On Thursday, October 27, 2011, the Institute of Interfaith Dialogue (IID) hosted the bi-annual "Dinner of Abrahamic Traditions." Among participants were members of the Lubbock community as well as national and international communities. The total participation was around 50 participants.
We are thankful for the attendance and participation of all of our guests, Pastor Barry Stephens, Dr.Howard Curzer and Imam of Houston Blue Mosque, Mustafa Yigit.

This special event first featured lectures on the topic "The Common Ethical Imperatives" by leaders of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths, followed by an interactive "question and answer" session with the audience.

Mr. Atilla Hafizoǧlu, Lubbock representative of the Institute of Interfaith Dialog made the Welcome speech and  described the mission of the institute, to promote mutual understanding among different cultures and religions, and described how the activities of the institute, including sponsoring intercultural trips to Turkey, had already had a big impact on the city of Lubbock. He expressed a hope that, through events like this, peace and harmony could be promoted.
 Dr.Howard Curzer stated that to be successful, an interfaith group must go beyond warm, fuzzy remarks. We need to engage in shared activities building on common starting points such as, Common starting point: shared Bible stories, Shared activity: extracting a moral from Bible study, scriptural interpretation.
Barry Stephens mentioned that In that kind of world, there is an incredible need to engage in conversation and interaction with one another – because we do share so much in common.  And I think the words at the heart of tonight’s dinner – words like conversation, peace, harmony, and love – are at the heart of the common ethical imperatives we share.
Houston Blue Mosque Imam, Mustafa Yigit spoke on So today’s topic is "Ethical imperatives " or "Moral Values" and how Islam approaches to those moral values. And there are many of those moral values that come from these two sources. Those are mentioned in many of the verses and in the life of the Messenger PBUH. I can list many: Honesty, respect, Mercy, forgiveness, Love, Hospitality and many others.
Just one of those, let me start with honesty, just as an example. In one of the verses, God Almighty says: “Oh you who believe; be conscious of God and be with those who are true in word and in deeds.” You can find many verses that teach the importance of honesty and this is an obligation on each and every Muslim, along with other obligations. But at the same time, Islam puts a lot of emphasis on social relations and social justice; again we can find many verses that deal with social harmony, the relationship between human beings, the relationship between believers, the relationship between Muslims and others, the people of the book and they are explicitly stated in many of the verses.
Following the lecture session, all guest joined together and enjoyed dinner and dialog with one another. IID looks forward to hosting our next "Dinner of Abrahamic Traditions" in Spring 2012 and continuing our goal of increasing interfaith dialog in the community.