Archive for the ‘interfaith’ tag
Global Peace Initiative of Women Convenes Environmental Conference in Kenya
UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner with some of the women religious leaders at the conference Religious and community leaders meet to discuss solutions for sustainable development.
from the United Nations Environmental Programme
Nairobi (Kenya) 2 March 2012. The Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW), a non-governmental organization of contemplative leaders based in the United States, held today an environmental conference at the headquarters of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi.
The meeting, entitled Awakening the Healing Heart, focused on how civil society, especially women and religious leaders, can mobilize awareness and action to protect the environment and promote sustainable development.
The challenges facing the environment today has created a new urgency within faith communities to build a global consciousness around sustainable development. An international delegation from the GPIW conference will form part of the inter-faith component attending the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil in June 2012.
The meeting brought together over 300 women religious and community leaders, environmentalists and advocates from 28 countries and from all the major faith traditions, including among others H.H. Shinso Ito, head priest of Shinnyo-en, Japan; Reverand Dr. Celestin Musekura, founder of African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries, Rwanda/USA; Ms. Wang Yongchen, founder of Green Earth Volunteers, China and Dr. Sakeena Yacoobi, founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning.
International Religious and Cultural Leaders Convene in Kiev for Interfaith Forum
Ukrainian Member of Parliament and President of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee Oleksandr Feldman and hip hop star Shyne speak with the media at the Global Winds of Change conference in Kiev.
by Jewish Press Staff
from The Jewish Press.com
(KIEV, UKRAINE) – Amidst a period of widespread social and political changes which have swept the globe in recent months, a delegation of top religious leaders from the Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist faiths met in Kiev over April 25-26 to discuss the developing role of religion during these dramatic times.
With phenomenon such as the ‘Arab Spring’ and flaring economic crises pushing global affairs into new realms, many observers are questioning the position that religion holds in effecting these changes. To address this pressing issue, the Kiev Interfaith Forum, supported by the Ukrainian Jewish Committee and the Institute of Human Rights and Prevention of Extremism and Xenophobia, presented the outlooks of some of the world’s most distinguished clerical and cultural leaders within the framework of a conference titled Global Winds of Change: Religions’ Role in Today’s World & the Challenges in Democracies and Secular Societies.
Trinidad and Tobago Consulate Launches New York-Based Interfaith Council
The Trinidad and Tobago Interfaith Council and Advisory Committee in New York with Consul General at centre and chairman Dr Glenville Ashby in rear.
by Dr. Glenville Ashby
from The Guardian Media
The scene was idyllic as a range of religion-cultural expressions graced York College Performing Arts Center.
Invocations, Quranic recitation, Indian classical dances, Roman Catholic liturgy, Orisa libations, and the tolling bells of Spiritual Baptist dazzled. Coupled with the musical syncretisation of the pan, tassa, tabla, and sitar—the audience was visually and audibly transfixed. It was the first salvo in a series of events to mark T&T’s 50th anniversary as an independent state.
Hundreds, including members of the Caribbean consular corps, packed the popular theatre for the four-hour long interfaith and thanksgiving service that also featured addresses by the Diaspora’s religious figures on the theme, Faith in a Modern World.
Social Justice as a Unifying Issue for Dharmic Communities
Joshua Stanton, Co-Founder, Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue, State of Formation
by Joshua Stanton
from the Huffington Post
Religious communities are never the same once they reach America. In my view, they often become even more remarkable.
As a third-generation American Jew, it is at times even challenging for me to think of Judaism apart from the American experience. In spite of hardships early on for our community, the search for common threads between the disparate Jewish groups that came in droves to America two (and more) generations ago forced us to reexamine and hone our religious beliefs. What actually bound us together?…
As has become quite evident in the past several years, another set of religious groups, bolstered by recent waves of immigrants to America, is also looking to social justice as a possible unifying trope. Launched by Anju Bhargava, Hindu-American visionary and founder of Hindu American Seva Charities, this effort seeks to increase long-term collaboration between Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Sikh communities through religiously inspired volunteerism, charity and social services.
Together, these groups — several of which are comprised primarily of immigrants from South and East Asia — represent what may be described as Dharmic religious communities and a new coalition in the American religious landscape. They are seeking a unique American identity and niche for their adherents. Like other religious communities that have flourished during and after waves of immigration, they appear poised to make essential contributions to American society.
World Malaria Day is April 25th
Rachel Finn and Nina Pine, Faiths Act Fellows for the Tony Blair Faith Foundation
by Nina Pine and Rachel Finn, Faiths Act Fellows for the Tony Blair Faith Foundation
While the two of us have been planning the San Francisco CROP Hunger Walk as our World Malaria Day Event, often we are asked the question, “Why are you supporting malaria prevention efforts at a hunger walk? Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”
The fact of the matter is, however, that malaria and hunger are incredibly intertwined. Just check out this video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Delivering food to a community in need is a noble act. It is a life-saving act. And yet unfortunately, it is not a sustainable act. Extreme hunger worldwide is not caused by a lack of food, but rather, systemic social corruption and flawed distribution. To change the narrative on hunger, we must change the systems of power and the societal structures in which communities live. To do so is a daunting task, and incredibly complex.
