On Saturday, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association of Canada’s Holy Qur’an open house stopped at Moose Jaw Public Library to spread a message of peace and togetherness.

Organizers of the travelling event — which is currently venturing across the Prairies with the modus operandi of dispelling common mistakes regarding interpretation of Islam’s holy book — are speaking with Western Canadian community members in an effort to demonstrate how Islam is a religion that promotes peace and, in fact, does not condemn those of other faiths.

It is fitting a group promoting interreligious tolerance and understanding would pass through the Friendly City at around the same time as the inclusiveness and diversity exposition at SIAST Palliser Campus late last week. Both events happened in advance of next Wednesday’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Ahmadiyya is itself a minority sect within the Muslim world, as it originated in India in the late 1800s under the teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, whom followers of this tradition believe to be the Messiah. The denomination has experienced its share of discrimination, notably within the nation on Pakistan.

Unfairly discriminating any group is an unfortunate and hurtful act and an act that one should avoid committing as much as possible. After all, Moose Jaw is not so rural and quaint that it does not feel the challenges of integrating multiple ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds within its fold.

Tolerating those of other traditions is perhaps a good start, but it would be even better if everyone could learn to appreciate those of other backgrounds and even celebrate those differences within the population of a community, as those differences make a community unique.

Quite frankly, various differences are mere garnish on the larger sameness of a shared human condition that goes right to the core of every sentient being.