Gratitude is the word underlining The Interfaith Observer’s first year. Dozens of people have gone out of their way since January 2011, when TIO was no more than a dream, to make TIO a unique publication systematically exploring a set of issues critical to humankind’s future.
Best Practices for Interreligious Ministry
In addition to adequate theological grounding on how to situate the religious other within the framework of one’s faith tradition, there are certain attitudes, virtues, and skills that would appear to be crucially needed in being able to creatively relate to, engage, and cooperate with religious others. In an excellent volume specifically addressing the subject, Catherine Cornille has laid out humility, commitment, interconnection, empathy, and hospitality as five such key elements to be nourished and cultivated in this regard.
Translating Kalema - Images that Speak a Thousand Words
As a little girl, I learned that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” I learned wrong. Words are indeed powerful. As a wordsmith, I know what we say and how we say it can change how you feel about yourself or another. Words can be as sharp as a knife and heavy as a brick. Words can and often do hurt. Yet, if words can hurt, they can also inspire. The adage that a picture is worth a thousand words compels me and led to the notion of an interfaith photography competition.
What Excites Me about Interfaith Work?
This article grew out of a presentation Bettina Gray made at a meeting of interfaith leaders attending the November 2011 meetings of the American Academy of Religions/Society of Biblical Literature. The session focused on innovative interfaith activity and was organized by the Coexist Foundation.
A Timeless Woman with a Timely Message
The Brahma Kumaris (literally, daughters of God) community has its spiritual roots in Hinduism but is a new religious movement, led by women. ‘Brothers’ are welcomed in supportive roles. Known by their friends as BKs and headquartered in central India, these sisters share the gentle discipline of Raja Yoga meditation with millions around the globe, welcoming all religious traditions as authentic expressions of faith and practice.
International Conference on Transforming Conflict: Sharing Tools for Cross-Cultural Dialogue
TIO In 2012
The December 15 issue will explore all sorts of issues, a practice we’ll continue every other month in 2012 (February, April, June, August, October, and December). These ‘even’ month issues will continue to feature news and reports, interfaith opportunities, major events, and religious calendars.
Occupy's Sacred Mob and the Politics of Vagrancy
It is 1 a.m., 37 degrees. Between two noisy bars, twelve people are trying to sleep in their tents, four more are drinking coffee and holding watch. We talk to drunks as they pass by; sometimes we find allegiance that may or may not be remembered in the morning, and sometimes we just bore potential attackers into docility by inviting them to explain their politics. Tent-kickers are rarely brave enough to kick a person, and “Get a job!” is easily answered by “I have two, but unemployment in North Carolina is over ten percent.” This is the Occupation of Chapel Hill. It is the morning of Halloween.
Religion’s New Face in the World
All of Heckman’s categories deserves attention and will find their way into The Interfaith Observer. Before concluding this overview, though, consider one other category – “Social issue(s) and action groups.” Dozens of social justice causes – immigration rights, the death penalty, economic reform, environmental responsibility, peace in the Middle East, and many more – organize as interfaith nonprofits.
International Interfaith Stakeholders Today
In last month’s TIO, Marcus Braybrooke wrote a brief history of the interfaith movement since 1893. He tells how major interfaith organizations emerged in the twentieth century, starting with the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF), whose roots go back to 1900. The World Congress of Faiths, celebrating its 75th birthday this year, was the first established organization to invite all people of faith and practice to a shared table of dialogue in the “spirit of fellowship.” Both IARF and the Congress remain active international organizations, a tribute to the resilience of their hope for a happier religious future.
Religious Leaders Assess Impact of Social Media
DOHA, Qatar — Hundreds of Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders from over 50 countries gathered in Qatar’s capital city this week to discuss the intersection of social media and religion at the 9th Doha Conference of Inter-faith Dialogue, a three-day affair which concluded on Wednesday October 26.
Interfaith Youth Core
The big idea for the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) came to our leading founder Eboo Patel in 1998 when he was at an interfaith conference at Stanford University. He and a small group of his peers realized they were the only young people at the conference, and their conversation turned to two questions.
United Religions Initiative
The idea to create a global forum for preventing and responding to interreligious conflict came to URI President and Founder Rt. Rev. William E. Swing, then-Episcopal Bishop of California, asked to host a UN 50th anniversary celebration at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in 1995. He found little interest among top religious leaders, but at the grassroots level he found a deep desire for peace and social justice. From this, the idea for a bottom-up global interfaith network was born.
The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions
The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions (CPWR) history begins with the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions, part of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This first formal gathering of representatives from Eastern and Western spiritual traditions is recognized today as the birth of the modern interreligious movement.
Religions for Peace
The World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP, as it was originally called) convened for the first time in Kyoto, Japan, October 16-21, 1970. However, the origins of Religions for Peace (RFP, as it is called today) date to 1961, when a handful of senior leaders from the world’s major faith traditions began exploring the possibilities for organizing a “religious summit” to address the need for believers around the world to take action toward achieving peace. Principal among the US leaders and architects were Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath (Reform Judaism), Bishop John Wesley Lord (Methodist), Bishop John Wright (Catholic), and Dr. Dana McLean Greeley (UUA).
Temple of Understanding
The Temple of Understanding was founded in 1960 by a pioneering visionary, Juliet Hollister. With the help of Eleanor Roosevelt’s introductory letters, Juliet traveled the world to seek endorsement from heads of state and religious leaders. The TOU convened Spiritual Summits abroad (Calcutta 1968; Geneva 1970) of high level religious leaders and at prominent universities: Harvard (’71), Princeton, (’71), Cornell (’74). Mrs. Roosevelt encouraged the TOU to become accredited as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with the United Nations.
Consultation for U.N. by The Interfaith Consortium for Ecological Civilization
On October 19, the Temple of Understanding in New York City brought together leaders of international interfaith organizations and other eminent visionaries. Their mandate was to form an advisory council for the Interfaith Consortium for an Ecological Civilization (ICEC), a new committee developed by the Temple of Understanding and other organizations in connection with the United Nations Environment Programme.
Leaders for Tomorrow’s Interfaith Organizations
The more culturally diverse we become, the more adept we need to be in relating to people who hold profoundly different beliefs. What questions help you truly understand someone, especially someone with whom you have a fundamental disagreement? How do you engage people from different backgrounds when addressing community problems?
Seeding the Interfaith Movement
Most of the hundreds of interfaith ventures emerging globally are independent non-governmental organizations, usually called nonprofits in the United States. Several types of organizations predominate, the subject of this issue of TIO.
The $100,000 Question in the Interfaith Movement
How do we know when we have arrived in the interfaith movement? When religious pluralism is normative? When religious differences don’t cause conflict or even concern?