The 80 or so religious student groups on the U of T campus may not always get along with each other, but there was at least one thing on Monday they could share: a free lunch.

“I cannot begin to tell you how exciting it is to see you all here this afternoon,” said Geoff Wichert, coordinator of the Campus Chaplains Association (CCA). “Today we are here to meet each other face-to-face, perhaps for the first time.”

The 50-plus representatives of student religious groups met for lunch in the Hart House Music room to discuss their role as faith organizations within a secular institution like U of T.

“We want to be respected, integrated, and accepted here,” said Wichert.

The discussion was intended to find common ground that the groups could work within to promote themselves on campus and advocate for all the faith organizations on campus.

Of course, everyone knew that their groups don’t always get along.

“I suspect that some of our feelings are mixed about diversity,” said Wichert in his opening remarks. “We want the freedom to practice our own religions, but also realizing that that freedom must be extended to others as well.”

At Table 3, Saira Bhojani of the Ismaili Student Association and Shaun Abbas of the Thanqalayn Muslim Assocation were trying to explain the difference between their closely-related faiths to the non-muslims at the table.

“It’s difficult to explain without a diagram,” said Abbas.

“We share many beliefs in common, but the difference is in how they are materialized,” Bhojani added.

The relation of fundamentalist Islam to other religions was discussedÑdelicately. Regarding the ongoing “War on Terror,” Abbas stressed the need for unity.

“In the wake of what’s going on,” he said, “it’s important that we get together to understand each other’s faith.”

At Table 4, they were talking about their role in a secular university.

“In such a secular society,” said Elenna Mossoff, of the Hillel Jewish Students’ Union, “religious groups provide asylum to people who want something familiar around them. Going towards a group where their own faith is practiced is comforting for them.”

David Elliot of the Compass Catholic Fellowship agreed.

“We see our faith group as an island of humanity in a sea of despair,” he said.

Laney Marshall of Hart House said that as a secular organization itself, Hart House avoids the divisive fights that religious groups often have: “There aren’t that many wars fought over music,” she said.

“Except Led Zepplin and AC/DC,” said Nouman Ashraf of Student Affairs.

Ghan Chee, a Buddhist from the Mindfulness Practice Community, was pleased with the discussion.

“At our table we had a Sufi, an Ecumenical, two Buddhists, Korean Christians, and a Catholic,” she said. “Buddhism is very inclusive-that’s why I’m interested.”

The whole event was, in a word, polite.

“Politeness is a good starting point,” said Wichert. “Once we have a good basis we can get to the more difficult issues. I wouldn’t want a multifaith initiative to be solely about difference.”