World Congress of Faiths

World Congress of Faiths Interfaith Harmony Breakfast

2011-02-04T02:23:00.000-08:00

Twelve people gathered to share breakfast with friends of faith between 8am and 10am on Thursday 3rd February in London SW2
Participants included Christian (Anglican, Quaker and Roman Catholic), Hindu, Jewish, Muslim (Shi’a and Sunni) and Sikh persons.

Conversation ranged over forthcoming journeys and inter faith events, support for projects in India and criticism of BBC Newsnight’s inadequate interview with the leader of the English Defence League.

Breakfast of juice, fruit, cereal, toast and croissant was rounded off by Rizwan’s magnificent inter faith harmony omelette. An enjoyable event is likely to be repeated.

World Interfaith Harmony Week

2011-01-18T01:04:00.000-08:00

Some of you may know that the UN has declared their support for a World Interfaith Harmony Week the first week of February.

We know that many of our members always contribute massively to the UK Interfaith week in the autumn, but this is such a good idea shared by many different nations, your executive feel it would be a real shame to let it pass us by.

So, can you see if you could invite a friend or two of a different faith tradition than your own to either breakfast, lunch or dinner during that first week of February and perhaps share something from your different faiths over the meal…and maybe even tell them something of the work we in the World Congress do and persuade them to join us!

Please do write and tell us about the meal, and perhaps send us a photo for our web-page.

I have registered out interest and support for this week with the World Interfaith Harmony organisation and I look forward to hearing about your shared meals/

Jackie Tabick

Chair

World Interfaith Harmony
Breakfasts/lunch or dinner

Sharing a meal and a prayer, meditation,
chant or intention with those of other faiths.

Inter Faith Network Meeting 26 May 2010

2010-05-29T01:58:00.000-07:00

Report from Richard Boeke on:
Inter Faith Network's Faith Communities Forum Meeting 10.30am until 1pm.
Wednesday 26 May, chaired by IFN's Co-Chairs, Dr Girdari Bhan and
Bishop Alastair Redfern.

At the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Regent's Wharf, 8 All Saints Street, London N1.

At a table with two-dozen representatives of Faith Communities, I took my seat between Dr. Anne Richards and Canon Michael Ipgrave, both Anglicans. Dr. Harriet Crabtree, Brian Pearce and two other staff of the IFN were there.

To two Hindus, I expressed sympathy on the death of Om Parkash Sharma. One was Mr. Ramesh Pattni from the Hindu Temple in Croyden.

The opening discussion concerned the new government, and the expectation of a cut in government funding for InterFaith programmes.
While this year’s funding is in place, much less is expected in 2011.
Eric Pickles is new Secretary of State for local governments. Other Government Leaders involved with Interfaith include Gregg Clark, Andrew Stunell, and Nick Hurd.

National Interfaith Week will go ahead for 21-27 November. Harriet Crabtree asked for ideas for the observances during Interfaith week.
The focus was on having a major event in London, as well as events throughout the United Kingdom. (For Horsham Interfaith, Catholic Bishop Kieran Conry has accepted our invitation to be our featured speaker, 1 PM, Saturday, 27 November)

Soundings: The last annual meeting of IFN called for some action on relating to traditions other than the “big nine” currently included in the IFN. Shall we accept Pagans? If so, “which of over a dozen pagan groups?” Philip Rosenberg from the Board of Deputies of British Jews made several comments. There was also discussion of groups like Christian Science, and Mormons, who are not accepted as part of the main stream of the Christian, Sikh, or Muslim tradition.

While there was general agreement to take some action, there was concern that any meeting called not be presented as a step toward these groups becoming members of IFN.

Dialogue? Brian Pearce suggested focus on the idea of SOUNDINGS, a day of listening. Pagans already attend IFN as representatives of local interfaith groups. Harriet Crabtree presented 2 DRAFTS of a possible one-day programme. As I understand the outcome,it was agreed that she would develop three-step process based roughly on DRAFT B:
1)As Director of the Interfaith Network, Harriet would present an overview of the past 20 years Inter-religious engagement in the UK.
2)Speakers from major faith communities would give their reflections.
3)Pagans and “Alternative Spiritualities” etc, would be heard (not argued with).

Equality Act: Brian Pearce reported on the Equality Act and the recent court case involving a registrar who would not conduct a same-sex civil union. The court did not rule on the religious element. Rather the ruling in essence said to the registrar: “there is a contact of employment. You have breached the contract of employment.
Thus, grounds for dismissal.”

Other Business: In Dubai, I. Singh reported 17 Indians sentenced to death for the killing of one Pakistani. Imam Sajid reported Facebook banned in two Muslim countries due to cartoon contest for images of Mohammed (forbidden by Quran) ADJORN.

European Council of Religious Leaders

2010-05-04T23:47:00.000-07:00

The European Council of Religious Leaders met in Istanbul for the 7th Annual Meeting last month.
Two important documents were reviewed:
- A Declaration on Torelance : Our Commitment to Justice, Equality and Sharing, and
- a consultation document on Code on Holy sites

The first of these was approved - the second is now available for all to review and comment.

These documents are available at

http://www.worldfaiths.org/ECRL_Istanbul_declaration_on_Tolerance.pdf
and
http://www.worldfaiths.org/ECRL_Consultation_A_Code_on_Holy_Sites.pdf

Please feel free to copy these documents, review them within your own organisation and feed comments back to ECRL through me at imamsajid@worldfaiths.org

Imam Abduljalil Sajid
International Secretary
World Congress of Faiths
http://www.worldfaiths.org

Need or Greed: What have we learned from the financial meltdown?

2009-11-12T10:00:00.001-08:00

The WCF Moral Maze discussion in November 2009 in Southwark Cathedral was based on the recent financial crisis.

The following were the trigger points for the current financial meltdown.

Stage 1: Giving ordinary banks the right to create money and charge interest for its lending. Bearings and Leman Brothers that became bankrupt lent out 30 or more times money than the amounts that their depositors had given them. This is termed fractional reserve.
Stage 2: Placing a deposit on housing projects in US with the view of selling them at completion. If the housing prices and demand is high large profits are made, and conversely large losses are incurred when demand fails. This is termed leverage.
Stage 3: Deregulation in US mortgage based derivative (i.e. Mortgage backed securities) leading to a range of new financial instruments..
As the US house prices consistently rose, organisations and individual investors considered these new financial instruments to provide good comparable rate of financial return than shares or deposits in the bank, and there was insurance to provide cover in case of default of underlying mortgages.
This created great demand which led to large number of mortgages at very high percentage levels, being approved without completing due diligence prticularly to individuals considered as high risk (e.g. poor credit history, no assets, no job).
Companies like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have existed for decades prior to deregulation
Stage 4: The US housing bubble burst. The housing prices fell, and as interest on mortgages rose there was a lot of default by high risk individuals. Organisations that had used leverage in the housing sector lost money, those who had invested in new financial instruments attempted to claim insurance, however insurance companies such as AIG were so inundated with claims and could not pay out, and that resulted in huge losses.
Stage 5: Due to losses, people were concerned about their money in the bank and more people than usual started to take their money out of banks, and banks eventually stopped lending to each other in the short term as they were concerned about their own position and the stability of the other bank. As global banking is based on fractional reserve, and it common to lend 10 times more money than the amount of deposit, this led to financial meltdown through lack of confidence in banking system, that had to be averted.

The reason for the financial meltdown: investors were consistently making so much money in the short term that they lost sight of the inherent risk in their decisions. Can this be termed greed?

Expert witness views ranged from associating developing countries’ debt to developed countries as the negative aspect of capitalism, to comparing capitalism to freedom of expression that has an innate positive effect which can be misused.

Overall the panel emphasised associating greater importance to non-materialism than materialism. Two members condemned usury on religious principles.

My Interfaith week diary

2009-11-03T06:32:00.000-08:00

Nov 5th Moral Maze at Southwark Cathedral http://www.worldfaiths.org/events.php#southwark2

Nov 8th Youth interfaith event at Southwark plus participation in the Interfaith Service for peace

Nov 12th Lecture for Islington Interfaith Group, 'Why Bother with Interfaith?'

Nov 14th welcome group to synagogue service from Kingston Mosque.

Nov 15th Participate in Muslim/Jewish learning session at Regent's Park Mosque.

Nov 16th Lunch for local clergy at our synagogue

Nov 17th Talk on the care of Jewish patients at local hospital trust

Nov 18th Attend function at City Hall

Nov 19th Participate in panel at the Muhammadi Centre Willesden Green

Crazy, or what?

Preparing for the Parliament of World Religions

2009-10-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

Swamis, imams, rabbis, priests and gurus and their followers across the world are preparing for a pilgrimage to Australia for the fifth Parliament of World Religions, meeting in Melbourne from December 3-9.

The first Parliament, often seen as the birth of the Interfaith movement, met in Chicago in 1893. It was hundred years later before the next Parliament, also in Chicago. Much of the twentieth century was shaped by Secularism, Communism and Fascism – all hostile to religions, which themselves were still competitive rather than co-operative. Even so, the importance of understanding between members of the world religions was slowly being recognised, thanks to the International Association of Religious Freedom and the World Congress of Faiths, founded in 1936 by the explorer and mystic Francis Younghusband, and the growing academic study of world religions.

The 1966 Second Vatican Council decree Nostra Aetate encouraged Christians to appreciate and dialogue with adherents of other religions. Some Christians and Buddhists worked together for peace in Vietnam and a wider interfaith coalition – now known as Religions for Peace – was created to oppose nuclear weapons.

By 1993, when the centenary of the first Parliament of Religions was celebrated at events in UK, India, Japan, as well as Chicago, Communism had collapsed. The 1993 Parliament emphasised the moral values which religions share. Toward a Global Ethic called on believers to commit to non-violence, a just economic order, tolerance and truthfulness and gender equality.

At the next Parliament in 1999, members of ‘The Guiding Institutions’ of civil society were, with limited success, encouraged to join the dialogue. More important, meeting in the new multi-racial and multi-religious South Africa, the Parliament showed religions’ usefulness in strengthening social cohesion.

Following the 9/11 attack, the emphasis of the 2004 Parliament was on showing that in no religion’s authentic teaching, is there justification for killing innocent people. Meeting in Barcelona, where from Europe one can see the coast of Africa, the need for a dialogue of civilizations was obvious. Four key issues were highlighted – access to clean water, the plight of refugees, cancellation of poor nation’s debt and reducing religiously motivated violence.

Meeting at the same time as the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference and with the active participation of many Aboriginals, the danger to the environment will be high on the agenda of this year’s Parliament. The overall theme is ‘Make a World of Difference: Hearing each other, healing the earth.’ The focus will be on the environment, peace, overcoming poverty, and strengthening global interconnectedness. Some may ask whether travelling from Europe to Australia is good for the climate, but the distance for Australians to Copenhagen is the same and participants are encouraged to offset their carbon footprint.

The Parliament is not a legislative body that passes resolutions – but a Parliament, in the original sense, of an occasion where people talk to each other. It is not primarily a meeting of ‘religious leaders.’ Each participant has to decide how he or she will make a ‘world of difference,’ rather than telling other people what they should do. The Parliament is open to anyone, including members of new religious movements, who can afford to get there – and some financial help is available, especially for young people. The British-based World Congress of Faiths is presenting three programmes: A religious observance - ‘Respect for the Earth;’ A half day retreat – ‘The Inner Voice of Peace: Interfaith, A Life-Changing Experience;’ and a seminar on ‘Older People; Revered or Redundant.’

With over 8,000 participants, the Parliament’s programme will be very varied and reflect the different dimensions of interfaith activity today. Political leaders increasingly support interfaith because they hope that it can contribute to social cohesion and counteract extremists’ justification of violence by reference to religion. The importance of religion in shaping the community with which a person identifies and therefore in shaping a person’s sense of identity is easily underestimated especially by those who live in an increasingly secularised world. As a result, when conflict arises, although its causes are political or economic, because antagonists belong to different religions, that difference, and long remembered injustices, fuel the bitterness and are used to vilify the enemy. In the popular mind, therefore, and maybe the media, the conflict is then spoken of as a religious one or even a ‘holy war.’

In the long run education, at every level, is the key to improving interfaith relations. This still much often ignorance about other religions ensure that some study of world religions is included in the curriculum. People need also to learn about the artistic and musical heritage of other faiths.

The fruits of interfaith work, however, cannot be delivered without major theological rethinking in all religions. Over literal quotation of scriptures, which ignores centuries of scholarly interpretation needs to be challenged. The justification of violence made in the past by some religious traditions should be repudiated. People of faith need to affirm that there is One Divine Reality, even if understood differently in different traditions. For example, the words ‘Allah’ and ‘God’ both speak of the Almighty. More than three hundred years ago, the Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, insisted that ‘There is not One God for Hindus and another for Muslims.’ Increasingly, religious difference is valued and people of faith are glad to learn and share with each other. More often this results not from theological argument but by the friendships that grow from meetings such as the Parliament of Religions. New friendships can remove past misunderstandings.

Often it is more fruitful to concentrate on issues that are of common concern. Practical issues of poverty and climate change will claim the attention of others at the Parliament. People of faith are increasingly acting together to relieve human need and have been warning of the dangers of the moral vacuum at the heart of the New Economy. They are at the forefront of efforts to protect the environment. Religious NGOs have taken the lead in calling for a ban on cluster bombs. People of faith should speak for the poor, the marginalized and those who have no voice. The most difficult area is working together for peace. At the height of conflict, religious leaders can do little except call for restraint, but faiths can help to prevent hatred and have a major role in peace-building after violence by emphasizing the importance of reconciliation.

The inspiration for practical service for people of faith comes from their spiritual life. S, at the Parliament, each day will begin with religious observances, where participants can join with members of their own religion from around the world or experience another spiritual practice.

Only a few people can attend the Parliament but the event raises the profile of the wide range of interfaith activity across the world at local, national and international levels. UNESCO has taken important initiatives and are arranging a youth workshop at the Melbourne Parliament. The Second Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, with UN backing, met in Turkey in April 2009. In 2008 the UN Population Fund arranged a Forum with Faith-Based Organizations for Population and Development. The possibility of a UN Decade for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue is under discussion.

Together all this activity is creating a global concern for peace, for the poor, for the environment. Only the future will judge whether all these meetings result in the urgent practical action, which is necessary. In Gandhi’s words, ‘Will it be of any use to the poorest and weakest’ members of our world community?

Revd Dr Marcus Braybrooke

Step Forward for UN Decade of Dialogue

2009-03-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hopes for a UN Decade of Dialogue took a big step forward last week with the creation of a Coalition of faith-based, interfaith and value-based organisations, pledged to work together to realise this vision.

The meeting was in response to a UN General Assembly resolution, approved unanimously in November 2008 and sponsored by 78 Member States which requested “the Office for Economic and Social Council Support and Coordination in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, which plays the focal point role on inter-religious, inter-cultural and inter-civilizational matters, to coordinate with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in facilitating consideration of the possibility of proclaiming a United Nations decade for inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace”
See Resolution A/63/L.24/Rev.2 of 13 November 2008. Paragraph 8.

Over fifty organisations, including representatives from all the great world religions, took part in the meeting to form the coalition, which was held at the Maryknoll Centre at Ossining, near New York. Among those taking part were representatives of the World Council of Churches, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the Roman Catholic International Union of Superior Generals of Religious Congregations, Religions for Peace and the World Scout Movement. The meeting ended with a briefing session in the Eco-Chamber at the United Nations.

