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Figure 6. Outline of My Pluralism Presentation Warped (own photo)

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The image is heavily warped to represent my initial discomfort and anxieties about entering a faith-based space. Growing up in my hometown, places based on faith never felt welcoming to outsiders. I was worried I would not relax and be tense during my placement. I was also concerned that I would feel like an intruder in the space.

To describe this experience, I will quote Winter,

“We know who we are only by reference to who we are not”

(2011, p. 60).

This quote relates to how I distinctly viewed myself as non-religious due to how I perceived religion, in particular, Christianity. Before my placement, I viewed Christianity in a more negative light due to knowledge stemming from my friends with religious trauma and my mom, who grew up in British Hong Kong. I could never see myself as religious due to the perspectives I was familiar with.

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Figure 8. Shelf in a Food Bank (own photo)

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Understanding context and history allows us to address complex issues such as food insecurity. Food Banks in Canada originated in Edmonton, Alberta in 1981, due to a deep recession (Riches, 2002, p. 651). Food banks initially started in Canada to alleviate the pressures of the recession.

Food banks were originally thought of as places with the

“purpose of collecting, storing and distributing surplus food (donated/shared)”

(Riches, 2002, p. 650)

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Reflecting About Pluralism Using Poetry 

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Reflecting About Pluralism Using Poetry 

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For the people or the cause — ¹

Where do we stand? ²

In an ocean that only lets people drown. ³

We fight for justice, but who determines what is right or wrong? ⁴

Our histories, experiences, and cultures clash — ⁵

War, genocide, and what more. ⁶

Do we see each other standing on equal ground? 7

Instead, we watch each other sink deeper. ⁸

Without a doubt, we have eyes, but can they truly see? 9

If only open ears would welcome gentle hearts ¹⁰

The bleak abyss grows into evergreens ¹¹

Let’s climb trees and forget reality ¹²

Those who thrive on blissful ignorance succumb to it ¹³

Crawling out of the dark means taking the initiative ¹⁴

Get uncomfortable and march in darkness ¹⁵

We are all bodies, but will we ever live in peace together ¹⁶

Those who thrive on blissful ignorance will never let us ¹⁷

See yourself with more than just your reflection ¹⁸

& embrace and adopt new ways of knowing ¹⁹

For us to bloom ²⁰

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Food banks have been inefficient at addressing food poverty in Canada (Riches, 2002, p. 661). Food poverty is largely political as it intersects with “poverty, health and nutrition, the environment (agriculture and fisheries) and social justice” (Riches, 2002, p. 661).

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Figure 1. Reaching Families Uniform, Calgary (own photo)

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Reaching Families Food Bank was initially started in 2012 — a Christian-based non-profit led by Pastor Festus. Pastor Festus also leads a place of worship called Restoration House. The non-profit has no requirements to access food hampers because they focus on people who may not be eligible for typical food banks and social support criteria.

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Figure 2. Reaching Families Uniform Van (own photo)

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During my placement, I focused on warehouse shifts rather than logistics, due to not having a reliable vehicle to help with logistics/pick-up shifts. Warehouse shifts pertain to organizing food items, which includes sorting through donations and creating more efficient organization methods —while logistics/pick-up shifts collect food donations from suppliers, mainly grocery stores.

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Figure 3. Schedule for Volunteers on a White Board (own photo)

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I could sign up the day before on the Reaching Families Food Bank website when I wanted to take a volunteer shift. There is no background check required, and it is flexible. You can choose any day and time the food bank is open.

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Figure 4. Outside the Back Alley of the Reaching Families Food Bank (own photo)

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The Reaching Families Food Bank is located downtown at 812, 11 Ave SW, Calgary. It is easily accessible by the C-train but far away from suburban spaces.

Calgary is large and sprawled out, making it difficult to rely on transit only. Additionally, travelling with a large food hamper could be challenging when using public transit. People who need access to the food bank might have difficulty travelling there and going home with their food hampers.

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Figure 5. Kraft Dinner Boxes Organized (own photo)

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My placement at the Reaching Families Food Bank is to engage with pluralism outside of the university space. Through my experience, I had the opportunity to confront my unfamiliarity with faith-based spaces — which allowed me to address subconscious assumptions and biases, experience a change in new environments, one that is outside of the university where I will meet people from all walks of life, and coexist with diverse groups of people. The experience made me consider pushing outside my comfort zone more often to interact with groups of people I have never come across in my daily life.

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Figure 7. Ceiling of MacEwan Hall Reflecting in the Elevator (own photo)

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During my placement, I slowly got more comfortable with the space. I think the part that helped me the most was another volunteer, Michael, who was similar in age to me. Our interactions allowed me to understand what other young Christians were like. My previous interactions have only been with Christian people who were notably older than me. I was relieved to see Michael, the pastor’s son, accidentally engage in profanity. I was previously concerned about doing something similar due to growing up in an environment where profanity is used casually. I did not want to risk upsetting people I did not know well. After realizing that even a pastor’s son can experience a slip of the tongue, I grew more comfortable in the space.

