World Religion Day offers spiritual party BY JANE BOKUN, Shreveport Times

World Religion Day will be held Jan. 23 at The Highland Center. As a treat for many locals, keynote speaker will be neurosurgeon Dr. Anil Nanda.

Nanda will represent the Hindu faith.

"I don't think faith is something you wear on your arm," Nanda said. "Thomas Jefferson said faith is how you treat other people."

Each year at World Religion Day there are upwards of 17 different religions represented along with educational services about the different religions.

The event is held to foster world peace, harmony and understanding.

Presentations at the free event will include music, art, cultural foods and displays with various religious pamphlets, books, pictures, statues and posters.

World religions such as Hinduism, Eckankar, Wiccans, Catholicism, Judaism and more will be displayed. Last year there were three panel discussions that included the topics of faith and sexuality.

For this year, Nanda said, it is important to start a discussion about religion.

"There is so much discord because of religion. We need to have an interfaith dialogue and we need compassion in how we deal with people and understanding."

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