The President of the UN General Assembly, H.E Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, expressed his strong support for the initiative, saying, ‘As we rush to prevent the immediate social devastation that is already seen in the world, we must keep clam and keep our eye on the prize – long-term peace and justice for all citizens of this beleagured planet. In this lies the strength of your Coalition.’ Rev Dr Marcus Braybrooke, representing the World Congress of Faiths and the Three Faiths Forum said, ‘The Decade will be sign of hope. It will help the UN reconnect with ordinary people and challenge faith communities to make their priority the search for peace and justice, the relief of poverty and the preservation of the planet.’

Healing the Scars of Conflict

2009-03-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

'Commitment to Non-Violence needs to be matched by a willingness to challenge injustice.' This was the message of the four courageous speakers at the recent WCF day conference on 'Healing the Scars of Conflict. '
Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire said that in Northern Ireland the Peace People had to confront those who resorted to arms. Equally now she is actively campaigning for justice for the people of Gaza. Donald Reeves, formerly Vicar of St James', Picadilly, and now Director of 'Soul of Europe', has had to challenge prejudice and persuaded religious leaders to work for reconciliation. Ibrahim Issa and Ghassan Manasra, representatives of Jerusalem Peacemakers, told of the difficulties facing their work for peace. Yet despite the difficulties all four speakers, thanks to their faith, remained confident that an honest facing of past evil and the willingness to forgive could bring healing and hope even in the most troubled situations.
The beautiful and tranquil setting of the Abbey at Sutton Courtenay was a striking contrast to the situation in which all the speakers are active. Yet, as they said, without inner peace no one can bring healing and peace to others.

Hope for the Future!

2008-12-09T06:18:00.000-08:00

The Uppsala Interfaith Climate Manifesto 2008

Faith traditions addressing Global Warming

As religious leaders and teachers from the whole world, gathered in Uppsala 2008, we call for effective leadership and action in view of the global threat to the climate. From religious traditions, with different approaches to religious life, we come together at this time in human history to assure the world of what we have in common. We all share the responsibility of being conscious caretakers of our home, planet Earth. We have reflected on the concerns of scientists and political leaders regarding the alarming climate crisis. We share their concerns.
The world religions are a source of empowerment for change in lifestyles and patterns of consumption. Religious faith remains a powerful force for good among a considerable number of the human family. We undertake this mission in a spirit of responsibility and faith.

FROM WONDER TO CHANGE

With a sense of wonder we look at life on planet Earth. It is a miracle - and a gift!
Clear nights with the sky full of stars fill us with awe. It reminds us of our role in the universe. We have many reasons to be humble. Meditating on the sea shore, in the desert or in the forest allows us to feel one with the universe, yet we are so small. Faith traditions with diverse cultures and backgrounds converge to express wonder and awe at the gift of life.

In the history of the Earth, the climate has always varied. However, we are very concerned about the huge human impact on the Earth’s very complex and sensitive climate system. Today humanity constitutes a major force which changes the preconditions of life and welfare for most creatures on the planet. We know enough to realize that we need to act now in the interest of future generations. The situation is critical. Glaziers and the permafrost are melting. Devastating drought and flooding strike people and ecosystems, especially in the South.

Can planet Earth be healed? We are convinced that the answer is yes. Major transformations in understanding human life, lifestyles and work modes, economy, trade and technology are needed. Ethics and values are intrinsic to the development of new institutional structures and architectures of politics and finance. In the religious realm long-sightedness has always been important. More than ever before the world now needs extraordinary, long-sighted political leadership.

OUR APPEALS TO THE COPENHAGEN PROCESS

For the Earth, salvation is about more than new technology and green economy. Salvation is about the inner life of human beings. Life without hope is detrimental to human existence. The peoples of this beautiful precious planet need to dialogue about what it means to live together, with global empathy in a global village. Religions can contribute to this in a decisive way.

As people from world religions, we urge governments and international organisations to prepare and agree upon a comprehensive climate strategy for the Copenhagen Agreement. This strategy must be ambitious enough to keep climate change below 2° Celsius, and to distribute the burden in an equitable way in accordance with the principles of common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities. Greenhouse Development Rights offers one concrete model of such burden sharing. We urge all actors concerned to find politically acceptable tools to realize this.

The Copenhagen Agreement must counteract misuse of land, of forests, and of farmland, using creative incentives for landowners, users and indigenous communities to manage growing forests as carbon sinks.

We ask the global political leadership for:

· Rapid and large emission cuts in the rich world. Developed countries, especially those in Europe and North America, must lead the way. In the developed countries emissions should be reduced by at least 40 per cent by 2020 and 90 per cent by 2050 against 1990 levels.

· Binding cuts for the rich world on top of their domestic obligations. According to the principles of responsibility and capability countries should pay for international cuts in addition to their own domestic initiatives. These payments should be obligatory, rather than voluntary.

· Measurable, verifiable and reportable mitigation actions by developing countries, especially countries with fast growing economies.

· Massive transfers and sharing of important technology. All countries must encourage and facilitate the sharing of technology that is intrinsically important to reducing emissions. Developing countries must have viable and technologically responsible opportunities to provide for their populations.

· Economic incentives for developing countries to foster cleaner development on a national scale.

· Adaptation to climate change. According to the same principles of responsibility and capability, countries must ensure that poor and vulnerable communities are empowered and supported. Adaptation to climate change must not fail for want of money or other resources.

HUMILITY, RESPONSIBILITY – AND HOPE!

We urge political and religious leaders to bear responsibility for the future of our planet and the living conditions and habitat preservation of new generations, assured in this of support and cooperation from the faith traditions of the world. The climate crisis is a fundamental spiritual question for the survival of humanity on planet Earth. At the same time, we know that the world has never before been more capable of creating sustainable development. Humanity possesses the knowledge and technology. Popular commitment to doing what can and must be done is growing.

We are challenged to review the values, philosophies, beliefs and moral concepts which have shaped and driven our behaviours and informed our dysfunctional relationship with our natural environment.
We commit ourselves to taking and sharing responsibility for providing moral leadership within our various faith traditions and for others who so desire. We call upon all who have influence over the shaping of both intellect and spirit, to commit themselves to a profound reorientation of humanity’s self-understanding and of the world, whereby we acknowledge our estrangement and henceforth strive to live in harmony with Nature and one another.
We offer the gift of our various faiths as a source of empowerment for developing sustainable) lifestyles and patterns of consumption. We undertake this mission in a spirit of humility, responsibility, faith and urgency.
Now is the time to mobilise people and nations.
As people of different faiths, we make these commitments:

· To inform and inspire people in our own religious and cultural contexts to take responsibility for and to implement effective measures

· To challenge political and business leaders where we live and work to develop comprehensive strategies and action

· To focus on the struggle against global warming and draw upon our innermost religious convictions about the meaning of life. This commitment is a deeply spiritual question concerning justice, peace and hopes for a future in love and solidarity with all human beings and the whole of creation.

As religious leaders and teachers, we want to counteract a culture of fear with a culture of hope. We want to face the climate challenge with defiant optimism to highlight the core principles of all major sacred traditions of the world: justice, solidarity and compassion. We want to encourage the best science and political leadership. We commit our communities to fostering a spirit of joy and hope in relation to the greatest gift given to us all - the gift of life!

SIGNATORIES TO THE UPPSALA INTERFAITH CLIMATE MANIFESTO

Ms Charanjit AjitSingh, Sikh, Great Britain
Actively involved in interfaith dialogue for three decades

Dr Kezevino Aram, Hindu, India
Director of Shanti Ashram, in Coimbatore, India

The Revd Sally Bingham, Christian, USA
Director of The Regeneration Project / Interfaith Power and Light Campaign

Father Dr John T. Brinkman, M.M., Christian, Japan
Historian of religions whose work has particular reference to East Asia

The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Richard Chartres, Christian, Great Britain
Bishop of London since 1996

Father John Chryssavgis, Christian, USA
Representing the Ecumenical Patriarch, Constantinople

Dr Mawil Izzie Dien, Muslim, Great Britain
Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies, University of Wales, Lampeter, UK

Prof. Larbi Djeradi, Muslim, Algeria
University of Mostaghanem, Algeria

Sheikh Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun, Muslim, Syria
Grand Mufti of Syria

Prof. Xiaoxin He, Daoist, China
Head of ARC China Program

Sheikha Amina al-Jerrahi, Muslim, Mexico
Master of the Halveti Jerrahi Sufi Order, Mexico City

His Eminence Metropolitan John of Pergamon, Christian, Greece
Representing the Ecumenical Patriarch, Constantinople

Mr Tore Johnsen, Saami/Christian, Norway
Pastor and leader of the Sami Church Council in Norway

The Very Revd Colin Jones, Christian, South Africa,
Trustee at Desmond Tutu Peace Centre and member of the Tällberg Foundation team

Ms Bernie T. Keldermans, Christian, Republic of Pelau
Environmental scientist at the forefront of the national campaign to protect the islands

The Very Revd Leonid Kishkovsky, Christian, USA
Director of External Affairs of the Orthodox Church in America

Prof. Oren R. Lyons, Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation, Six Nations
Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, member of the Onondaga. Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations

Prof. Dr J.N.K.Mugambi, Christian, Kenya
Africa representative, WCC Working Group on Climate Change

The Rt Revd Sofie Petersen, Christian, Greenland
Member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches

Prof. Rosemary Radford Ruether, Christian, USA
A pioneer in the area of feminist theology in North America

Mr M. Abdus Sabur, Bangkok, Muslim, Thailand
Secretary General of AMAN, Asian Muslim Action Network

The Rt Revd Thomas Samuel, Christian, India
Bishop of the Church of South India, Madhya Kerala Diocese

Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, Jewish, The Netherlands
Dutch leader of the Reformed Jewish congregation in the Hague

The Ven. Bhikku Khy Sovanratana, Buddhist, Cambodia
Personal advisor to the Buddhist Supreme Patriarch in Cambodia

Prof. Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Jewish, USA
Professor of History at Arizona State University, USA

The Ven. Bhiksuni Chuehman Shih, Buddhist, Taiwan
Thervada Buddhism Coordinator at the Fo Guang Shan monastery

Prof. Parichart Suwanbubbha, Buddhist, Thailand
Professor of Comparative Religion and Ethical Studies at Mahidol University

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Jewish, USA
Has developed a theology and practice of eco-Judaism. Director for the Shalom Centre

The Most Revd Anders Wejryd, Christian, Sweden
Archbishop of Uppsala, Primate of the Church of Sweden

Prof. Liu Xiaogan, Daoist, Hong Kong
Professor of Philosophy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong

05/11/2008 10:06

My Faith and our World

2008-10-21T03:12:00.000-07:00

"My Faith and our World" - Faiths in Sussex Programme
Worth Abbey 2-6 PM, Sunday 19 October 2008

Driving to Worth Abbey was a celebration of autumn:
The leaves, red, yellow and gold, glistening in the sunlight.
As we arrived, Nigel Tomsett was welcoming participants
at the parking lot; Ian Lawton was taking registrations and
giving name tags in the entrance hall, and Heather Tomsett
was providing a welcome cup of tea.

At 2:30, Father Paul Fleetwood welcomed us in the Unity Room,
on behalf of Abbot Christopher. Many of us had heard Abbot
Christopher that morning as he spoke on BBC Radio South about
his new book on HAPPINESS.

Peter Brown from "Faith in Worthing" ably chaired the opening panel.

The first speaker was Shaykh Ismail Yusuf, Imam of Hastings.
Trained at the Muslim College of London, he opened his presentation
by telling us "Rightousness is not involved in facing this direction or
that direction." To live rightly is to do justice nd mercy. To keep
faith in God and the Holy Books. And in Islam, to perform the
"pillars" of prayer, pilgrimage, fasting, and giving.

Rabbi Charles Wallach of Shaarei Shalom Synagogue in Brighton and
Hove told us the story of the man who asked Rabbi Hillel to tell him
the essence of the Torah while standing on one leg. Rabbi Hillel said,
"What is hateful to you, do not do to others."

Barrney Leith of the Bahai National Spiritual Assembly gave us a brief
history of the Bahai faith from its founding in Iran in the 19th Century.
"The Bahai faith affirms human beings as manifestations of God."
To Bahais, "All mankind is one family."

As discussion opening, Vivenne (organiser of interfaith events in London),
asked a challenging question, "Is there an aspect of your faith you disagree
with?" Rabbi Wallach asked her for clarification. She said, "For example,
I am a Christian, but I don't believe Jesus is God." The Rabbi told of Jews
who don't believe, but who support the Jewish Community. Also, he said,
that when he is among "Ultra-Orthodox Jews," he tries to observe their
customs. But in his own synagogue he does not follow such strict practice.

Shaykh Yusuf told us, "The Holy Quran says that when God created the
world, humanity was like a baby." The early prophets gradually built
the temple of scripture. Then Mohammed came and laid the final brick.
*******************
It was time for tea, and wonderous cakes, apple, ginger and chocolate.
Thanks to all who provided this bounty.

We returned to Unity Hall for the Young Adult Panel. As Nigel Tomsett
wrote after the meeting, "Who ever got the young people for the panel
please pass on our thanks? They showed such enthusiasm and knowledge
and were so well prepared for their talk. All together a great day hosted as usual
by the abbey with such efficiency and love. Paul, Peter and Ian please pass our
thanks to your groups."

The young adults were Adib Farid, Bahai from Brighton, Adrian & Lisa, from
the Elmgrove Community in Brighton, and Mr. Inti Kahn, Muslim, who gave us
his thanks at the end, saying, "Whoever does not thank people,does not thank God."

The afternoon closed as the 44 or so of us stood in a circle, and shared
the familiar words of the Muslim Poet, Rumi,
"Come, come whoever you are, wanderer worshipper, lover of leaving.
Ours is no caravan of despair, come, yet again come."

As part of the STAND UP AND TAKE ACTION on poverty weekend, all were asked
to consider, fasting, or eating only a banana for lunch one day, and giving the money
saved to some cause like UNICEF. On United Nations Day, I will join with many
others in doing that. On BBC Southern Counties Radio, at 8 AM on 19 October,
I gave the "thought for the day" below.

REMINDER - the next meeting of the Faiths in Sussex Committee,
Monday, 27 October, 7:30 PM, at Worth Abbey
Thought for the Day, BBC Southern Counties Radio
This week I read a headline which said,
"Billion go hungry as rich countries fail to pay up."

What can I do? Each week, I have a banana day:
One "fair trade" banana for breakfast, another for lunch.
It helps keep my weigh down.
It reminds me that I eat to live, not live to eat.

I learned the practice from Buddhists in Japan,
who skip one meal each week and give the money saved to charity.

I wrote suggesting that Churches promote "skip one meal."
A colleague replied that she did not believe in "tokenism" and would not
support "band-aids" like "skipping a meal."

Instead, I find it like the white wristband I wear, which says,
"make poverty history." The wristband will not cure poverty.
But it does help cure the poverty of my soul.

When the market is down and pensions are declining,
we can do something.
This October, will you observe One World Week
by eating a fair trade banana? Instead of lunch? .
Will you give the money saved to some cause
like UNICEF?

During the last Great Depression, the Japanese Christian Kagawa wrote:
"Penniless,
for a while I can live.
But it breaks my heart to know
I cannot give."
Peace and love, Richard Boeke

Conference of the World Fellowship of Interreligious Councils in Cochin

2008-10-10T11:20:00.000-07:00

WFIRC 2008 ASSEMBLY

Spirituality and the Environment

Marcus Braybrooke.

