Religious Community Offers Support in Wake of Tragedy

Religious leaders said that it is common for people to turn to religion during crises and that they saw a variety of reactions among students after tragedy struck.

"Devastated by what they saw unraveling on television, people came to the church and stood crying with each other," said Stephen Stanley, associate for the Episcopal Campus Ministry at Chapel of the Cross.

Or Mars, executive director of N.C. Hillel, noticed students' desire to be surrounded by other religious peers.

"We found people hanging around the building in the days and weeks following the attacks because they found themselves wanting to be around students in an environment of comfort," Mars said.

To help people cope with the tragedy, religious groups responded with supportive measures.

ECM set up a television in the Campus Center to allow students to monitor the events on the news and paused every 15 minutes to hold a prayer vigil.

Other student groups quickly employed similar measures. N.C. Hillel held a special memorial service that incorporated readings and prayers directed toward times of tragedy. And 600 people attended a special mass at the Newman Center, the campus's Catholic parish.

Phillip Leach, pastor and campus minister for Newman, said the center employed the use of technology to counsel students.

"We designed a special part of our Web page to include prayers, passages and songs dealing with the tragedy," he said. "By using their computers, students had the opportunity to connect spiritually from their dorm rooms."

Bashar Staitieh, president of the Muslim Students Association, said the MSA's first objective was to have a representative speaker at the campuswide vigil Sept. 12. In the following weeks, members set up a table in the Pit to educate students about Islam and answer questions.

Religious leaders say turning to religion in times of tragedy is a popular and necessary step.

Jan Rivero, campus minister at the Wesley Foundation, said that in the midst of tragedy, people like to be reassured there is a divine presence.

"By turning to God, humans turn to the basis of their beings. It is important to reconnect to our strongest ties -- God, family and friends," she said.

Caroline Walters, a junior psychology major, said that although she considered herself a Christian, she wasn't religious until the terrorist attacks. "After the attacks, I knew there had to be someone big out there,"she said. "It was a relief to have the support of the religious community at a time of serious tragedy."

But not all students became more religious after Sept. 11. "It is important to get support during crises like this, but I don't think that it necessarily has to come from a church," said Mary Harris, a sophomore English major. "I've never been very religious, and if anything, Sept. 11 made me question religion even more."

Junior Ben Milam, a member of Presbyterian Campus Ministry, said the church community was challenged after Sept. 11.

"In a lot of ways I think the difficulty the church was faced with was how to respond to tragedy in a Christian way -- how to affirm the need for justice without the need for vengeance while also helping people deal with the tragedy," he said.

In the face of such challenges, the religious community must unite and "lean on each other," said Mindy Douglas Adams, associate pastor at University Presbyterian Church.

"We must rely on a sense of community," she said. "And as individuals, we are now thinking about religion more globally, beyond our particular congregations and denominations."

Although the MSA had previously arranged exchanges with other campus religious groups, after Sept. 11 it increased its inter-faith programs. "We had a lot of groups contact us -- it was remarkable," Staitieh said. "We were quickly invited to work with many different organizations."

Mars also said the terrorist attacks brought together people and groups of all faiths. "While it is important to focus on our own religions at times of tragedy, it is crucial that we work together as a large community of people," he said. "September 11 happened to all Americans."

Recognizing the importance of addressing issues of faith, UNC's Department of Religious Studies has worked to accommodate students' new interests.

Carl Ernst, a UNC religious studies professor, has observed a considerably higher rate of students enrolling in religion courses, particularly those focusing on Islam. "There is a huge demand at all levels of society for more knowledge about cultures of the Middle East," Ernst said.

Professor Laurie Maffly-Kipp said the increase in students' desire to take religious studies courses is because of their new realizations of religion's importance.

"September 11 allowed people to recognize that religion isn't just something you study -- it's a matter of life and death."

The Features Editor can be reached at features@unc.edu.