Yet, one effective step we can tangibly make is on the issue of malaria. Malaria is a disease of poverty – it has been eradicated in parts of the world with access to needed finances, such as here in California. Malaria is both treatable and preventable. And yet, a child still dies every 60 seconds from this deadly disease. It is less a problem of complexity than a lack of resources.
Malaria prevention, elimination, and hopefully one day, eradication, are excellent goals in and of themselves. And yet, the ripple effect from treating it has far larger reaches. It improves education, because children do not miss days of school due to severe illness. It improves maternal health by significantly decreasing the number of deaths in pregnant women. Perhaps most importantly, malaria elimination would drastically improve the situation of extreme hunger around the globe. Individuals will not have to miss days of harvesting crops due to illness. Families will not have to decide whether to spend their money on medicine for a sick child, or food for the rest. Men, women, and children will have the strength they need to fight against the societal blockades keeping them impoverished.
We hope you’ll support us this World Malaria Day in taking a holistic approach to tackling extreme poverty, by recognizing the interconnectedness of problems around the world. Please visit cropwalksf.org to learn more about our Walk and how to be a supporter.
Will you walk with us?
Immigrants Remaking Canada’s Religious Face in Surprising Ways
Image from Lalani & Associates
by Douglas Todd
from the Vancouver Sun
Canada is welcoming more than the global average of immigrants who are Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and non-religious.
The country, however, is taking in less than the global average of immigrants who are Muslim, Hindu and Jewish.
Those are some of the surprising findings of a sweeping global survey on immigration and religion conducted by the independent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
The report, titled Faith on the Move, provides an enormous amount of data on the religious loyalties of the world’s 214-million immigrants, a group larger than the population of Brazil.
Canada, which has 7.2 million permanent residents who were not born in the country, is the fifth most popular destination for the world’s immigrants. This country of 34 million accepts twice as many immigrants per capita as the U.S.
The Pew Forum report, which describes migration patterns in every country of the world, makes clear that immigration is changing the religious face of Canada in unexpected ways.
A Scorecard Of Singapore’s Multicultural and Multi-Religious Bonds
by Yolanda Chin and Norman Vasu
from the Eurasia Review
In light of several incidents touching on race and religion in recent years, it may be tempting to wonder if Singapore’s multicultural harmony has possibly been strained. Such events included but are not limited to a senior pastor of the Lighthouse Evangelism church making disparaging remarks about Buddhists and Taoists in 2010 and former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew calling into question the desire of Muslims to integrate in Singapore in the book Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going.
In an attempt to more systematically discern if there has been such unease, the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) conducted a study of two questions pertaining to the social fabric of Singapore: (1) Have Singapore’s multicultural ties been resilient between 2007 and 2011? (2) Were Malays, Christians and the Chinese consistently less inclusive than non-Malays, non-Christians and non-Chinese respectively between 2007 and 2011?
Click here to read the full article
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Sparks Discussion around the Media and Religious Knowledge
by Diane Winston and John Green
from the Washington Post
A new survey of news consumers and reporters reveals a significant gap between the two groups [the media and the public] on what’s important and how it’s covered. Two-thirds of the public says the news media sensationalizes religion, a view shared by a little less than one-third of reporters. Significantly, almost 70 percent of the public prefers coverage on religious experience and spirituality, while reporters’ focus is on religion and politics.
…One reason for shortcomings in current coverage is that many reporters lack expertise. Half of those surveyed say they don’t know a lot about religion. Only a fifth claimed to be “very knowledgeable,” and most in that small segment said their information was from their own religious practice, self-study and their family background. In the past, news organizations encouraged staff to attend seminars and workshops for continuing education. But in the recent climate of cutbacks, journalists are reluctant to spend time away from the newsroom even if enhancing their skills.
Click here to read the full article.
Click here to read the original report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
Improved Religious Understanding and Presence Necessary to Transform Conflict, US Institute of Peace Finds
from the US Institute of Peace
Qamar-ul Huda, Senior Program Officer in the Religion and Peacemaking Center and a scholar of Islam at the US Institute of Peace discusses in a newly-published report that discusses appropriate steps to community recovery and rebuilding after incendiary events. He states that “there needs to be symbolic acts of reaching out to communities who have been offended to restore trust, rebuild relationships, acknowledge lapses of proper judgment, and the need to use collaborative conflict resolution. If the aim is to work toward a culture of peacemaking, then a revised training in culture should consist of key religious values and customs, with an emphasis on understanding honor, guilt, empathy, ethics, and justice.”
Catholic Couple Embark on Interfaith “Pilgrimage,” Circle World on Religious Tolerance Quest
by Gillian Flaccus
from the Huffington Post
CLAREMONT, Calif. — Frederic and Anne-Laure Pascal are devout Roman Catholics who built their lives around their religion. When she lost her job last year, the young couple decided on an unlikely expression of their religious commitment: a worldwide “interfaith pilgrimage” to places where peace has won out over dueling dogmas.
Since October, the French couple has visited 11 nations from Iraq to Malaysia in an odyssey to find people of all creeds who have dedicated their lives to overcoming religious intolerance in some of the world’s most divided and war-torn corners.
The husband-and-wife team blogs about their adventures – and their own soul-searching – and takes short video clips for the project they’ve dubbed the Faithbook Tour.