Your honour, revered leaders, brothers and sisters, thank you for honouring me by this invitation to speak.

I am delighted to be in Kochi again and to have the opportunity to participate in another Assembly of the World Federation of Inter-religious Councils. I am sure you will all join me in expressing our appreciation to Fr Albert Nambiaparambil, and those who have worked with him, for bringing us all together and in voicing our thanks to him for a life devoted to building interfaith fellowship.

I personally, as a Christian, owe a great deal to India’s rich spiritual heritage. Over forty years ago I studied at Madras Christian College. I learned from Hinduism that the Mystery of the Divine is more wonderful than any names by which we address the Holy. This helped me discover the Christian mystical tradition, which in the sixties was largely hidden. The great Mosques of North India deepened my sense of the transcendent glory of God. Later, visiting the Golden Temple, I became more aware of how precious all our scriptures are to us. I could speak of the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and of Buddhism in making me aware, as Jesus also showed, that any real change can only come by non-violent means. I could go on, but my first point is that far from diluting our particular faith, our interfaith fellowship is spiritually enriching and, as C.F. Andrews said, it makes us more aware of the universal compassion of the Divine.
Interfaith sharing is also enriching as our personal friendships grow and the importance of this needs to be emphasised at a time when religious differences are misused to foment hatred and violence. Our interfaith friendships ‘bind us together in love’ and in an affection in which our religious labels become irrelevant. This was vividly emphasised to us on Vivekananda’s rock on the day before the 1993 WFIRC Assembly. We had only just arrived in India and as were shown round Mary - who asks me to send her greetings to her many interfaith friends here - felt quite faint. Various people offered to help and it was a Baha’i who pushed us to front of the queue onto the ferry. Then, when we got off it, a Hindu drove us to the hotel. About an hour later, there was a knock on the door and there if I remember aright, was Mrs Meher Master Moos with an envelope in her hand. ‘I think you dropped this on the rock. Do you want it?’ It contained our tickets, our passports, and our money. ‘Yes, thank you, we certainly do need it.’

But, an old man’s privilege, allow me one more memory. At Madras Christian College, I went with some other students – a Catholic from Sri Lanka and a Muslim from Hyderabad to help at a Leprosy Clinic. The doctor was a Saivite. There I learned what is the deepest reason for our interfaith endeavours: that we should overcome past prejudice and misunderstanding and join together in the service of the poor. Each child who dies of hunger or of a curable disease is evidence of our failure and the failure of our religions to serve God – of whatever name – in the way that God most desires.

This too is why not only faiths should come together but also why all who give time and energy to the various interfaith groups – be they local, national or international – also need to co-operate. This is why the International Interfaith Centre was set up in Oxford fifteen years ago. The interfaith movement is bigger than any organisation. There is more than enough for us all to do and we shall be more effective in the changes for which we pray if we see ourselves as partners. It is this that IION – the International Interfaith Organisations Network - exists to encourage. We will be enriched in our discussions as we learn of what all of you are doing and I hope we can contribute to this important gathering. Thank you for welcoming us. And our IION meeting here is a sign that we take environmental issues seriously. Many of us wished in any case to accept the kind invitation to the WFIRC meeting, but by having the IION meeting at the same time – we have halved our carbon footprint – so thank you for your hospitality.

What I want to suggest tonight is that we need nothing less than a spiritual revolution if we are to do justice to our responsibilities to the environment. I said this in a World Congress of Faiths ‘Interfaith Celebration of Animals’ a couple of weeks ago and then next day read these words by Chandra Muzzafar of Just International, who would like to have been here: ‘The solutions … require an unprecedented paradigm shift in the way in which we look at ourselves, at others, and at the planet we inhabit.’ [1]

Care of the environment is central to our concern for social justice. Droughts, which are linked to climate change, are one cause of the current food crisis. The likely rise in sea levels will endanger the poor who live in areas most exposed to flooding. Moreover the richer countries consume more of the world’s resources and their carbon footprints are those of giants, if not dinosaurs. These are issues that, no doubt, the panels will be discussing. But these issues point beyond themselves to our need to discover or recover a truly spiritual relationship to Nature

Recently I went to Eilat in the South of Israel on the Red Sea, where there is a coral reef and an aquarium that allows you to go under water and observe the amazing variety of brightly coloured fish. I felt part of the ocean life and recognised again that every creature - ‘water-beings, fire-beings, plants, animals’ (to quote from the Jain scriptures) from the simplest to the most complex share the wonderful gift of Life.

My friend and great spiritual teacher Donald Nicholl – some of you may know his book Holiness - wrote of his experience one morning climbing down the steep path into the Grand Canyon in America. Seeing the different layers of fossils, he said, ‘You feel a true kinship with all those beings knowing that you and they trace their existence back to the first moment when life appeared on earth. And then you start to reflect that the very eyes with which you are observing these wondrous evidences are the result of millions of years of striving for light… We are who we are thanks to the striving and sacrifice of innumerable living beings who have helped to make possible the life we enjoy.’

We are part of a chain of being that stretches back for millions of years and we need to recognise our interdependence with all life and our need to respect and care for it. This truth, as you well know and could illustrate, is to be found in all the great religious traditions. It is also affirmed in publications of the United Nations Environment Programme. [2]

Prophetic thinkers such as Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Aurobindo, however, go further and have emphasised that the story of evolution is a growth in consciousness, which in human beings becomes self-consciousness. The pattern of sacrifice, of life through death, which in the Natural world is involuntary, now becomes a matter of choice. As Jesus said, ‘He who loses his life will save it.’

Are we willing to lay down our lives for others? Too often we refuse and history is the repeated tragic story of killing rather than being killed. But spiritual teachers, such as Jesus who chose the way of the Cross, and the Buddha or Mahatma Gandhi and many others who preached non-violence, teach us that sacrifice is the way to life. The Environmental Crisis is not a problem out there – for World Leaders and the World Bank to solve – but a direct question to each one of us about our own spirituality. Do we reflect in the way we live, in the choices we make, in our awareness of our oneness with people of other faiths and races, in our care for animals and our respect for nature, this reverence for all life? Are we living icons of the truth that life - all life - is precious, because it is a gift of God?

It is fascinating that mystics who plumb the depths of the Spirit and those who have explored outer space have the same message for us.

Pictures of the earth taken from space have been called a symbol for our age. Astronauts David Brown and Kalpana Chawla, who both died in the Columbia spacecraft disaster, spoke of the magical beauty of our planet as seen from space. ‘If I’d been born in space,’ David Brown said, ‘I would desire to visit beautiful Earth more than I ever yearned to visit space. It’s a wonderful planet.’ Kalpana Chawla said, ‘The first view of Earth is magical… in such a small planet, with such a small ribbon of life, so much goes on. You get the feeling that I need to work extraordinarily hard along with other human beings to respect that.’ [3]

Mystics who have explored inner space proclaim the same message of unity. The French Jesuit and palaeontologist Teilhard de Chardin said, ‘I live at the heart of a single, unique Element, the Centre of the Universe, and present in each part of it; personal Love and cosmic Power.’ [4] The American environmental theologian Fr. Thomas Berry has written ‘We are earthlings. The Earth is our origin, our nourishment, our support, our guide. Our spirituality itself is Earth-derived.’ [5]

Awareness of our oneness with all life and with the Source of Being should inspire in us the compassion and energy that will ensure that all people live in peace and that no one goes hungry and that the Natural world is protected for future generations and that all beings are valued and their right to life is respected. To share in such a spiritual revolution is today’s exciting and challenging call to all people of faith. As the environmentalist Jane Goodall says, ‘We are moving toward the ultimate destiny of our species – a state of compassion and love.’ [6]

Rev Dr Marcus Braybrooke is President of the World Congress of Faiths, Patron of the International Interfaith Centre and Co-Founder of the Three Faiths Forum. He is the author of over forty books including A Heart for the World and What Can We learn from Hinduism and What can We learn from Islam. He edited the anthology 1,000 World Prayers.

NOTES
[1]Chandra Muzaffar in Just Commentary,Vol 8, No 8, August 2008., p. 1
[2] See for example Earth and Faith,
[3] Quoted in Marcus Braybrooke, 365 Meditations for a Peaceful Heart and a Peaceful World, Godsfield , 2004, p. 380
[4] Teilhard de Chardin, quoted in ‘The Cosmology of Religions’, p. 97
[5] Spirituality of the Earth’ in Celebrating Earth Holy Days, Ed. Susan J Clark, Crossroad, 1992
[6] Jane Goodall, Reason for Hope, Warner Books, 1999, p. 267.

Fifth WCF Interfaith Celebration of Animals

2008-09-19T00:40:00.000-07:00

Fifth WCF Interfaith Celebration of Animals.
Sermon at Golders Green Unitarian Church
By Rev Dr Marcus Braybrooke

First, I would like to thank Golders Green Unitarians for their hospitality this afternoon and especially Revd Feargus O’Connor for taking so much care in arranging the service. Thanks to all the readers for their inspiring contributions

Animal Welfare has long been a concern of the World Congress of Faiths. In fact a whole session was devoted to this subject at a conference as long ago as 1951. Many of us will remember that Edward Carpenter, who was Dean of Westminster and President of the World Congress of Faiths was also an active campaigner foranimal welfare
Are you a man or a mouse? If you look at our DNA, I gather there is not much difference. This should remind us that we are part of animal world and not masters of it. As the Qur’an puts it:
No creature is there crawling on the earth,
no bird flying with its wings,
but they are nations like yourselves. (6, 38)

Accepting the theory of evolution does not necessarily lead to the atheistic conclusion that Richard Dawkins was recently advocating on television. For many people of faith, the theory of evolution has confirmed the Psalmist’s words that ‘we are fearfully and wonderfully made.’ (Ps 139, 13). We are part of a chain of being that stretches back for millions of years and we need to recognise our interdependence with all life.

Mary, who is very sorry not to be here, and I are just back from a wonderful pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Some of you will be interested that we spent our first night at Neve Shalom/Wahat Al Salam – a Jewish/Arab village that I know you as a church support. We also went to Eilat in the South, where there is a coral reef and an aquarium that allows you to go under water and observe the amazing variety of brightly coloured fish. I felt part of the ocean life and recognised again that every creature - ‘water-beings, fire-beings, plants, animals’ (to quote from the Jain scriptures) from the simplest to the most complex share the wonderful gift of Life.

My friend and great spiritual teacher Donald Nicholl – some of you may know his book Holiness - wrote of his experience one morning climbing down the steep path into the Grand Canyon in America. Seeing the different layers of fossils, ‘You feel a true kinship with all those beings knowing that you and they trace their existence back to the first moment when life appeared on earth. And then you start to reflect that the very eyes with which you are observing these wondrous evidences are the result of millions of years of striving for light… We are who we are thanks to the striving and sacrifice of innumerable living beings who have helped to make possible the life we enjoy.’

You may yourself have had a moment when you felt part of all that lives and that all that lives is part of you. Recall, perhaps, Vaughan Williams’ ever popular ‘A Lark Ascending.’ The mystic Forest Reid wrote nearly a hundred years ago of a time when, he said, ‘I lay down on my back in the warm dry moss and listened to the skylark singing… It was a passionate joyous singing. It was a leaping, exultant ecstasy… the whole world seemed to be within me.’ It is the sense of Presence of which William Wordsworth wrote. As a Native American said, ‘When w elook around, we see part of our Mother Nature everywhere.’

The story of evolution as writers such as Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Aurobindo have emphasised is a growth in consciousness, which in human beings becomes self-consciousness. The pattern of sacrifice, of life through death, which in the Natural world is involuntary, now becomes a matter of choice. As Jesus said, ‘He who loses his life will save it.’

Are we willing to lay down our lives for others? Too often we refuse and history is the repeated tragic story of killing rather than being killed. But spiritual teachers, such as Jesus who chose the way of the Cross, and the Buddha or Mahatma Gandhi who preached non-violence recognised that sacrifice is the way to live.

That sacrifice, happily, for many of us does not involve martyrdom, but it is the choice to live for others – the parent caring for the child, the child tending frail elderly parents. There is an African saying that we look after our children till they have their full set of teeth, so that they can look after us when we have no teeth.

And we should practice this way of respect, non-violence and self-giving care in our dealings with all living beings and with Nature itself. The dangers of global warming and environmental damage require nothing less than a spiritual revolution.

Self-consciousness is both a precious gift and a great responsibility. Because we have choice, can help to shape the future of weal or woe. Fr Thomas Berry, a leading environmental theologian, has explained that ‘the universe is now experienced as an irreversible time-developmental process. Not so much a cosmos as a cosmogenesis, by which I think he means the world is not ready made but still in the making. Indeed the first verse of the book of Genesis in the Bible which is usually translated ‘In the beginning God created the world’ can also be translated, ‘When God began to create the world.’ We are part of an on-going cosmic process which each of us in our little ways can help to shape. As we become transformed by Divine Love and reflect that love not only in our dealings with other people but with all life we are in harmony with the Divine purpose.

Pictures of the earth taken from space have been called a symbol for our age. Astronauts David Brown and Kalpana Chawla, who both died in the Columbia spacecraft disaster, spoke of the magical beauty of our planet as seen from space. ‘If I’d been born in space,’ David Brown said, ‘I would desire to visit beautiful Earth more than I ever yearned to visit space. It’s a wonderful planet.’ Kalpana Chawla said, ‘The first view of Earth is magical… in such a small planet, with such a small ribbon of life, so much goes on. You get the feeling that I need to work extraordinarily hard along with other human beings to respect that.’[1]

Mystics who have explored inner space proclaim the same message of unity. The French Jesuit and palaeontologist Teilhard de Chardin said, ‘I live at the heart of a single, unique Element, the Centre of the Universe, and present in each part of it; personal Love and cosmic Power.’[2] Fr. Thomas Berry has written ‘We are earthlings. The Earth is our origin, our nourishment, our support, our guide. Our spirituality itself is Earth-derived.’[3] As the environmentalist Jane Goodall says, ‘We are moving toward the ultimate destiny of our species – a state of compassion and love.’[4]

It is an awareness of our oneness with all life and with the Source of Being that will inspire our compassion and energy to rediscover the way to live in harmony with Nature, ensuring that it is protected for future generations and that all beings are valued and their right to life is respected. To share in shaping such an earth community in which all life is held precious is today’s exciting and challenging call to all people of faith.

[1] Quoted in Marcus Braybrooke, 265 Meditations for a Peaceful Heart and a Peaceful World, Godsfield , 2004, p. 380

[2] Teilhard de Chardin, quoted in ‘The Cosmology of Religions’, p. 97,

[3] Thomas Berry quoted in ‘The Cosmology of Religions’, p. 98. See also, Thomas Berry, ‘The Spirituality of the Earth’ in Celebrating Earth Holy Days, Ed. Susan J Clark,Crossroad, 1992, pp. 69-82.

[4] Jane Goodall, Reason for Hope, Warner Books, 1999, p. 267.

Religion, Spirituality and the Secular

2008-06-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Marcus and Mary Braybrooke both spoke at the joint meeting of the Alister Hardy Society and the World Congress of Faiths today.