What helped me confront my discomfort with religion is how Michael and I share a common identity as university students. Through our shared identity as university students, we also experienced a

“temporarily limited ‘identification’ with perceived commonality”

(Winter, 2011, p. 66).

Finding common ground led to me confronting my discomforts with religious spaces and allowed the creation of a collective bond.

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Community Service Learning & Social Justice 

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Community Service Learning & Social Justice 

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Scholars push the importance of political action to resolve household insecurity. To address household food insecurity it is necessary for political action to occur. Issues that result in household food insecurity are poverty, unemployment, and housing insecurity, especially when groups in power prioritize their interests over the vulnerable members of society. (Mendly-Zambo & Raphael, 2019, p. 548)

Furthermore, civic responsibility plays a significant role as a student and member of the global community, especially in community service learning (CSL) because students can empower their communities (Taylor, et al., 2018, p. 31). My experience with civic responsibility has led me to engage in social justice while encouraging diversity to understand the root of issues in our community.

The different connections I make allow me to explore different knowledge systems to reflect and continuously work through community issues; by doing so, I can avoid depending on others to find solutions, which is necessary when engaging in CSL (Taylor, et al., 2018, p. 42).

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1. This line differentiates, "the people" and "the cause" because they are not always aligned with each other. There is often an assumption that people are always fighting for the same common good because values are complex and specific to the individual because they stem from experiences over a lifetime.

2. Defining the moral good is difficult because people have their own belief systems. This idea connects to,

“not all community members share a national identity”

(Holtug, 2021-b, p. 168). Not everyone will share the same identities making, it difficult to suggest that everyone would share similar values.

3. What happens when we cannot take charge and come together to act on social issues — is it results in people in power drowning those who cannot stand up to them. This emphasizes the necessity of engaging in pluralistic behaviours because

“pluralism provides resources and opportunities for minorities to be able to redress inequalities and power asymmetries“

(Winter, 2011, p. 35).

4. The line reiterates the difficulties of defining the common good — while also establishing how individuals have values that may not benefit everyone. For instance, brain drain in the Global South to benefit the Global North, harms the Global South (Holtug, 2021-b, p. 180) — what may benefit the Global North is damaging to the Global South.

5. It can be difficult to come together to share knowledge when there are various points of contention.

6. The line reiterates the same idea from line 5 with different points of contention.

7. To successfully engage in pluralistic behaviours means removing one’s assumptions and biases to view others around them as their equals.

8. The sinking occurs when different groups hold more power over other groups. For instance, the Global North holds significant power over the Global South. To redistribute the power imbalance the Global North should support the Global South because

“helping the many in the Global South is more important than helping a smaller number of would-be immigrants to the Global North”

(Holtug, 2021-b, p. 194).

9. The line refers to when we do not question or consider systems of power.

10. The exchange of ideas between different groups of people is often easier said than done.

11. Refusing to listen to new ways of knowing / ignorance represents the bleak abyss. The "evergreens" are alluding to exploring and growing new ways of knowing.

12. We can grow new ways of knowing and soar to new heights. However, when exploring new ways of knowing, it is important to recognize where it is coming from — especially if it is a place of privilege. For instance, Holtug uses an example of the social lottery,

“growing up in a well-educated, high-income family of engineers in Germany and growing up in an uneducated, low-income family of peasants in Ethiopia”

(2021-b, p. 161).

He uses peasants to describe lower-income people in Ethiopia, which shows the privilege he holds.

13. Social justice needs people taking the initiative for change (Taylor, et al., 2018, p. 42).

14. To create changes in our world — one has to get uncomfortable.

15. Staying too comfortable results in centring your knowledge and relationships in a narrow space, which does not let one explore new ideas easily.

16. We are all human beings with various belief systems, making it difficult to strive for a universal idea of peace.

17. To get closer to an idea of peace, it will take leaving behind ignorant beliefs.

18. When engaging in pluralistic behaviours, it is necessary to be self-reflexive in your ways of knowing.

19.  Constantly only considering one way of knowing will limit the way one can engage in pluralism.

20. Blooming refers to having success in engaging in pluralistic behaviour.

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Figure 9. McMahon Stadium, Location of Crenshaw’s Talk

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Pluralism & the Future: Courageous Conversations with Kimberlé Crenshaw 

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Pluralism & the Future: Courageous Conversations with Kimberlé Crenshaw 

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To continue to engage in pluralistic behaviour, it is important to seek knowledge. Before seeing Crenshaw, I have never gone out of my way to attend a scholar’s talk. After learning from the experiences I had at the Reaching Families Food Bank, I have decided to push myself out of my comfort zone to engage in more opportunities. Listening to new ideas of thought is necessary for me to continue my journey with pluralism.

During, the event I learned why it was so important to have EDI offices in institutions, paraphrasing Crenshaw,

“Diversity practices are not preferential — institutions that do not have diversity practices are the ones that are preferential”

(2024).

