Posts Tagged ‘ faiths ’

Why the world needs faiths

November 20, 2011
By

Tony Blair, Washington Post, Nov.17, www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/why-the-world-needs-faith/2011/11/17/gIQAf0d5UN_blog.html

There will be no peace in our world without an understanding of the place of religion within it. The past decade has seen many convenient myths which disguised the importance of religion, stripped away. Many thought: as society progressed, religion would decline. It hasn’t happened.

Then there are those that insisted that as the Arab Revolution knocked over long established regimes and created movements for democracy, so those societies’ religiosity would take second place to the new politics. It hasn’t happened. Religion is fundamental to those societies and if anything, in the foreseeable future, will become more so. And do we seriously think the issue of Jerusalem can be resolved without at least some discussion of its religious significance to all three Abrahamic faiths?

The virus of terror based on a perversion of the proper faith of Islam, shows no signs of abating. But it is not only the acts of terror that should alarm us. It is the extremism that promotes persecution of religious minorities too. The challenge is that much greater where human dignity is not respected and freedom of religion denied. This results in a general oppression of people of faith. It means we must support Muslims in Gujarat, India; non-Orthodox Christians in Moldova; Bahai’s in Iran; Ahmadis in Pakistan; all Christians in North Africa; Hindus in Sri Lanka; Shi’a in several Sunni majority countries, and other places.

The basic point is this: On every side, in every quarter, wherever we look and analyze, religion is a powerful, motivating, determining force shaping the world around us.

Read the complete article here.

Interfaith gathering for world peace at Assisi

November 1, 2011
By

Eric Lyman, ENInews, Oct.27, www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5244

In the Vatican’s most wide-scale effort yet to reach out to other faiths, Pope Benedict XVI today welcomed Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, African tribal faiths, and even atheists and agnostics to call for world peace.

Benedict presided over a meeting of more than 300 religious leaders in the Umbrian hilltop town of Assisi, the birthplace of Saint Francis, timed to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a one-day prayer for peace that took place at the same spot, called by Pope John Paul II amid the tensions of the cold war.

The meeting had more participants and was more inclusive than the earlier event; the participation of monks from mainland China and four non-believers was part of Benedict’s effort to reach out to atheists and agnostics. But it featured fewer recognizable faces than the 1986 gathering, during which the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa joined John Paul in prayer.

Read the complete article here.

What place do people of faith have at Occupy Everywhere?

October 23, 2011
By

Jonathan Oskins, State of Formation, Oct.23, www.stateofformation.org/2011/10/what-place-do-people-of-faith-have-at-occupy-everywhere/

News agencies were already slow to cover the movement in New York, so it is no surprise that reporting on the involvement of religious people at Occupy Together took even longer. But the wait was worth it, with fellow State of Formation contributors having written on their personal participation: Mary Ann Kaiser wrote a great piece on her hands-on work as part of Occupy Austin and Anna DeWeese posted on her experience at Occupy Wall Street. Faith & Reason also has terrific summaries of the reasons why different faiths have become involved, including a great link to a HuffPost Religion post on an Occupy Wall Street Yom Kippur. Another HuffPost Religion post does a good job of highlighting the variety of religious groups at Occupy Wall Street, including Jumah at #OccupyDC, Occupy Torah, Occupy Judaism and Occupy Sukkot.

 

Read the complete article here.

”"

Turkey’s Elephant in the Room: Religious Freedom

September 30, 2011
By

Susanne Gusten, New York Times, Sep.28, www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/world/europe/turkeys-elephant-in-the-room-religious-freedom.html?_r=1&ref=religionandbelief

With his triumphant tour of the countries of the Arab Spring this month, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has managed to set up Turkey on the international stage as a role model for a secular democracy in a Muslim country — as, in his words, “a secular state where all religions are equal.”

The only trouble is that he has yet to make that happen for Turkey.