Pictured here are some of the people at the meeting - from left to right
Edward Bailey, Mary Braybrooke, Marcus Braybrooke, Marianne Rankin, John Franklin and Rowena Rudkin

Marcus' and Mary's talks are on the WCF website at http://www.worldfaiths.org/articles.htm

Pictures from Interfaith High Religious Leaders meeting

2008-05-09T04:21:00.000-07:00

These pictures were sent from Mr Nawab Khan of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

Delegation of European Muslim at Brussles on Monday 5^th May 2008 From left to right: Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid Vice President and International Secretary of World Congress of Faiths (WCF) ; Muhamed Bechari Président of French National Muslims ; Dr Mustafa Ceric Grand Mufti of Bosnia ; Ayatullah Moezi of Islamic Center Media Vale London.

Second Picture is of a Press Conference where the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Council, Janez Janša, and the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering. addressed the Press group with High Level European Religious Leaders

Presidents of Commission, Council and Parliament discuss climate change and reconciliation with European faith leaders

On the initiative of the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, an informal dialogue took place on 5 May in the headquarters of the European Commission, bringing together around twenty high-level representatives of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in Europe. The meeting was co-chaired by European Commission President Barroso, Slovenian Prime Minister and current President of the European Council, Janez Janša, and the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering. This year's meeting focused on two major challenges facing the European Union: Climate Change and Reconciliation.

This was the fourth annual meeting with religious leaders and the second involving the Presidents of the three EU institutions. The initiative was launched by President Barroso in 2005.

This year, discussions centred around "Climate change: an ethical challenge for all cultures". President Barroso declared: "Climate change obliges all of us to take urgent action. Each part of civil society must contribute to ensuring a sustainable future of our planet. Thanks to their outreach and role in our societies, religions and communities of belief are well placed to make a valuable contribution in mobilising them for a sustainable future. Let's unite in our common endeavour and prove that the preachers of a clash of civilisations are wrong."

The President of the European Council, Janez Janša, insisted: "The environment is not only natural but also a sacred place. Community and loyalty between man, nature and the Creator is a basic principle of Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike. Climate change requires us to rethink how we channel imagination, ingenuity and entrepreneurship into creating a world, free of dependence on fossil fuels, and yet prosperous and connected as never before. This would not mean that we should get away with what we have achieved. We should only rethink our achievements and look at them from a different point of view."

As 2008 is the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the high-level meeting is a welcome opportunity to focus also on the topic of "Reconciliation through intercultural and inter-faith dialogue".

EP President Pöttering said "Intercultural dialogue is a key instrument to building bridges between people and to safeguarding peace based on mutual respect. Intercultural dialogue therefore is also an important contribution to the European Union's relations with its neighbouring countries, in particular in the Mediterranean region".

Participants of the meeting shared their views on the two main themes and agreed on the essential role of religions and communities of belief in tackling our common challenges and mobilising our societies for a sustainable future. Participants demonstrated their willingness and commitment to continue this important dialogue, among themselves and with the European institutions.

Commissioners Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Ján Figel' as well as European Parliament Vice President Mario Mauro also took part in the religious leaders' meeting.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2008

2008-05-09T04:00:00.000-07:00

At our AGM in the Sternberg Centre in Finchley on 7 May we heard about plans for the future of WCF.
Our new Treasurer and IT specialist Pejman Khojasteh has great ideas for this website.
Please let us know how you would like to see it improved.
As well as a new Treasurer, we welcomed two new members to the committee - Martha Besser and Revd Jonathan Barker. Their information will appear on the information page soon.
Our Annual Younghusband Lecture was in two parts - by Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield, and Revd Dr Marcus Braybrooke on the subject of 'The Delusion of Favouritism'. More information will be published on the website soon.
We also said farewell, at least for the time being, to Carmel Momen and David Storey, who are finding other things to do.
We also paid tribute to Vinod Kapashi's work as Treasurer for the past few years - he is staying on the committee as a valuable contact for Hinduism and Jainism.

International Interfaith Organisations Network Meeting

2007-12-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

International Interfaith Organisations Network Meeting

Representatives of twelve leading international interfaith organisations have reaffirmed their commitment to co-operate and to ensure that their resources are used as effectively as possible to foster inter-religious understanding and co-operation. It was recognised that each organisation has a particular emphasis to its work and that the organisations should be mutually supportive. The twelve organisations are members of the International Interfaith Organisations Network (IION), which held its annual meeting at the Global Retreat Centre, near Oxford from 26^th to 28^th November 2007.

Particular attention was paid to the developing interfaith work at the United Nations both in New York and Geneva. A series of UN General Assembly Resolutions have led to a Conference on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace and to a High-level Dialogue on "Interreligious and Intercultural Cooperation for promotion of tolerance, understanding and universal respect on matters of religion or belief and cultural diversity". It was agreed that named representatives of the organizations should be kept informed of and invited to comment by those involved on the issues being discussed. It was also agreed to ask Gerardo Gonzales to keep organizations informed about the possibility of a Decade of Interreligious Dialogue and to invite their support.
The meeting heard about plans for the next Parliament of the World's Religions which is to be held at Melbourne, Australia in from 3^rd to 9^th December 2009 and discussed their participation in this global event.
It was encouraging to learn from participants how many young people are engaged in interfaith work in different parts of the world. Members also shared best practice in responding to hurt caused by extremism.
It was agreed that an improved website could help keep member organisations informed of each other's work and raise public awareness of it.
It was hoped that the Elijah Interfaith Institute, Just International and the International Council of Christians & Jews would become active members of the Network. The participating organisations were:

Council for the Parliament of the World's Religions, Inter Faith Network UK, International Association for Religious Freedom, International Interfaith Centre, Minorities of Europe, North American Interfaith Net, Religions for Peace (WCRP), Temple of Understanding, Three Faiths Forum, United Religions Initiative, World Congress of Faiths, and World Fellowship of Inter-Religious Councils. (Also Interfaith Youth Core who were unable to send a representative to this meeting)
It is planned to hold the next meeting at Cochin, India from 3^rd to 7^th October 2008, in conjunction with the World Fellowship of Inter-Religious Councils Assembly. It is also hoped to hold a meeting at Melbourne in December 2009 before or during the Parliament of the World's Religions.

For further information please contact the International Interfaith Centre, Oxford.

iic@interfaith-centre.org www.interfaith-centre.org/

Global Spirituality: a Personal Transformation Hamburg 2007

2007-11-09T04:37:00.000-08:00

‘A Civilization with a Heart’ is the beautiful name that Wayne Teasdale, an American pioneer of inter-spirituality, has given to the emerging global future.[1] Many of the prophetic spiritual teachers of the twentieth century have suggested that ‘We stand at the dawn of a new epoch in the evolution of human consciousness.’[2] As early as the 1970s Fr Bede Griffiths, who explored the meeting of Christian and Hindu spirituality, said, ‘I feel that we are on the eve of a new breakthrough in consciousness, of a new wave of civilisation.’[3] The Dalai Lama has called for a spiritual revolution.[4] These and many other visionaries agree that we need to recognise our deeper unity and the harmony of our fundamental values.’ [5]This is what I mean by ‘Global Spirituality.’ Just as the Global economy has not removed our different currencies, whether dollar, yen, mark or sterling, so a Global Spirituality is not a superficial mixing of religions, but a recognition of an underlying oneness.

A Global Spirituality implies a new understanding of religion. Let me suggest at least five ways in which this is true.

1 The emphasis on spiritual experience rather than religion;

2 Inter-faith and multi-cultural;

3 Our oneness with Nature;

4 Recognition of the feminine;

5 Compassion and active commitment to social change.

First, the emphasis on spiritual experience.

Keith Ward, former Regius Professor at Oxford, has identified four main phases in humanity’s religious history, although he makes clear that all four phases are still with us. He calls the fourth phase, which we are now entering, ‘the global.’ His first phase is the ‘local’ – in which local myths and rituals develop and are passed on through oral tradition. The second, following the Axial age, Ward calls the ‘canonical’ - in which the emerging world religions all posit, in different ways, one reality of supreme value who demands a moral way of life. Ward’s third phase, following from the Enlightenment, is the ‘critical,’ in which religious texts are subject to historical criticism and moral teaching is revised in the light of new knowledge. In the fourth phase, which we are now entering, Keith Ward says and I agree with him, religion is seen ‘as a process of spiritual exploration which… (gives) human life an ultimate meaning, as people… live in conscious relation to a supreme spiritual value.’ [6]

Old fashioned religion, if I may use that term, requires its followers to conform to a pre-existing belief system and moral code. You believe what the Church tells you or what the Bible says. You do what canon law or shari’a tells you to do. Increasingly the emphasis today is on spiritual exploration – you have to interiorise beliefs and make them your own. You act as your conscience guides you. The image of the journey has become common in contemporary religious writing. This, of course, is what the mystics of every age have taught us.[7]

The German mystic Angelus Silesius said

‘If Christ be born a hundred times anew,

Despair, o man, unless he is born in you.’

The Prayer of Humble Access in the Church of England Prayer Book ends with the yearning words – ‘that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.’

Mystics have always pointed us to a direct relationship with God.

Every religion has its mystics – but they used to be regarded as specialists. What is new today – perhaps in a consumer society - is that more people want to by-pass doctrine and ritual and seek direct experience of the Divine.

The second characteristic of the new age is that it will be interfaith and multi-cultural.

Those who are spiritually seeking should welcome inspiration from whatever source. Those who are committed to a path can also find spiritual enrichment from other traditions and I include not only other faiths, but also new spiritual movements. I see faith communities as it were as guardians or trustees of inherited spiritual treasures, which they should make available to all who could benefit from them - in the way that Raimundo Panikkar has made the Hindu scriptures available ‘for modern man’ in his great book The Vedic Experience.[8] I myself try now to read the Qur’an or the Guru Granth Sahib (the Sikh scriptures) with the same expectancy as I read the Bible, although I feel at home with the Bible which has been a lifelong companion [Kenneth Cragg, a Christian scholar of Islam, says of the Qur’an that ‘What has authority for some of the human race must have relevance for all. As “a mercy to the worlds”, Muhammad and the Qur’an cannot well be confined within Islam, nor their significance withheld from those who do not assent to its beliefs.’[9] There are Hindus who have a deep devotion to Jesus and there are also Christian theologians who speak of the universal significance of Jesus Christ without expecting that all people will become Christian. We are entering an age of global theology and global spirituality.]

The emphasis on mystical experience also makes us take a new look at the truth claims of every faith. The Mystery of God transcends our human understanding. ‘Neti, Neti, Not this, Not that’ says the Hindu and the Christian St Gregory of Nazianzus wrote,

By what name shall I call upon you,

Who are beyond all name!

You, the Beyond-all, what name shall I give you?

…

All names are given to you and yet none can comprehend you.

How shall I name you then, O you, the Beyond-all name?’[10]

Pluralism is, as the Indian theologian Stanley Samartha said, ‘the homage which the finite mind pays to the inexhaustibility of the infinite.’[11] Doctrines are not true in an absolute sense. This also fits with the modern recognition of the relativity of all human language. All statements about reality are conditioned by their author’s historical setting, intention, culture, class and sex. Reality speaks to each person with the language he or she gives to it. We need to see that religious truth is conveyed through symbol, music and art as much as through words.

The third characteristic of our new religious consciousness is a new sense of our oneness, especially with Nature.

The mystic experience, in its varied forms, is essentially a unitary experience – a sense of oneness with all life, with other people, with the Divine Mystery.

For many people, pictures of Planet Earth taken from space have become a symbol of this new sense of oneness. Religions vie with each other to be the greenest or most eco-friendly. But it is more than reverence for the earth which is involved. When Father Thomas Berry, one of the most respected environmental theologians, speaks of the ‘Spirituality of the Earth’, he speaks of the Earth as subject, not object. His primary concern is not how we treat the planet, but the recognition that ‘in our totality we are born of the Earth. We are earthlings. The Earth is our origin, our nourishment, our support, our guide.’[12]

Furthermore, we have to recognise that that ‘the universe is now experienced as an irreversible time-developmental process… Not so much a cosmos as a cosmogenesis.’[13] We are part of the evolving universe. [14] This implies that human beings are co-creators with God. For weal or woe, the future is in human hands.[15] Jane Goodall, world famous for her work with chimpanzees, has said, ‘Together we must re-establish our connections with the natural world and with the Spiritual Power that is around us. And then we can move, triumphantly, joyously, into the final stage of human evolution – spiritual evolution.’[16]

It is not surprising that women, who have the privilege of giving birth, have a particularly vivid sense of participating in the process of creation and clearly recognise our bonds with Mother Earth. The emerging spiritual consciousness will, fourthly, give due weight to the spiritual insights of women.

Slowly we are recognising just how patriarchal the great faiths have been. It is also said that the ascetic tradition to be found in many religions is a male spirituality, which ‘rejects our bodies, our sexuality, our generativity and the earth itself.’[17]

In a chapel in Toronto, the figure of woman with arms outstretched, as if crucified, hangs below the cross. On seeing this, a woman, whose name we do not know, wrote a poem which has helped me to see why talk of ‘God becoming man,’ may make some women feel they do not count.

O God, through the image of a woman

Crucified on the cross

I understand at last.

For over half my life

I have been ashamed of the scars I bear.

These scars tell an ugly story,

A common story,

About a girl who is the victim of sexual abuse.

In the warmth, peace

And sunlight of your presence

I was able to uncurl

The tightly clenched fists.

For the first time

I felt your suffering presence with me

In that event.

I have known you as a vulnerable baby,

As a brother, and as a father.

Now I know you as a woman.

You were there with me

As a violated girl

Caught in the helpless suffering.

The chains of fear

No longer bind my heart and body.

a slow fire of compassion and forgiveness

is kindled.

My tears fall now,

For man as well as woman.

You were not ashamed of your wounds,

You showed them to Thomas

As marks of your ordeal and death,

I will no longer bear them gracefully,

They will tell a resurrection story. [18]

Finally, the sense of oneness with all life should also inspire not only compassion for all who suffer but active commitment to change.

Holy people, traditionally, have withdrawn from the world in their search for the Divine. In recent years, a new pattern of spirituality, which draws inspiration from all the great faiths, has emerged in which the pursuit of holiness takes place in the midst of a non-violent struggle for peace and justice and in the service of the poor. Mahatma Gandhi said once that ‘If I could find God in a Himalayan cave, I would proceed there at once, but I can only find him in the service of the poor.’[19] Mother Teresa likewise prayed that our eyes would be opened to see God in the poor and hungry. Ma Gohsananda, a Buddhist leader, came back from a monastic life in exile to help his people of Cambodia in their agony. The Dalai Lama insists ‘My call for a spiritual revolution is … (not) a reference to a way of life that is somehow other-worldly, still less to something magical or mysterious. Rather it is a call for a radical re-orientation away from our habitual preoccupation with self towards concern for the wider community of beings with whom we are connected, and for conduct which recognizes other’s interest alongside our own.’[20]

Spiritual Transformnation.

For us to share in the emerging Global Spirituality, we need an inner transformation, a sense of oneness, a recognition of the sacredness of the other. The Mayan spiritual leader, Abraham Garcia, who was tortured in the civil war in Guatemala, has said, ‘Peace isn’t the simple silencing of the bullets. It must be an inner change toward other people, respect for the way they think and live.’[21] Significantly, the Declaration of a Global Ethic is an invitation to personal commitment.

As we wait in the presence of the Holy, we gain a vision, a picture of the world‘as God’s love would make it.’ Martin Luther King, in those famous words, declared, ‘I have a dream’ and if we have then we will feel impelled to try to realise it and to campaign for justice and for the ‘kingdom of God.’

