Jewish, Christian & Muslim Followers Join for Cross Cultural Project

By Alison St John / Reporter, Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published October 1, 2007 at 5:50 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

A group of San Diegans who belong to churches, synagogues and mosques around the region are working together on a project they believe will inspire more cross cultural understanding. The Abraham's Pat

A group of San Diegans who belong to churches, synagogues and mosques around the region are working together on a project they believe will inspire more cross cultural understanding. The Abraham's Path Initiative, launched by Harvard University, is bringing different denominations together to focus on what they have in common, rather than what divides them. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The Abraham's Path Initiative is based on the idea that understanding grows one step at a time, and that walking in the footsteps of Abraham is a way to reconnect to roots shared by three of the world's major religions.

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At a meeting to introduce the idea to San Diego, Reverend Kathy Hearn quoted from Bruce Feiler, whose books "Abraham" and "Walking the Bible" inspired the project. Fieler's theme is that Abraham is the shared ancestor of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Hearn: He is the father, purportedly the biological father, of 12 million Jews, 2 billion Christians and one billion Muslims. Half of the people alive claim to be descended from him.

Feiler argues that Abraham is the center piece, the key to resolving the battle between the west and Islamic extremists.

Tom Zender was part of an expedition to the Middle East to explore sections of the path that Abraham walked, starting in Harran Turkey and ending at Abraham's tomb in Hebron in the West Bank .

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Zender: Harvard has begun the process of mapping what is believed to be the true path of Abraham, much of it in very remote rocky areas.

Zsender says Harvard is using GPS technology, scripture, historical accounts and stories from local people who have passed down by word of mouth where Abraham is said to have walked.

Zender: As it turns out today every one of the counties – Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Palestine West Bank and Israel have begun signing on to this program because they realize the value of it from many different perspectives.

But walking Abraham's path isn't just happening in the Middle East. Congregations in Cincinnati, Austin, Atlanta and Santa Barbara have set off walking through their own neighborhoods, linking churches, synagogues and mosques,

As they travel they are praying together and sharing music from each other's traditions.

The Reverend Wendy Craig of the Unity Church is spearheading the local initiative in San Diego.

Craig: To help people here to build bridges of understanding and by having a walk and bringing comities from the Jewish tradition, the Islamic tradition, the Christian tradition would say an awful lot.

A group is forming to map out a route in San Diego, and by putting one foot in front of the other, the walkers aim to eliminate the distance that has grown up between the three faiths.

Alison St John KPBS News.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.

Alison St John

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