The relationship between religion and the state, ever the sore spot of Turkish identity, is one of the most explosive issues of the debate on the new constitution that Mr. Erdogan has pledged to give the country in the new legislative term that opens Saturday.

That debate will have to deal with the elephant in the room: the total control that the state exerts over Islam through its Religious Affairs Department, and the lack of a legal status for all other religions in a predominantly Sunni Muslim society.

“Turkey may look like a secular state on paper, but in terms of international law it is actually a Sunni Islamic state,” Izzettin Dogan, a leader of the country’s Alevi minority, charged at a joint press conference with leaders of several other minority faiths last week in Istanbul.

Mr. Dogan is honorary president of the Federation of Alevi Foundations, which represents many of what it claims are up to 30 million adherents of the Alevi faith, an Anatolian religion close to Sufi Islam but separate and distinct in its beliefs and practices.

“The state collects taxes from all of us and spends billions on Sunni Islam alone, while millions of Alevis as well as Christians, Jews and other faiths don’t receive a penny,” Mr. Dogan said, referring to the $1.5 billion budget of the Religious Affairs Department. “What kind of secularism is that?”

Read the complete article here.

Islamic Center Near Ground Zero Opens Its Doors

September 26, 2011
By

Karen Zraick and Verena Dobnik, Associated Press, Sep.21,  abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/developer-911-families-needed-role-nyc-mosque-14573200

The developer of an Islamic cultural center that opened Wednesday evening near the site of the terrorist attacks that leveled the World Trade Center says the biggest error on the project was not involving the families of 9/11 victims from the start.

People crowded into the center, where a small orchestra played traditional Middle Eastern instruments and a photo exhibit of New York children of different ethnicities lined the walls. The enthusiasm at the opening belied its troubled beginnings.

“We made incredible mistakes,” Sharif El-Gamal told The Associated Press in an earlier interview at his Manhattan office.

The building at 51 Park Place, two blocks from the World Trade Center site, includes a Muslim prayer space that has been open for two years. El-Gamal said the overall center is modeled after the Jewish Community Center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where he lives.

“I wanted my daughter to learn how to swim, so I took her to the JCC,” said the Brooklyn-born Muslim. “And when I walked in, I said, ‘Wow. This is great.’”

The project has drawn criticism from opponents who say they don’t want a mosque near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The center is open to all faiths and will include a 9/11 memorial, El-Gamal said. He called opposition to the center — which prompted one of the most virulent national discussions about Islam and freedom of speech and religion since Sept. 11 — part of a “campaign against Muslims.”

Read the complete article here.

Jewish Theological Seminary Launches Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue

September 26, 2011
By

JTS of NY, Sep.6, www.jtsa.edu/News/Press_Releases/JTS_Launches_Milstein_Center_for_Interreligious_Dialogue.xml

The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) announced the establishment of the Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue(MCID), funded with a $2 million gift from New York philanthropist Howard Milstein and the Paul Milstein family. The Milsteins have a long history of engagement with JTS. Irma Milstein chaired the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education and served on the JTS Board of Trustees. The gift from her family marks the second generation of relationship between the Milsteins and JTS.

The Milstein Center’s invitation-only inaugural event will take place at JTS on Monday, October 31, 2011, with His Eminence Kurt Cardinal Koch as the guest of honor. Cardinal Koch is visiting from the Vatican, where he is the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, which includes the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. This is Cardinal Koch’s first trip to New York City in that capacity.

“The new center will expand the long commitment of JTS to interreligious dialogue and partnership and enable us to highlight an annual schedule of distinct programs that range in complexity and content,” said Rabbi Burton L. Visotzky, who will be director of the Milstein Center. Rabbi Visotzky is the Appleman Professor of Midrash and Interreligious Studies at JTS. He has been active in interreligious dialogue for more than three decades in the United States and internationally.