But this is tough going and it is easy to give up. As we become aware of the underlying harmony of the universe we become aware also that in the end truth, goodness and justice are stronger than falsehood, hatred and oppression. As Gandhi said, ‘I can see that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persist.’ ‘Lead us from despair to hope.’

As we our still, we may not only catch a glimpse of God’s purposes for the world but also feel a oneness with the divine and all living beings. As Francis Younghusband, who founded the World Congress of Faiths, said of his mystical experience during the Welsh Revival in the early years of the twentieth century, ‘I felt as if I were in love with every man and woman in the world.’ That experience inspires compassion and forgiveness.

The Tibetan Buddhist practice of tonglen (Tibetan for ‘giving and taking’) is a good way to develop compassion. First, you focus on a suffering individual or group. Breathe in deeply and feel yourself drawing in all their emotional pain, right into your heart, making their grief your own. Then, as you breathe out, send love, warmth, kindness and compassion to people who are suffering in the hope that their fear and pain will be replaced by courage and some acceptance.

The sense of oneness means that we recognise God’s presence in the other, especially the deprived and marginalised. Jalal al-Din Rumi tells of the time when God rebuked Moses, saying, ‘I am God, I fell sick; but you did not come.’ Moses asked God to explain. God said again, ‘Why didn’t you kindly ask after me when I was sick.’ Moses answered, ‘O Lord, you are never ill. I don’t understand: explain the meaning of these words.’ God said, ‘Yes, a favourite and chosen slave of mine fell sick. I am he. Consider well: his infirmity, his sickness is my sickness.’ This is reminiscent of Jesus’ parable of the Sheep and the Goats. The righteous are surprised when the king says to them ‘I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and your received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the king explains, ‘I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’[22]

But as Howard Thurman has said, ‘It is much easier within the context of mystical piety to identify with the sufferer, the hungry, the poor, the neglected, than with those whose power, privilege and insensitivity are largely responsible for the social ills.’ [23] Gandhi also asked, ‘How is one to treat alike insulting, insolent, and corrupt officials, co-workers of yesterday raising meaningless opposition and people who have always been good to one?’[24]

Religious people also have an important role in shaping public opinion. The poet W H Auden said, ‘All I have is a voice to undo the folded lie.’[25] We need to plead the cause of the poor, as Jubilee 2000, did so effectively in calling for debt relief.

The sense of oneness makes forgiveness possible. Once you can begin to think of the other not as ‘the enemy’ or as a ‘terrorist’, but as a person, your feelings change. An Israeli soldier has said how his whole outlook was changed when he had to search the body of an Arab who had been shot. In his inside pocket there were pictures of the dead man’s wife and children who were much the same age as the soldier’s own son and daughter. I am convinced, as Desmond Tutu has called one of his books, There is no Future without Forgiveness and that in this sphere the faiths should have something very significant to offer. [26] Although it is right to seek justice for the victims of violence and oppression, there will be no lasting peace without mutual forgiveness. Mufti Camdzic, whose beautiful mosque in Banja Luka was destroyed during the ethnic cleansing of Bosnia, has said ‘We can’t forget; but we try to forgive and reconcile, to build again.’

Barriers are especially overcome as we share each other’s sorrows. After the London bombings, my wife Mary and I were invited to services - first in a synagogue and later in a mosque - at which people of all faiths came together to express their sympathy for the bereaved and the injured and to renew their commitment to work together for a more peaceful and just society.

We need to stand by others when they are attacked. For example, Kosovo, in mid-March 2004, saw its most serious outbreak of violence since the end of the 1999 conflict. In Belgrade, in revenge a mob of nearly 2,000 people attacked a mosque, although Serbian and Jewish neighbours tried to dissuade them. The Serbian Orthodox Bishop also personally tried to stop the mob. The Mufti (Hamdija Jusufspahic) thanked him for this, saying ‘I don’t know who caused the destruction, but I know who tried to help us.’ He also signed a burnt copy of the Qur’an and presented it to the Bishop.[27]

All this springs from the sense of our oneness with all people. A particularly moving discovery of our shared humanity is described by Yevtushenko. In Moscow in 1941, he saw German war prisoners being marched through the streets. The watching crowd were mostly women. ‘Every one of them must have had a father or a husband, a brother or a son killed by the Germans’. They were gazing with hatred as the column of prisoners approached. ‘They saw the German soldiers, thin, unshaven, wearing dirty blood stained bandages, hobbling on crutches or leaning on the shoulders of their comrades; the soldiers walked with their heads down’. There was silence in the street, the sound only of shuffling boots and crutches hitting the ground. Then, wrote Yevtushenko, ‘I saw an elderly woman in broken-down boots push herself forward and touch a policeman’s shoulder, saying “Let me through...” She went up to the column, took from inside her coat something wrapped in a coloured handkerchief and unfolded it. It was a crust of black bread. She pushed it awkwardly into the pocket of an exhausted soldier. Then suddenly from every side women ran towards the soldiers, pushing into their hands bread, cigarettes, whatever they had... The soldiers were no longer enemies. They were people.’[28]

Finally, our sense of oneness, as I have already suggested, deepens our concern for the natural world – for the welfare of animals and the protection of the planet. Perhaps indeed it is only as we recognise our inter-connectedness with all life that we shall find a vision to motivate us to seek a new world order.

It is significant that like those who have explored outer space, mystics – people of deep prayer and meditation - who have explored inner space proclaim the same message of unity. The French Jesuit and palaeontologist Teilhard de Chardin said, ‘I live at the heart of a single, unique Element, the Centre of the Universe, and present in each part of it; personal Love and cosmic Power.’[29]

The new era of Global Spirituality becomes a reality as we are personally transformed. I do not think it is inevitable, which is why if we have glimpsed its possibility, we have a responsibility to allow ourselves to be used for its realization. The challenge to each of us is to so shape our lives that we give a ‘Heart to the World,’ or, in the words of Mairead Maguire, the Irish Nobel Peace Prize Winner, ‘Dream the impossible, then so live that the dream is fulfilled.’[30]

Marcus Braybrooke.

[1] Wayne Teasdale, The Mystic Heart, New World Library, 1999, p. 249.

[2] The quotations from Fred Blum are from his The New Era Center for the development of a new Human Consciousness and Social Order, which he wrote at Easter 1967. Copies are available from the Abbey at Sutton Courtenay.

[3] Bede Griffiths to Hugh Waterman (22.12.72), quoted by Shirley Du Boulay in Beyond the Darkness – A Biography of Bede Griffiths, Rider, 1998, p. 169.

[4] Dalai Lama, Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Ethics for a New Millennium, Little, Brown and Co, 1999, p. 25.

[5] One could mention also Hans Küng and of course Rudolf Steiner, Teilhard de Chardin, Sri Aurobindo and many others as prophets of a new era.

[6] Keith Ward, The Case for Religion, Oneworld, 2004, p.5. See also the concluding chapter,

pp. 220-237.

[7] I think the key difference between religion and spirituality is whether you try to attune to a given revelation and pattern of life or see your inner voice as your only guide. John Heron makes a clear distinction between the authoritarianism inherent in almost every religious tradition and what he describes as the new self-generating spiritual culture. Those who belong to this culture, he says, affirm their own original relation to the presence of creation and find spiritual authority within and do not project authority onto teachers or texts.[7]

Other writers distinguish between ‘life-as’ and the subjective life. By this they mean that religion – the ‘life-as’ approach – presents us with role-models to which we should aspire –for example, the faithful husband, the dutiful wife, the good parent. The subjective life, by contrast is person-centred. What matters is to discover your true self. [7]

[8] Raimundo Panikkar, The Vedic Experience, Darton, Longman and Todd, 1977.

[9] Kenneth Cragg, Readings in the Qur’an, Collins 1988, p. 9

[10] English translation from the Greek by Mary Rogers, in World Faiths,

no.99, summer 1976, p. 20.

[11] Stanley Samartha, One Christ, Many Religions, Orbis 1991, p.4.

[12] Thomas Berry, ‘The Spirituality of the Earth’, in Celebrating Earth

Holy Days, ed. Susan J Clark, Crossroad, New York, 1992, p. 69.

[13] Thomas Berry, ‘The Cosmology of Religions’, in A Source Book for Earth’s Community of Religions, ed. Joel Beversluis, CoNexus Press, 1995 edtn, p. 95

[14] Thomas Berry, ‘The Cosmology of Religions’, (note 27) p. 96. ‘The first great contribution this new perspective makes to religious consciousness’, writes Father Berry, ‘is the sense of participating in the creation process itself.’

into the hands of men and women.

[15] For other reasons, I have argued in Time to Meet, that God ‘puts the future of his creation into the hands of men and women. This means the outcome of human history is genuinely open.’ Time to Meet, SCM Press 1990, pp.126-7.’

[16] Jane Goodall, Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey, Warner Books, 1999, p.267. She has also said , although I cannot find the reference, ‘We are moving toward the ultimate destiny of our species – a state of compassion and love.’

[17] See John Heron refers to P.Wright, ‘Bringing Women’s Voices to

Transpersonal Psychology’, ReVision, 17 (3) 3-10., in Sacred Science, p.5

[18] 1,000 World Prayers, Compiled by Marcus Braybrooke, John Hunt Publishing 2003, pp. 197-8.

[19] Quoted from Harijan by Bede Griffiths in Christian Ashram, Darton, Longman and Todd, 1966,

p. 127

[20] Dalai Lama, Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Ethics for a New Millennium, p. 25.

Wayne Teasdale embodied this new approach to spirituality. He chose to be a monk living in the world, so that he could share everyday problems of earning a living and of commuting as well as of campaigning for peace and human rights. ‘Why,’ he was asked, ‘did you not choose to be locked away in a remote hermitage?’ ‘Because’, he replied, ‘I want to identify with and be identified with all those who suffer alone in the world, who are abandoned, homeless, unwanted, unknown, and unloved.’[20] Wayne was also motivated by the words of Jesus that ‘Whatever you do for the least of my brethren you do for me.’[20]

His words are reminiscent of the Boddhisattva’s vow, which has inspired the Dalai Lama.

May I become at all times, both now and forever,

A protector for those without protection,

A guide for those who have lost their way,

A ship for those with oceans to cross,

A bridge for those with rivers to cross,

A sanctuary for those in danger,

A lamp for those in need of light,

A place of refuge for those in need of shelter,

And a servant to all those in need.

[21] Quoted in Marcus Braybrooke, 365 Meditations for a Peaceful Heart and a Peaceful World,

Godsfield Books, 2004, p. 296.

[22] Matthew, 25, 35-40.

[23] From Henry Thurman, ‘Mysticism and Social Action: Breathing in and Breathing Out.’

[24] Quoted in My Life With Martin Luther King, p. 193.

[25] W H Auden’s poem ‘September 1^st, 1939’ was published in 1940. It includes the line, ‘We must love one another or die.’

[26] Desmond Tutu, No Future Without Forgiuveness, Rider, 1999. See also Solomon Schimmel, Wounds Not Healed by Time, Oxford, 2002.

[27] World Conference of Religions for Peace, South East Europe Program Update, February 2005 and

The Secretary General’s Update, 51.5.04.

[28] Yevgeny Yevtushenko, A Precocious Autobiography, Collins 1963, pp. 24-5, quoted by Brian

Frost in The Politics of Peace, Darton, Longman and Todd 1991, pp. 15-16.

[29] Teilhard de Chardin, quoted in ‘The Cosmology of Religions’, p. 97,

[30] Mairead Corrigan Maguire, The Vision of Peace, Orbis Books, 1999.

Shells into Bells

2007-11-09T04:25:00.000-08:00

The invitation from South Korea to the inauguration of the Peace Bell Park had an unusual P.S. ‘Please bring with you a spent shell or used cartridges to be melted down to make the Peace Bell.’

Where to get them? It might be dangerous to wander across an army range looking for them. A friend who knew about these things kindly obtained five used cartridges from the Police, with an accompanying letter that I was in lawful possession of these cartridges. But what about airport security? The metal would set off an alarm and the traces of gunpowder would excite sniffer dogs. The security officer of Korean Airlines, whom I telephoned in advance, was reassuring: but officials at check-in were more anxious. After consulting several rungs up the ladder of responsibility, Airport police were contacted. After an hour’s wait, their answer was to pack these five small empty cartridges with our luggage for the hold. But when we arrived at Seoul and headed to Baggage Reclaim, the suitcase was alarmed and we were escorted away for questioning - but now language differences added to the difficulties. Once again security officers, in ascending order of authority, appeared. Eventually, when Mary produced a little bell from the Holy Land, which we had also been asked to bring, and rang it, all became clear and frowns changed into smiles.

The difficulties of turning shells into bells made me more aware how hard it is ‘to beat swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks’[1] and even harder to make peace even when armed conflict has been halted. More than fifty years after the armistice, South and North Korea are technically still at war, although both heads of state have recently met. In the county of Hwacheon, which adjoins the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), there are more soldiers stationed there than the total civilian population. The DMZ still divides families. Our guide had only once in fifty years met his brother, who lives in the North. There are constant reminders of the two million people who were killed during the Korean War – the bodies of thousands of Chinese soldiers were thrown into one deep lake, which we passed. The soil is still infested with landmines, which have a life of more than a hundred years. The bitter memories of the war and the earlier Japanese occupation are just as hard to remove.

But this is where people of faith can make a contribution – helping to clear the landmines in the minds. They offer a path to pardon and inner peace, they call for forgiveness of those who have injured us, and they give us hope that lasting peace is possible. This is why the Mayor of Hwacehon invited members of the Peace Council, an international and interfaith group of people committed to work through non-violence for lasting peace, to be present at the inauguration of the Peace Bell Park.

The Peace Bell Park is a symbol of hope. The bell, which is to be cast next year, will not be rung until Korea is reunified. It will join with the bells of Bethlehem and with bells across the world in calling people to enjoy and share God’s precious gift of peace. May they

‘Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace…

Ring out the darkness of the land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be.’[2]

[1] Isaiah, 2,4.

[2] From Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem In Memoriam.

L.M. SINGHVI 1931-2007

2007-11-07T04:07:00.000-08:00

Dr L M Singhvi when he served as Indian High Commissioner in Britain, was a good friend to all faith communities. We particularly appreciated his support for the World Congress of Faiths. In 1993, he gave a memorable Younghusband lecture. We express our sympathy to Mrs Singhvi.

I was glad to listen again to Dr Singhvi at the meeting in May of this year at the House of the Lords. Almost exactly two years ago, I had the pleasure of listening to him speak at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi. His words deserve to be remembered and can be an inspiration to us all:

“There are dialogues of the mind, there are dialogues of the heart, there are dialogues of the soul. And a dialogue is completed by the dialogue of the soul, the spirit, the values, the commitments and the dedication. The understanding of the world in which we live and the unravelling of the inspiration which makes us all common pilgrims on the common path to our common future and to our common present – it is in this that all of the faith traditions of the world fulfil themselves.”

Marcus Braybrooke

TRAINING IN TRIALOGUE

2007-11-06T09:49:00.000-08:00

TRAINING IN TRIALOGUE

What actually happens to people when they begin to talk ‘religion’?
What does it mean to use English as ‘a public language’ to speak about religious things that are personal?
And how can our own interfaith dialogue benefit others?

Training in Trialogue?

Learn to facilitate your own inter-religious trialogue session!
The Three Faiths Forum is offering you a free 4-session course to help you run your own interfaith workshops.
This course is a must if you are interested in interfaith dialogue!

