As we reflect on the past year, there is no doubt that religion, faith and belief have played a major role in world, national and statewide politics.

Though we are a country that states a premise that church and state are separate, there is a truth that church has an enormous influence on our politics, our laws, social change and whom we elect to leadership. Church is also our community beacon, a place for fellowship and connection to others who believe similar values, follow certain traditions or rituals and espouse a faith doctrine encircling a well-defined moral territory.

The Napa Valley contains almost 100 churches, temples and mosques representing Christian, Islam, Ba’hai, Jewish, and non-traditional denominations. There are also numerous spiritual communities that are smaller, meet in people’s homes and follow their own defined specific set of beliefs or ideas.

All this translates to a lot of people, with differing beliefs, hoping that the torch they’re carrying lights the road down the right path. We all know that religion has been the root of many wars, conflicts and misunderstandings. That ignorance and dispute of another’s belief has ignited furies beyond rational thinking and that in reality, few of us really know much about any other religion that our own. (And, even when it comes to our own religion, we might be relegated to what’s been told to us, rather than what we’ve studied or learned from our own experience.) Judgment, fear, doubt and ridicule of another’s religion/belief system are culturally endemic, and there is a prevailing attitude that those that aren’t with us, are against us.

The Napa Interfaith Council has worked for the past 20 years to bring people of different faiths, religions and belief systems together for discussion, interaction and information-sharing in order to truly create a forum of understanding and inclusion in the Napa Valley. Our conversations, forums, events and workshops have unified us in our belief in a greater good that exists beyond our individual faith or religion. In this realm we have sponsored such events as the annual Thanksgiving Prayer Service, the Tribute to Martin Luther King, the Holocaust Service, the Hate and Prejudice essay contest for area students and an annual community spirituality retreat. We have also built a sacred garden for the residents of the Napa Nursing Center, donated funds to numerous local charities and have sponsored monthly discussion forums on topics such as happiness, sacred waters and the death penalty.

As we struggle through these difficult economic realities, the Napa Interfaith Council invites you to re-examine your personal faith and belief system and how it is truly lived on a daily basis. We challenge you to talk to and meet people outside of your faith and socioeconomic status. And, we ask that you consider your own judgment, fears and prejudices as a barrier to becoming a greater person with a more encompassing sense of humanity and humility towards others and yourself.

We also invite you to three upcoming events that could be a first step in making a difference in the change you want to live:

• Jan. 7, noon to 1:30 p.m.: Discussion on “Exploring Our Shared Values,” at the United Methodist Church, 925 Randolph St., Napa.

• Jan. 18, 7 p.m., Tribute To Martin Luther King Celebration, at the United Methodist Church, 925 Randolph St., Napa.

• Feb. 8, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 5th Annual Community Retreat, “Living Deeply,” at Christian Brothers, Mt. La Salle, 4405 Redwood Road, Napa. Donation.

For more information on the Napa Interfaith Council or any of the above events, call 226-7127.

Before we can create peace on earth, we must create it between ourselves. Let’s get a good start on this in 2009.

(Rev. Dlott is president of the Napa Interfaith Council and minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of North Bay.)