What is sacred? Respecting the spiritual beliefs and commitments of others

When 15-year-old Angela and her family first moved to Utah three years ago, she understood that she would be living among many people who had different religious beliefs than her own.

"It will be an adventure," her father told her.

And it was — a very pleasant one, for the most part. She quickly found friends with whom she had a great deal in common — religious differences notwithstanding — and she quickly began to fit in with a large and active social circle.

When Angela turned 16 her parents gave her a beautiful, simple cross on a delicate gold chain as a symbol of her faith in Jesus Christ and her commitment to Christian living. She proudly wore it to school the next day and was anxious to show it to her new-found friends.

Their reaction wasn't exactly what she was expecting.

"Oh … that's … nice," her closest friend stammered, then turned quickly away.

"In my church we don't believe in wearing crosses," another friend said flatly.

"If your big brother was shot and killed, would you wear the bullet around your neck?" another girl asked.

By the end of the day, Angela felt embarrassed and alienated.

"I understand that different people believe different things," she said to her parents that night. "But nobody asked me about what I believe, or why the necklace means so much to me. It was like I was supposed to feel bad for wearing something that reminds me of my faith."

Angela isn't alone in that feeling of interfaith frustration. Although contemporary society generally embraces the notion of religious freedom and tolerance, there is an undercurrent of mistrust and even animosity that seems to emerge whenever significant differences in religious belief, tradition, policy or style present themselves. And if you try to explain those differences using words like "sacred" or "holy," prepare to be challenged, questioned, joked about and teased.

"The world today is shifting more and more and more to a selfish and godless belief system," said Rabbi Benny Zippel, executive director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Utah, an organization for orthodox Jews. "And so the notion of something being sacred is challenging in a world that has shifted more to seeking godless pursuits."

Colleen E. Gudreau, director of communications for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, agreed that "we live in a society that values the material: that which can be measured, analyzed, dissected and reassembled."