* Improve your communication skills
* Learn to facilitate workshops with sensitivity
* Explore the tricky questions that arise during real dialogue
* Understand yourself better in the process
* Boost your CV, meet interesting people & have fun!

Mondays 12, 19 and 26 November & Thursday 6 December, 7-8.30pm
St Ethelburga’s Centre for Peace and Reconciliation
78 Bishopsgate, London EC2N
(nearest tube station Liverpool Street)
There’ll be refreshments too! We’ll be running these workshops in Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester soon.
Interested? Sign up now by sending us a mail to tff@threefaithsforum.org.uk, phone us on 020 7485 1390, or check out our website, www.3ff.org.uk

Burma

2007-09-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

The Buddha taught that 'Hate is not conquered by hate: hate is conquered by love.'
Members of the World Congress of Faiths invite people of all religions to join them in meditating on this principle and praying that the Buddhists monks and nuns of Burma and the lay people will be strong enough to live by the teaching of the Buddha and that the time will come when all the people of Burma live in peace and justice

Sacred - at the British Library

2007-07-04T02:00:00.001-07:00

On 2 July, 16 of us visited the Sacred Books exhibition at the British Library.
This is a wonderful display of BL's collection of sacred texts from Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with comments on the different approaches to text in the three Abrahamic faiths.

The exhibition is an inpsiration to anyone interested in the history of books and texts - we intend to repeat the experience on 16 September -
BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT

On The Journey

2007-06-17T01:39:00.000-07:00

On the journey

Sussex

interfaith Day

Worth abbey 9 June 2007

Report by Richard Boeke, Horsham Interfaith Forum

“And who is my neighbour?

And Jesus answering said,

“A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. …

and a priest passed by on the other side …

and a Levite passed by on the other side …

But a certain Samaritan had compassion on him and went to

him and bound up his wounds.”

On The Journey - 727

At Harvard Chapel, I once heard a morning devotional in which a friend suggested that the Good Samaritan may have been Jesus himself. Jesus may also be identified as the traveler who was left “half dead.” For he said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

727? Why I am wearing a badge with the number 727? On the 9^th of June Over 20 from Horsham joined dozens at Worth Abbey for Sussex Interfaith Day. The last presentation was by the brother of OMAR. Omar for five years has been a prisoner in Guantanamo: not allowed visits from his family: his letters are censored. . He is number 727. Shirt 727. In Guantanamo, he does not have a name. To me, he is like the wounded man on the Jericho Road. “Shall I pass by on the other side?”

Each day we have the riddle: are we called to continue some “greater quest,”
or called to stop and help some wounded soul upon the way?

Father Paul Fleetwood welcomed us to Worth Abbey, the site of the BBC TV Series, THE MONASTERY. Bonnie Evans-Hills of Brighton presided in the morning and introduced the first speaker, Laura Moffatt, MP from Crawley.

She told us of the recent report of THE COMMISSION ON COMMUNITY COHESION, which focused on the need for promoting local relationships, including a common language: “Not speaking English is the single biggest barrier to integration.” As evidence of the growing government concern for interfaith friendship, she sited Tony Blair’s plans to start an interfaith foundation as he ends his 11 years as Prime Minister.

The next speaker was Brian Pearce, who has led the National Inter Faith Network since its small beginnings in 1987 (encouraged by the World Congress of Faiths). At the start there was resistance. Some found the effort for interfaith cooperation to be heretical (some still do). Gradually the National Bodies of most faith communities joined, as well as national interfaith bodies. Local inter faith groups now number over 250. The NIF was called upon to arrange a Millennium event in the House of Lords, and a Golden Jubilee event two years later. In between were riots in Bradford and the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City. “How do we deepen the dialogue? How do we bring more young people into the inter faith movement? How do we find a common language for religious and non-religious?” He closed with the Jewish saying,

“You are required to continue the work.

You are not required to complete it.”

The third morning speaker was Ian Chisnell, of the South East England Faith Forum. He told us of his career changes from electronics to salesman, to County Ecumenical Officer for Churches together in Sussex. In the lively discussion, which followed, Laura Moffatt told of the huge collision in Parliament over the issue of Faith Schools. Ian Chisnell gave a history lesson:

“When the missionaries were sent out, they were prepared for new cultures. Now, we are living in a new culture and many are now prepared.”

As I listened to the speakers at Sussex Interfaith Day, I was reminded that when I was a minister in California, each week I encountered people who were kind of spiritual junkies, moving from a "quick fix" in one weekend retreat, to "total immersion" in a different "path" a week later. After a while some would take up a practice, settle in a spiritual home: become Buddhists or join an Evangelical church.” But in some groups they would park their mind at the door. One of the most compassionate places in San Francisco was PEOPLE’S TEMPLE. They fed the poor. They welcomed all races and cultures. Their leader worked with politicians for social justice. Once I sat at his table at a fund raising dinner for a U.S. Presidential Candidate (Senator Frank Church). From behind his dark glasses, the minister told me about his church. His name was Jim Jones. Less than ten years later, he would lead 100s of his followers in mass suicide at Jonestown in South America.

Jonestown is a lesson that NOT ALL spiritual practices are good. We can be too tolerant. As an opponent of Adolf Hitler wrote, “my judgment I kept flexible too long.” To me, whatever your spiritual practice may be, it needs to involve both head and heart: To be thoughtful and to be compassionate.

The small group discussions which followed the morning speakers were enriched by Muslims from “Brighton Voices in Exile,” (BVIE) thanks to Mary Jane Burkett.[1] At lunch, a vegetarian feast was provided by Crawley Interfaith Network . Thanks to Fatima Mirza & Vikki Jacobs!

As we ate lunch beside the lawn, a Christian asked me “do you repent?” He pressed the point “Do you repent now of your sins?” I answered, “I have repented of sins in the past, but I don’t keep carrying them around with me.” But as I said this, I admitted to myself, “sometimes an old guilt comes back like a ghost.” Does dwelling on it help? Can religion put too much stress on guilt? Does the proclamation of Hell Fire and Fear encourage national leaders to make preemptive strikes? Or to build weapons that provoke other nations to build more weapons? Can the very effort for security increase the danger of war? Is there more health in compassion and forgiveness?

“A certain Samaritan had compassion on him.”

Robert Coles, a student of the human rights movement, tells the story of a little black girl at the time of the first integration of schools in Louisiana. Each day as she walked to school, protected by police, surrounded by hundreds of jeering racists, she would stop, just before walking the final gauntlet to the school.

Coles observed her. He asked her, what did you do when you

stopped? She answered, "I prayed, father forgive them, for they

know not what they do."

After prayers and a walk by the beautiful Secret Garden of the Abbey, Steven Inness of Crawley presided in the afternoon. Featured were two Muslim Speakers. Harun Combes from Worthing Mosque sited three major problems for believers:

1) The rising tide of secularism. “Shall we teach atheism in school? In Islam, politics and religion are linked together.” When they call believers the chief source of war, do they forget the Nazis and the Communists?

2) Increasing religious fundamentalism: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, & Hindu.

3) Polarization of beliefs. Hardening lines of separation between traditions.

The last speaker was Abubaker Degahyes of Brighton. He told of his brother, OMAR, number 727 in Guantanamo Prison. For five years OMAR has been held without charge, often in a solitary cage. Like other prisoners, he is not identified by his name, but by his number 727. For five years his family has not been allowed to speak to him. His mail is censored. Jackie Chase of Brighton joined Abubaker and told us of the SAVE OMAR CAMPAIGN: “Our brothers and sisters are being tortured and flown across the world.” A man in the audience said, “why does the media only give the bad news?”

Before we split into small groups for closing discussion, Margaret Owen from Godalming came to the microphone. She told us “My daughter, Elizabeth, was badly injured in the bombing of the London Underground at Edgeware Road. The passengers on her right and left were killed. The suicide bomber responsible was Mohammed Siddiq Khan. He and his accomplices have been on television many times. The plastic surgeon who …saved Elizabeth’s leg was Umraz Khan. … Between Elizabeth’s various operations, he flew out to the Indian sub-continent to operate on the survivors of an earthquake. As far as I know, he has never been on television at all.”

727 was a vivid memory as I watched TV on the night after our interfaith day. Colin Powell, the former U.S. Secretary of State, called for Guantanamo to be closed, “NOT TOMORROW, BUT TODAY.”

On the Journey: What should I do? Around the world, religions have answered with a version of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. To the question, “who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered with the story of The Good Samaritan.

[1] BEIV also provided a booklet containing the texts from the talks by Dr. Marcus Braybrooke and Rabbi Jackie Tabick at the 13 March Sussex Interfaith Day, MEDITATION AND SOCIAL ACTION. See www.worldfaiths.org

Good News for Young Film-makers

2007-05-31T06:57:00.001-07:00

The World Congress of Faiths is happy to be associated with The Insight Film Festival, which is being launched tomorrow 1 June 2007.

The festival website is up and running at
www.insightfestival.co.uk.

Rabbi Jackie Tabick commented 'There has never been a more appropriate time to encourage more young UK film makers to explore the passion of faith'.

THE LAST CONFESSION

2007-05-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

On the 9th of May, my wife and I went to Chichester. First, the Cathedral.
Leonard Bernstein wrote some beautiful music for a celebration there.
We especially enjoyed the Chagall stained glass window.

In the evening, we went to the Chichester Festival Theatre and saw THE LAST CONFESSION.

It is about the death of Pope John Paul I after only 33 days as Pope, and the election of Polish Pope John Paul II.

"Was it mere coincidence that his end came just as he was getting rid of the
reactionary heavies in the Curia who opposed the liberal outlook." Aware of
the scandals in the Vatican bank, he says, "This is the House of God, not the
House of Rothschild."

One Cardinal in the banking scandal is from Cicero, Illinois, home of Al Capone.
Pope John Paul I suggests sending him back to Cicero. He responses, "I'd rather
go to Hell." The Pope responds, "That can be arranged."

Well, the next day, the Pope is dead.
A few years later, David Suchet, playing the Cardinal who could have helped, makes his LAST CONFESSION.

I note in the programme that the last performances in Chichester are 18 & 19 May.
However, in this morning's Guardian I read that THE LAST CONFESSION is coming to to the London West End this summer.

This morning I joined the weekly group of hikers who meet in front of the parish church for a hike up up or around Denne Hill.

One of my favourite essays is WALKING by Henry Thoreau.
He writes, "Of course it is of no use to direct our steps to the woods, if they do not carry us thither. I am alarmed when it happens when I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit..."

Happy Hiking to you.

In hope, Richard

The Doha Conference

2007-05-12T00:17:00.001-07:00

The Fifth Doha Conference of Interfaith Dialogue in Qatar, from which Rev Dr Marcus Braybrooke, President of the World Congress of Faiths has just returned, was, he says, encouraging evidence of the world-wide growth of interfaith co-operation. The meeting brought together over one hundred and fifty Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars. The opening address was given by the President of Al Azhar University in Cairo, who reminded the audience that the Qur’an says that God could have made people all the same, but instead God wishes us to respect each other’s cultures and religions. Despite the difficulties, several speakers, including Muslims and Jews from Jerusalem, insisted that dialogue was the only way to peace. The Syrian Orthodox Archbishop Theophilus George Saliba from Mount Lebanon summed up the message of the conference when he said, ‘Frequent meetings involving representatives of different faiths will help reduce global tension and conflict.’ Plans, announced at the Conference, to establish a Centre for Inter-faith Dialogue at the University will help to achieve this.

The recent visit of a delegation from Morocco, where a study of other religions is to become part of theological syllabus, and the establishment of an Abrahamic Forum in Lisbon are just a few other recent examples of the growth of interfaith dialogue. Welcome developments in Northern Ireland confirm the hope that dialogue is indeed the way to peace.

Marcus Braybrooke

Multiculturalism - is the British Model Failing?

2007-05-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

World Congress of Faiths - Annual General Meeting - Essex Hall

Younghusband Lecture - Jonathan Freedland - 26 April 2007

Multiculturalism

Is the British Model Failing?

Report by Richard Boeke

At Essex Hall in central London, Guardian Columnist Jonathan Freedland spoke to the World Congress of Faiths. I had been asked to give a brief response at the end of his lecture - So I paid attention.

He asked, “Is the British Model of a Multicultural Society failing?”

How does this model compare with other parts of the world?

On the 7^th of July 2005, 4 suicide bombings occurred in London. At that point, people began discussing whether something was seriously wrong with the model. By July 8 or 9 it emerged that all of the Bombers were British-Born. Those who flew the planes into the Twin Towers of New York, and those who bombed trains in Madrid, were foreign born.

From the 2001 riots in Bradford, awareness of racial resentment has been growing. Recently, when a “Big Brother” contestant was insulted, Government Spokesman Trevor Phillips said, “we may be drifting into a segregated society.” 1 in 7 primary school children in England do not speak English as a primary language.

What is the reaction in other societies? In France, the French officially turn a “blind eye” to racism in France. In maping racial groups in French Cities, the French are in the centre of the donut. Other ethic groups are in the outside ring. In America, white flight in many cities has brought Blacks to the centre of the donut. The whites are outside in the suburbs.

In England, in many places, people of different races are living side by side. Only 14 political WARDS in England have a minority majority. Thousands of WARDS are 99.9% white. There are seven thousand Christian Faith Schools in England. There are only eight Muslim Faith Schools.

A week after the 7^th of July, 2005, thousands of people came together in Trafalgar Square to witness cross-cultural unity. A young Asian man was wearing a T-shirt, “DON’T FREAK, I’M A SIKH.” The demonstration illustrated, WE DON’T HAVE A REASON TO PANIC.

But also, WE DON’T HAVE A REASON TO BE SMUG.

If the later bombing on 23 July had succeeded, panic might have set in.

There is higher anxiety. John Reid warns of “bombs on airlines.” Jack Straw launches a VEIL CONTROVERSARY. A feeding frenzy of racism explodes. A telephone poll reported that 98% say “veils should be banned.” David Cameron says, “ban Muslim ghettos.” Yet the real “ghettos” are the wards of rural Britain which are almost 100% white.

London is the most diverse city in the world. But how much are we talking to each other?

The four July 7^th Bombers were not poor, but middle class. But Azir wrote in PROSPECT MAGAZINE, they found very little pride in being Pakistani. Neither did they have pride in being British. They grew up as England was showing SELF DOUBT. To show the British Flag was to be thought a member of the British National Party.

For the July 7^th Bombers, their loyalty came to be not Pakistani or British but to the ULMA, the Muslim Community around the World.

American Muslims are different. They have pride in America. In America, they are Muslim-American, like Italian-American or African-American.

In Virginia, ten years ago, Freeman heard an immigration official named William Carroll say to immigrants becoming citizens, “DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HERITAGE BEHIND.” Let it become part of the rich diversity of our common loyalty as Americans.

However, in France, you are FRENCH. An official blind eye is turned toward discrimination. There is no census data on minorities. It is illegal even to ask the question. There is no HYPHEN in French.

Freedman closed by saying, in England, we are closer to the American model, but we have not gone as far as the American HYPHEN. While we have four nations in Britain, we have not heard an immigration official use the HYPHEN for Moslem-British Identity.

******************

In the discussion, which followed, Imam Abduljalil Sajid spoke of “Moslems becoming the new Jew of the 20^th Century.” He said:

For years, we have been invited by the government. But since we opposed the war on Iraq, we are not invited. …

We need a British Constitution for a sense of common loyalty. … Everybody sees the War in Iraq as the cause of the rise in terrorism, except Tony Blair and George Bush.