I would never have considered how not using diversity practices would be preferential until I went out of my comfort zone to see Crenshaw talk about it.

To continue my journey with pluralism, I strive to seek new knowledge through diverse means — such as learning about people and their experiences. I will strive to challenge the ideas and belief systems I hold by exploring places/ways of knowing I am unfamiliar with. Ultimately, I hope to constantly be on a journey with pluralism because the journey should never end when creating a more pluralistic world.

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In devout networks,

“the norm to volunteer is stronger as well as the social pressure to comply with requests for volunteer work.”

(Wiepking, et al., 2014, p. 642).

I worked with volunteers from devout networks, such as Pastor Festus’ church. The other connections people have are cultural, with many of the volunteers being Nigerian or Filpino, the two cultures of the volunteers are intertwined in Christianity. Approximately 70 million people in Nigeria are Christians (Pew Research Centre, 2006, as cited in Harvard Divinity School, 2014, para. 1). Additionally,

“Christianity is the majority faith in the Philippines, making up approximately 90% of the population"

(Harvard Divinity School, n.d., para. 1).

Connecting the volunteers’ identities to their religious and cultural ones has helped me understand how Reaching Families Food Bank operates as a faith-based organization. I never considered the interconnectedness of religion and culture before this experience. The more I thought about it, religious and cultural practices are formed together rather than acting as two binary systems disconnected from each other. This encompasses how

“Religion itself is multi-dimensional, and those dimensions of belief, belonging, practice, and experience can be combined in myriad ways across the individual lives”

(Ammerman, 2010, p. 164).

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To frame ideas centring religion and social cohesion, I will use Holtug’s community conception, which is

“a set of (formal and/or informal) values to be shared by individuals, regulating the conditions on which they interact in a group, including the distribution of political, social, and cultural advantages, with the aim of securing social goods within that group, such as trust, cooperation, stability, belonging, and solidarity”

(2021-a, p. 77).

When I talked with the Christian volunteers, I saw their interactions as a group fit into Holtug’s description of a community conception. Their shared beliefs and values allowed them to work together swiftly at the food bank. They also fostered a sense of belonging between each other, even in smaller actions — like when they had a leftover sheet cake and decided to bring it to church to celebrate a little boy’s birthday. Their shared belief systems made it easier for them to cooperate and decide what to do with the leftover cake.

The longer I did my placement, I realized I shared many similar values with the other volunteers, but we had different justifications for them. For instance,

“The idea of solidarity and mutual help is intrinsic to Christianity”

(Potoroacǎ, 2023, p. 103).

Many of their justifications were based on faith, while mine were based on my family's values. For instance, I thought I would clash with Christian volunteers because we come from different backgrounds. However, we were more socially cohesive than I anticipated. Growing up, my family volunteered regularly to give back to the community, creating a similar shared identity. My experience helped me understand Holtug’s identity thesis, which states that

“sharing an identity in a community tends to promote social cohesion within the community”

(2021-a, p. 71).

The similarities in our values made it easier for us to come together, and work towards a common goal of alleviating food insecurity in our community.

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Ammerman, N. T. (2010). The Challenges of Pluralism: Locating Religion in a World of Diversity. Social Compass, 57(2), 154–167. https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768610362406

Crenshaw, K., & Smith, M. (2024, March 18). Intersectionality: Re-Imagining Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Academy. Courageous Conversations with Kimberlé Crenshaw. Calgary, AB, Canada.

Harvard Divinity School (2014). Christianity in Nigeria. https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/christianity-nigeria.

Harvard Divinity School, (n.d.). Christianity in the Philippines. https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/christianity-philippines

Holtug, N. (2021-b). Global Justice. In The Politics of Social Cohesion. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198797043.003.0006

Holtug, N. (2021-a). Social Cohesion and Identity. In The Politics of Social Cohesion. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198797043.003.0003

Mendly-Zambo, Z., & Raphael, D. (2019). Competing Discourses of Household Food Insecurity in Canada. Social Policy and Society : A Journal of the Social Policy Association, 18(4), 535–554. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746418000428

Potoroacǎ, M. (2023). Solidarity and Social Cohesion in a Christian Context. Across(Galați), 7(1).

Riches, G. (2002). Food Banks and Food Security: Welfare Reform, Human Rights and Social Policy. Lessons from Canada? Social Policy & Administration, 36(6), 648–663. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9515.00309

Taylor, A., Glick, S., & Peikazadi, N. (2018). Service‐Learning and the Discourse of Social Justice. In The Wiley International Handbook of Service‐Learning for Social Justice (pp. 27–51). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119144397.ch1

Wiepking, P., Bekkers, R. H. F. P., & Osili, U. O. (2014). Examining the Association of Religious Context with Giving to Non-Profit Organizations. European Sociological Review, 30(5), 640–654. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcu064

Winter, E. (2011). PART II: Theoretical Considerations. In Us, Them, and Others (pp. 29–88). University of Toronto Press. https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442663220-003