annual Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Awards of Community Service Award was given to The Connection at Houston PBS, an affiliate of UH. Through discussing local religious events on television on Channel 8, The Connection explored the commonalities and differences of religions while respecting others' beliefs. The Connection airs weekly at 8 p.m.

The University also has an Interfaith Dialogue Student Association will meet every Wednesday beginning in February to discuss the problems facing various religions.
 

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