After few more comments and questions, I gave the closing:

“We thank you for a talk which challenged our thinking. Your reference to HYPHEN IDENTITY is apt. However, Irish-British does not quite sound like Irish-American. As for the American Flag, during the Vietnam War many Americans rejected it. When I was a minister in California, each week the American Flag was removed and only the UN Flag left. I would find the flag and put it back. Now the church has three flags: American, UN and Gay Pride.

I was challenged by the article in the Tuesday (April 24) G2 section in the Guardian, FASCIST AMERICA IN TEN EASY STEPS (Naomi Wolf).

Bush and company have been taking the Steps. I never thought I would look back and think Richard Nixon was not so bad.

America’s heritage is more than the Flag and the Constitution. Abraham Lincoln & Martin Luther King continue to inspire.

We heard of the need of whites to overcome racism. All cultures tend to be racist. Many Japanese have a fierce racial pride. Chinese and Greeks think their culture is the greatest. Brahmins in India still avoid “untouchables.” Overcoming racism is a challenge for all of us.

We thank you for pointing out the importance of knowing “who we are.” You have reminded us that Interfaith Friendship starts with our own awareness of “who we are.”

Worth Abbey

2007-03-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

I am very glad to be here to take part in this interesting day conference. Thank you for inviting me. Worth Abbey is a fitting place for us to meet and we are grateful to the Abbot and the community. Several modern spiritual teachers have insisted that Meditation and Social Action are interdependent. I want first to share what some of them have said. I then want to suggest how our meditation can energise our search for justice, reconciliation, care for the suffering and respect for our planet.

Just this week I came across this quotation from Raimon Panikkar, which seems appropriate: ‘The modern monk does not want to renounce, except what is plainly sinful or negative; rather he wishes to transform all things.’[1] Words of Wayne Teasdale, of blessed memory, who explained why he chose to be ‘a monk in the world’ also seem to be appropriate. ‘I want to identify with and be identified with all those who suffer alone in the world, who are abandoned, homeless, unwanted, unknown and unloved.’[2]

Holy people, traditionally, have withdrawn from the world in their search for the Divine. In recent years, a new pattern of spirituality, which draws inspiration from all the great faiths, has emerged in which the pursuit of holiness takes place in the midst of a non-violent struggle for peace and justice and in the service of the poor. Mahatma Gandhi said once that ‘If I could find God in a Himalayan cave, I would proceed there at once, but I can only find him in the service of the poor.’[3] Maha Ghosananda, a Buddhist leader, came back from a monastic life in exile to help his people of Cambodia in their agony. ‘We Buddhists’, he said, ‘must find courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to the Buddha, Christ or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos and the battle fields will then become our temples.’[4]

[In a similar way, the Dalai Lama has written, ‘My call for a spiritual revolution is not a call for a religious revolution. Nor is it a reference to a way of life that is somehow other-worldly… Rather it is a call for a radical re-orientation away from our habitual preoccupation with self towards concern for the wider community of beings with whom we are connected.’[5]]

I could add many other witnesses. It is significant that many of those in the twentieth century who will have the lasting influence were people of deep spirituality – Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama. Their inspiration will be remembered when only historians recall Chairman Mao or Stalin and other tyrants.

How to balance spirituality or to use today’s title ‘mediation’ and social action is something we each need to work out for ourselves. For some their most effective witness is by their withdrawal which gives them the insight to see through the assumptions of a greedy society. As Thomas Merton said in a paper given in Bangkok on the day of his death, ‘The monk is essentially someone who takes a critical attitude towards the contemporary world and its structures.’[6] It may also be that the mystic has clearer eyes with which to see the deceit and corruption of society. Fr Alfred Delp, a Jesuit who was imprisoned in Nazi Germany, believed like Merton that solitude was a vital pre-requisite for the awakening of the social conscience. He said, ‘Great issues affecting mankind have to be decided in the wilderness, in uninterrupted isolation and unbroken silence. They hold a meaning and a blessing, these great, silent, empty spaces that bring a man face to face with reality.’[7] Those who are called to engage actively in the world need an inner detachment, which spiritual exercises help to develop. Otherwise they will exhaust themselves and experience ‘compassion-fatigue.’

How is it then that our times of withdrawal equip us for life in the world?

When I was doing notes on the authors of prayers which I included in my 1,000 World Prayers, I was at first surprised that so many had spent time in prison – some had even been put to death. But then I realized that those who see most vividly God’s will for the world will be the most critical of abuse and active in social reform. So, first, as we wait in the presence of the Holy, we gain a picture of the world ‘as God’s love would make it.’ Martin Luther King, in those famous words, declared, ‘I have adream’ and if we have then we will feel impelled to try to realise it and to campaign for justice and for the ‘kingdom of God.’

But this is tough going and it is easy to give up. I remember attending a meeting, arranged by the United Nations Association, at the height of the Cold War, at which the question was asked, ‘What have religions to offer?’ and the then Archbishop Robert Runcie replied, ‘Hope.’ Because – to use theistic language – we believe this is God’s world for which God has a purpose, we believe that in the end truth, goodness and justice are stronger than falsehood, hatred and oppression. As Gandhi said, ‘I can see that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persist.’ ‘Lead us from despair to hope.’

As we our still, we may not only catch a glimpse of God’s purposes for the world but also feel a oneness with the divine and all living beings. As Francis Younghusband said of his mystical experience during the Welsh Revival in the early years of the twentieth century, ‘ I felt as if I were in love with every man and woman in the world.’ That experience inspires compassion and forgiveness.

The Tibetan Buddhist practice of tonglen (Tibetan for ‘giving and taking’) is a good way to develop compassion. First, you focus on a suffering individual or group. Breathe in deeply and feel yourself drawing in all their emotional pain, right into your heart, making their grief your own. Then, as you breathe out, send love, warmth, kindness and compassion to people who are suffering – replacing – in the hope that their fear and pain will be replaced by courage and some acceptance. [There are similar practices in other faith traditions, but the Bodhissatva’s vow can be an inspiration for us all

May I become at all times, both now and forever,

A protector for those without protection,

A guide for those who have lost their way,

A ship for those with oceans to cross,

A bridge for those with rivers to cross,

A sanctuary for those in danger,

A lamp for those in need of light,

A place of refuge for those in need of shelter,

And a servant to all those in need. ]

The sense of oneness means that we recognise God’s presence in the other, especially the deprived and marginalised. Jalal al-Din Rumi tells of the time when God rebuked Moses, saying, ‘I am God, I fell sick; but you did not come.’ Moses asked God to explain. God said again, ‘Why didn’t you kindly ask after me when I was sick.’ Moses answered, ‘O Lord, you are never ill. I don’t understand: explain the meaning of these words.’ God said, ‘Yes, a favourite and chosen slave of mine fell sick. I am he. Consider well: his infirmity, his sickness is my sickness.’ [This is reminiscent of Jesus’ parable of the Sheep and the Goats. The righteous are surprised when the king says to them ‘I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and your received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the king explains, ‘I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’[8]]

But as Howard Thurman has said, ‘It is much easier within the context of mystical piety to identify with the sufferer, the hungry, the poor, the neglected, than with those whose power, privilege and insensitivity are largely responsible for the social ills.’ [9] Gandhi also asked, ‘How is one to treat alike insulting, insolent, and corrupt officials, co-workers of yesterday raising meaningless opposition and people who have always been good to one?’[10]

This sense of oneness also makes forgiveness possible. Once you can begin to think of the other not as ‘the enemy’ or as a ‘terrorist’, but as a person, your feelings change. [An Israeli soldier has said how his whole outlook was changed when he had to search the body of an Arab who had been shot. In his inside pocket there were pictures of the dead man’s wife and children who were much the same age as the soldier’s own son and daughter.] Daisaku Ikeda, the President of Soka Gakkai International, tells how deeply he was affected by his mother’s example. Soon after she had been told that her eldest son had been killed in action in Burma, an American pilot parachuted to earth near their house. Japanese soldiers seized him and began to beat him and kick him. Daisaka’s mother protested, saying, ‘Think how worried the American’s mother must be about her son.’

If the sense of oneness inspires empathy with other people, the experience of the Divine transcends all our dogmas and doctrines. This is the true basis for ‘a fellowship of faiths.’ Kathleen de Beaumont, one of the ‘wise women’ of the Congress when I joined it over forty years ago, said, ‘We believe that, in the Great Unity, we are members one of another.’[11]

[Those who have had such an experience find it more convincing than the claims that one religion has a monopoly of truth, even if some scriptures suggest that this is the case.

By what name shall I call upon you,

Who are beyond all name!

You, the Beyond-all, what name shall I give you?...

All names are given to you and yet none can comprehend you.

How shall I name you then, O you, the Beyond-all name?[12]

Asked the Church Father Gregory of Nazianzus (329-89) and many mystics who claim to have experienced the holiness and presence of God agree that language fails them to describe the Holy One – even if many of them have written at length.]

Finally, our sense of oneness, deepens our concern for the natural world – for the welfare of animals and the protection of the planet. [Father Thomas Berry, a leading environmental theologian, insists that religions have to recognise that that ‘the universe is now experienced as an irreversible time-developmental process… Not so much a cosmos as a cosmogenesis.’[13] This implies that human beings are co-creators with God. For weal or woe, the future is in human hands. ‘The first great contribution this new perspective makes to religious consciousness’, writes Father Berry, ‘is the sense of participating in the creation process itself. We bear within us the impress of every transformation through which the universe and the planet have passed.’[14] This also means that human beings have to see themselves as part of the earth community and recognise that all life is bound together. Fr. Thomas Berry has written ‘We are earthlings. The Earth is our origin, our nourishment, our support, our guide. Our spirituality itself is Earth-derived.’[15]]

Perhaps it is only as we recognise our inter-connectedness with all life that we shall find a vision to motivate us to seek a new world order. Pictures of the earth taken from space have provided such a vision for some people and have been called a symbol for our age. Astronauts David Brown and Kalpana Chawla, who both died in the Columbia spacecraft disaster, spoke of the magical beauty of our planet as seen from space. [‘If I’d been born in space,’ David Brown said, ‘I would desire to visit beautiful Earth more than I ever yearned to visit space. It’s a wonderful planet.’] Kalpana Chawla said, ‘The first view of Earth is magical… in such a small planet, with such a small ribbon of life, so much goes on. You get the feeling that I need to work extraordinarily hard along with other human beings to respect that.’[16]

As we wait in prayer and meditation, we may be aware of the dawn of a new era. But I do not think it is inevitable, which is why if we have glimpsed its possibility we have a responsibility to allow ourselves to be used for its realization. Mediation and Social Action go together. As Mairead Maguire, the Irish Nobel Peace Prize Winner, has said, ‘Dream the impossible, then so live that the dream is fulfilled’[19] or as an Indian child put it more succinctly, ‘Dream and Sweat.’

2,186.

[1] Quoted in Monastic Interreligious Dialogue Bulletin, 2006/2, p. 19 from Raimon Panikkar, Blessed Simplicity, the Monk as a Universal Archetype, Seabury Press, pp. 34-5.

[2] Wayne Teasdale, A Monk in the World, New World Library, 2002, p. xxix.

[3] Quoted from Harijan in Bede Griffiths, Christian Ashram, Darton, Longman and Todd, 1966, p. 127

[4] Reproduced in Buddhist Peacework: Creating Cultures of Peace

[5] The Dalai Lama, Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Ethics for a New Millennium, Little, Brown and Company, 1999, p. 24

[6] Quoted by Kenneth Leech, The Social God, Sheldon 1981, p. 45

[7] The Prison Meditations of Father Alfred Delp, 1963, p. 95, quoted by Kenneth Leech, The Social God, Shjeldon press 1981, p. 41.

[8] Matthew, 25, 35-40.

[9] From Henry Thurman, ‘Mysticism and Social Action: Breathing in and Breathing Out.’

[10] Quoted in My Life With Martin Luther King, p. 193.

[11] Both references are from the WCF’s journal Forum, No 21, June 1954, p. 21.

[12] English translation is by Mary Rogers in World Faiths, no 99, Summer 1976.

[13] Dr Thomas Berry, ‘The Cosmology of Religions’, in A Source Book for Earth’s Community of Religions, CoNexus Press, 1995 edtn, p. 95

[14] ‘The Cosmology of Religions’, p. 96.

[15] Thomas Berry quoted in ‘The Cosmology of Religions’, p. 98. See als, Thomas Berry, ‘The Spirituality of the Earth’ in Celebrating Earth Holy Days, Ed. Susan J Clark, Crossroad, 1992,

pp.69-82.

[16] Quoted in Marcus Braybrooke, 265 Meditations for a Peaceful Heart and a Peaceful World, Godsfield , 2004, p. 380

[17] Teilhard de Chardin, quoted in ‘The Cosmology of Religions’, p. 97,

[18] Jane Goodall, reason for Hope, Warner Books, 1999, p. 267.

[19] Mairead Corrigan Maguire, The Vision of Peace, Orbis Books, 1999.

Face 2 Faith

2007-02-21T04:26:00.000-08:00

The Methodist Church in Great Britain have designated February as a Face 2 Faith month.

Deatils of events are available at
www.face2faith.org.uk

You can get involved, and help the World Congress of Faiths

If you are a Methodist, I hope you will already know what your local Church is doing about face2faith – and if not, why not ask them whether there is anything you can help with, as a member of WCF, as you have contacts available with other faiths.

If you are not a Methodist, you could do something very similar – contact your local Methodist Church, ask them (tactfully) what they are doing about this face2Faith month, and offer to provide contacts from your knowledge of other faiths.

Elizabeth Harris tells me that events do not have to be in February – the month was designated only to raise awareness – I am sure that by now it may be too late to organise things within the month, but that should not be a problem!

If your contact goes well, and WCF is seen to be a useful facilitator in this sort of activity, then you might try to persuade others to join – it is now possible to subscribe to WCF online at

www.worldfaiths.org/membership.htm

Alternatively, we can supply you with membership forms, and occasional back copies of Interreligious Insight for use in publicising WCF.

Notice also the photographic competition, which is open to ALL until 31 May.
Plenty of time to arrange an event, photograph it, and submit the picture to the competition.

Look at the face2Faith website for more information.

If you need any further help or advice, please contact

Elizabeth Harris about the face2Faith month, or

me about WCF.

We would be very interested to hear of any successes of this approach.
Tony

The 4th Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace

2007-01-26T01:00:00.000-08:00

Festival Website:
www.eicws.org

Festival Schedule, Brochure, Poster and Registration Forms:

The Festival Schedule, Brochure, Poster and Registration Forms for the
2007 Middle East Festival are available for downloading in the Downloads section of the Festival website under MESP 2007. The Festival Schedule can also be viewed through the Events Calendar. The Highlight Events section also lists some of our other events outwith MESP.

Please forward to your contacts, list in email circulars, newsletters, and event listings, as appropriate.