Howard Milstein added, “This is a good time to build on 50 years of Jewish-Christian dialogue and expand it to all of the Abrahamic religions. At a time when religion-based antagonism is one of the greatest threats to world peace, JTS has a pivotal role in educating the next generation of religious leaders to promote mutual respect among all faiths.”

Read the complete article here.

Jerusalem interfaith dialogue sees increased participation

September 19, 2011
By

Judith Sudilovsky, ENInews, Sep.14, www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5146

Religious leaders in Jerusalem are more willing than ever before to take part in dialogue with members of other faiths despite growing political turmoil in the region, said Daniel Milo, the director of the Jerusalem Center for Ethics, prior to the start of the third annual Interfaith and Ethics Symposium on 14 September.

Religious leaders now realized “that the alternative to dialogue is not acceptable,” Milo said, noting that attendance at the annual symposium, which delves into interfaith challenges, has grown over the past three years. Still, he admitted, some Palestinian religious leaders from East Jerusalem declined an invitation this year, largely due to internal community pressures.

The modern global era is forcing religious leaders to face challenges in maintaining influence on their followers, Milo said. “Religious leaders can’t keep their communities closed in anymore” and people are exposed to different views and ideas, he said.

Read the complete article here.

Sikh Faith Often Misunderstood

September 19, 2011
By

Joe DSowd, Plainview, Sep.16, plainview.patch.com/articles/sikh-faith-often-misunderstood

In the Western World, members of the Sikh faith are misunderstood, often thought of as a sect of other faiths, local members say.  To counter those misconceptions, the Sikhs are very open about their beliefs and conduct regular community outreach programs.

Read the complete article here.

WCC general secretary honours 9/11 victims and stresses a culture of peace

September 12, 2011
By

WCC news, Sep.7, www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/general-secretary/statements/ten-years-after-911.html

Remembering the thousands of people killed in the coordinated assault on 11 September 2001 in the United States of America, and its unfortunate consequences in Afghanistan and Iraq, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit sends out a message honouring the victims, and promoting a culture of peace.

“On behalf of the council, I assure all those who have been affected by violence and inhumanity – in the United States and throughout the world – of continuing prayer and solidarity on the part of the fellowship of churches we constitute,” says Tveit stressing that “Terrorism in all its forms – whether committed by individuals, groups or states – is to be condemned.”

In his message, Tveit reaffirms churches’ commitment towards dialogue among people of different faiths, promoting a culture of “just peace”, which is also a key topic for the upcoming WCC 10th Assembly in 2013.

Read the complete article here.

Faiths challenged to face the reality of violence inside and out

August 25, 2011
By

Ekklesia, Aug.25, www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15288

The historic religions are ambivalent in implementing a respect for life, and ambiguous about survival versus broader moral instincts, says a leading commentator.

Oliver McTernan, a former Roman Catholic priest and broadcaster, and author of Violence in God’s Name, was speaking at the 2011 Festival of Spirituality and Peace in Edinburgh, in conversation with historian Owen Dudley Edwards and church historian Lesley Orr.

He noted that for a century and a half in its early history, Christianity was uncompromising in its rejection of violence and war. But with Constantine and the Edict of Milan, the desire to protect a growing religiously-based empire overcame the previous pacifistic impulses.

But the majority traditions had often been permissive towards war and violence, said McTernan, who also pointed to parallel contradictions and problems within other faiths, including Hinduism and Islam.

Dr Orr amplified the theme by speaking about her research into the global phenomenon of violence against women, domestic and structural – including religiously sanctioned or permitted abuse.

Dr Dudley Edwards pointed towards Quakers as an embodiment of an alternative Christian tradition that rejects violence – and includes many Anabaptists and others.

Jesus statement that he came “not to bring peace, but a sword” was a clear reference to the social conflict leading to his violent death, not a justification of the sword, Edwards said. Indeed, the founder of the Christian movement’s last statement before his crucifixion was a demand that his followers “put away your sword”.

Read the complete article here.