Contact: Neill Walker, 0131 331 4469, njwalk5300@hotmail.co.uk

Hinduism Seminar 22nd March 10am to 3pm at Neasden Temple

2007-01-26T00:56:00.000-08:00

We have started accepting applications for the Hinduism seminar. We are fortunate that the temple has extended its invitation to accpet as many teachers and participants as we can encourage to participate. We are keen to draw teachers and specialists in RE from all over the country. The TDA has uploaded details of the seminar at: http://www.re-net.ac.uk/viewArticle.aspx?contentId=13059

If you can upload information about the seminar on any of the sites you control, we will be most grateful. The seminar can be of interest to RE teachers, would-be RE teachers, and specialists in RE at higher education institutes as well as inter-faith groups.

regards

jay

Art Exhibition - Swadeka Ahsun

2007-01-14T11:27:00.000-08:00

Swadeka Ahsun’s work is a blend of Islamic and Western art. Born in Mauritius, Ashsun started painting as a child and throughout her adolescence was greatly inspired by her natural surroundings of the sea, sky and mountainous landscapes punctuated with magnificent Islamic architecture.

She later studied at the University of Westminster in London, where she graduated with BA (Hons) and MA in Islamic Studies. Ashsun studied art privately receiving tuition from several distinguished art scholars including Professor Critchlow of the Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department (VITA) of the Prince of Wales Institute of Islamic Architecture, whilst undertaking postgraduate studies in fine arts at Chelsea College of Art and Design.

Inspired by her religion, Ashsun’s Islamic paintings are mainly abstract and decorative, at times portraying geometric with floral and calligraphic designs that focuses on the spiritual representation of objects. Her style is pensive and timeless.

She has participated in many group and solo exhibitions both in the United Kingdom and abroad, including “Islam in Europe (2002), Best of British Islam, Solo Show Port-Louis, Mauritius by courtesy of the Mayor of Port-Louis ( 2004), Governor House Fundraising Gala Event for the survivors of the Pakistan earthquake (2005) and most recently she has exhibited in an Art & Calligraphy Show which formed part of the Islam Expo at Alexandra Palace, London (2006).

Swadeka Ahsun has travelled widley and now lives and works in London and her paintings are in public and private collections world wide.

Her exhibition is at the Royal Commonwealth Society

Commonwealth Club

25 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5AP until 30 January 2007.

The World Congress of Faiths' visit is at 2pm on 25 January. Meet us there!

Tony

Interfaith Concert

2006-12-14T00:23:00.000-08:00

Interfaith Concert, taking place at Essex Church, Kensington (Notting Hill Gate) on Sunday 17 December:

Rumi’s ‘Nuptial Night’ – interfaith concert
Sunday 17 December 2006 6:30-8:30pm
At the death of the great Sufi poet and sage Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, Muslims, Jews, and Christians all joined the funeral.

This date on 17th December is traditionally celebrated as Mevlana Rumi’s ‘nuptial night’ when he finally joined in union with the Beloved.
With this inspiration for our times, we have brought together musicians from the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths.
Taraweeh (‘refreshment of the soul’) led by master ney player Louai Alhenawi perform passionate Sufi music.
Vivi Lachs leads her fellow musicians with songs from the Yiddish tradition, including mystical lyrics and joyous wedding music.
Jennifer Hazel sings music from the Christian tradition and contemporary settings of Rumi.

The programme includes readings from Rumi in English and Persian.
£8 on door
Venue: Kensington Unitarian Church, 112 Palace Gardens Terrace, Notting Hill Gate (200 yards from Notting Hill Gate tube)
Contact: Khaled 07752 830940 khaledhakim@aol.com
www.caravansary.org
(Supported by DCLG, Alif-Aleph, Unitarian Church, and Rumi Foundation)

Interfaith in Europe

2006-11-27T00:25:00.000-08:00

Last week I spent a day at a meeting organised by the European Union discussing how local authorities across Europe can deal better with religious diversity. It was fascinating, though how they can hope to make rules that fit the whole of Europe I really don't understand!
Brian Pearce from the Inter Faith Network and also a member of our executive was also there, which was great! First of all, it meant that the three translators they had or the conference were not just there for me! But mostly because he is such an expert on local government issues here in the UK. I looked at the agenda, read some of the papers and wondered what I was doing there. after all, issues such as who pays for local mosques to be built, or how cemeteries are to be organised are really interesting, but I was really unable to comment too much.
Then I realised what my role was!

Apart from anything else, for that day I was the only non-Christian present at all the discussions. A Muslim delegate was going to join them for the next day. What an interfaith conference!

they needed to learn that not all people can eat the same food and proper vegetarian alternatives need to be provided.
they also needed to learn that different religious groups have different holy days and varying tasks that they can perform on those days. So I had to miss the last day and leave before breakfast in order to get back to London for the Sabbath which in November arrives very early indeed.
and my main task? To bring the spiritual into the discussion. I explained our raison d'etre at WCF and emphasised that behind all the local bureaucrats trying to solve specific issues, they really would benefit from keeping in mind that this was also an exercise in spiritual humility, in recognising that there are many ways to reach God.

It certainly helped put WCF on the European map. All my leaflets disappeared. Let's hope at least one of them becomes a member!

Rabbi Jackie Tabick

World Public Forum

2006-10-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

The importance of interfaith dialogue is increasingly being recognised in Russia and Central Asia, as was evident by the strong representation of the various Orthodox churches and of Muslims from the area at the 4th World Public Forum of the Dialogue of Civilizations, held in Rhodes, Greece, from 27th September to 1st October, 2006.
The emphasis on dialogue was balanced by the wish to respect the distinctivness of local cultures and particular religious traditions in the face of the mono-culture which America was accused of imposing. There was also some fear of dialogue about belief or spiritual practice and some suspicion of American based interfaith organisations which are thought to erode religious commitment. This reflects the fact that whereas in the West religion tends to be seen as a matter of personal belief, in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East, there is a strong link between religion and national identity.
The only particpants from Britain were Rev Dr Marcus and Mrs Mary Braybrooke, representing the Three Faiths Forum and the World Congress of Faiths and Dr Kamran Mofid, Director of Globalisation for the Common Good.
Further details at www.wpdfc.com

Peace

2006-10-05T00:13:00.000-07:00

A comment received today

8th World Assembly of Religions for Peace

2006-09-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

Confronting Violence & Advancing Shared Security

August 26-29, 2006; Kyoto, Japan

Report to Religions for Peace (UK)

The African Delegation ‘On the Path’ for Peace ...................................................................................................

Introduction

Following a year of preparation, the 8th World Assembly of Religions for Peace opened on 26th August 2006, in Kyoto, Japan. This World Assembly was immediately preceded by the Women of Faith Assembly, which included women of faith from 10 diverse religious traditions and 65 countries, who declared a nine-point ‘Call to Action’. This ended with a call ‘upon ourselves to be the change we want to see in the world and to be instrumental in achieving sustainable peace and development for our families, communities and the world at large’.

Earlier in the week a Youth Assembly programme, in Hiroshima, included some 300 religious youth leaders from across the world, who also declared a call to action in the Hiroshima Declaration, and nominated representatives to the World Council.

Theme

The 8th World Assembly of Religions for Peace theme was ‘Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared Security’.

Conflict, religious extremism, nuclear proliferation, systemic poverty, gender inequity, and environmental degradation and disaster – these are just a few forms of modern violence. No group is immune to violence or its consequences and everyone must contribute to the building of shared security. Today, across the globe, religious leaders and their communities are cooperating on the front lines to resist violence and promote common security.

Participants in the 8th World Assembly of Religions for Peace set out to address the advancement of shared security through: conflict transformation; peace building; and sustainable development. In preliminary commissions, senior religious leaders from affiliated regional and national inter-religious councils (IRCs) shared their experiences and developed action programmes for the next five years.
The Assembly was also worked to forge action-oriented global partnerships among religious communities and with key stakeholders, including inter-governmental organizations, governments and civil society.

Objectives

The objectives of the 8th World Assembly included:

· Advancing cooperation among religious communities to transform conflict, build peace, and advance sustainable development

· Forging a deeper global moral consensus among international senior religious leaders, on the need for religious communities to take action together on critical social issues

· Building action-oriented partnerships among religious communities and with key stakeholders, including inter-governmental organizations, governments and civil society

· Convening working sessions on inter-religious capacity building to share experiences and lessons on organizational strengthening, equipping IRCs for action and facilitating networking at national, regional and global levels

· Gathering religious leaders from areas of conflict around the globe (including, for example, Israel-Palestine, Iraq, North and South Korea, Sudan, and Sri Lanka) to engage in multi-religious Track II diplomacy sessions focused on issues of peace and reconciliation in their respective conflicts

· Electing the Religions for Peace Board, the world’s most representative inter-religious council, charged with broad implementation of the outcomes of the 8th World Assembly and the leadership of the worldwide Religions for Peace movement.

The 8th World Assembly

The World Assembly included around 800 delegates, plus some 1,200 observers, from 100 countries and opened with an inspiring ceremony of children, each of the different faith, from across the world, reminding us that every religion is a Path to Peace. This was further emphasized by the whole assembly learning, then singing ‘On this Path’, written by William Vendley.

The Opening Ceremony Speech

The Opening Ceremony Speech, by the Most Venerable Eshin Watanabe, Supreme Abbot of Tendai Denomination of Buddhism, took us from the Holocaust and Atomic Bombing unprecedented tragedies of the Second World War to the present day war and violent conflict, especially in the Middle East. He ended by sharing with all present the vow to work for everlasting peace.

Message from His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

His Eminence Stephen Stephen Fumio Cardinal Hamao delivered a message of support from His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

Prime Minister of Japan

Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan, brought heartfelt congratulations and welcome to the World Assembly, on behalf of the Government of Japan. He emphasized Japan’s steadfast determination to not become a military power and determination never again to wage war.

His Royal Highness Prince Al-Hassan Bin Talal

As Moderator of Religions for Peace, HRH delivered a moving keynote speech that spoke of ‘a time of great crisis in our world’, with violence overtaking dialogue once more, particularly in the Middle East and the whole of Asia. His message emphasized the need to focus on how to advance shared security, with ‘positive action to win hearts and minds’ and ‘fair and effective judicial processes’ to help stop the cycle of revenge. Calling for ‘an anthropo-centric policy where people’s existential needs are addressed’ and for ‘cultural diplomacy’ during state interactions, HRH stressed the need for true religious leaders to be given the power and dignity to contribute. Turning to the role of inter-religious cooperation in conflict transformation, he emphasized the substantial contribution that faiths together must make ‘to mobilize the moral majority to promote a middle way that is not only ethically right but strategically prudent’. ‘Shared values lead to shared security.’ With interfaith dialogue linked practically and meaningfully with political dialogue, in a parallel process, HRH claims that ‘we can restore the peaceful role of our faiths’.

HRH, who announced that he was standing down as Moderator after seven inspiring years, was to be appointed President Emeritus before the end of the World Assembly.

The Secretary General

Dr William Vendley, responding to the eminent leaders, declared that ‘we gather in hope and as a pledge to action’, determined to work together, and with other sectors of society for ’shared security’.

Plenary Sessions

In plenary, the World Assembly discussed Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared Security through Conflict Transformation; Peace Building and Sustainable Development, before Mobilizing Action for Shared Security.

Eminent speakers included:

HE Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran
Dr Andrew Mack, Director, Hunam Security Centre
Professor Hans Kung, President, Global Ethic Foundation
Ms. Anne Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF
Archbishop John Baptist, Founder, Acholi Inter-religious Peace Initiative
HE Mustafa Ceric, Reis-ul-ulema, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Ms. Ela Ghandi, Trustee, Gandhi Development Trust
Bishop Victoria Cortez, Vice-President for the Latin American and Caribbean Region, Lutheran World Federation
Rev. Solomon Muin, West Africa Youth Network
Professor Alpha Omar Konare, Chairman, Commission of the African Union
Chief Rabbi David Rosen, International Director of Inter-religious Relations
Right Rev. Bishop H. Mvume Dandala, General Secretary, All Africa Conference of Churches
Mr. Kenneth Hackett, CEO, Catholic Relief Services
The Venerable Xue Cheng, Secretary General, China Buddhist Association
The Venerable Gijun Sugitani, Chairperson, International Standing Commission on Disarmament & Security, Japan
HE Kjell Magne Bondevik, Former Prime Minister of Norway
HE Sheik Shaban Mubaje, Mufti, Uganda Muslim Supreme Council
HE Cardinal Julio Terrazas, Archbishop of Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Ms. Beatriz Schulthess, President, Return to the Earth, Costa Rica
Rabbi Yona Metzger, Chief Rabbi of Israel
HE Sheikh Taysir Tamimi, Chief Judge, Palestinian Authority
Patriarch Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

Business Meetings

Four business meetings were held during the Assembly. These allowed the 540 Business Delegates to:

Receive reports from the Women’s Assembly and the Youth Assembly
Endorse the ‘Declaration Toward a Global Ethic’
Endorse a Statement on Violence against Children
Elect the new Governing Board of the World Council
Approve the Assembly Declaration

Commissions

Three Commissions sat during the Assembly. These considered, discussed and proposed actions over the next five years on:

Conflict Transformation

Conflict Mediation and Negotiation
Reconciliation and Healing
Conflict Prevention

Peace-Building

Proliferation of Weapons, Disarmament & Security
Transitional Justice and Human Rights
Peace Education

Sustainable Development

Children and HIV/AIDS
Poverty Alleviation
Environment

The recommendations of each Commission will now be developed into formal Action Plans and implemented throughout the next five years.

Skills Building Workshops

During the Assembly, there were nine parallel workshops, aimed at equipping the Religions for Peace network for action. These included:

Faith in Action: Working towards the Millennium Development Goals
Establishing and Strengthening Women of Faith Networks
Models of Multi-religious Conflict Transformation
Strengthening Inter Religious Councils
Developing Financial and Grants Management Systems
Being Heard: Improving Media Relations & Advocacy Skills
Strengthening Identity & Communication across the Network
Developing Partnerships for Collaborative Action
Mobilizing Religions to Address Violence Against Children

Informal Networking

A one and a half hour session was included to involve everyone in organized, but informal, networking sessions to strengthen bonds and shared indemnity and to provide opportunities for sharing experiences and models of inter-religious cooperation. These were supplemented by a lunch time caucuses by faith and evening caucuses by region. In addition, there were round-table meetings that allowed for more confidential discussions on, sometimes, sensitive concerns.

The most significant informal networking, however, continued throughout the day and into the night, as individuals and groups came together in planned and chance encounters.

During the Assembly, UK delegates met with His Royal Highness Prince Al-Hassan Bin Talal; with delegates from Sierra Leone, to renew our join commitment to our Concordat; and with the Albanian delegation, in preparation for their visit to the UK in September 2006. In addition we met many individuals from diverse faiths and from across the world.

Sharing a meal with the Inter Religious Council of Sierra Leone

Closing Ceremony

At the commencement of the closing ceremony William Vendley formally presented the Kyoto Declaration on Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared Security, which calls upon Religions Communities; Religions for Peace; Governments; International Organizations; the Business Sector; and all people of goodwill, to take specific actions toward shared security for all.

Delegates then rose to affirm a Shared Commitment before being treated to a closing finale with videoed highlights plus a Japanese musical spectacular.

Final Comments

Despite a very busy schedule, time was set aside for a visit to the World Heritage, Shinto Golden Shrine and space was provided for those wishing to pray, meditate or simply reflect on their old concerns and new experiences. The setting for the Assembly, in a water garden surrounded by verdant hills, and the tropical climate, gave an atmosphere for thoughtful reflection.

The whole experience provided opportunities to renew old friendships and to create new ones. Nevertheless, in a time of great tensions and violence in the world, there were times when hurts arose and feelings were expressed, sometimes forcibly. These allowed us to remain grounded in the reality of our troubled existence and it is a credit to all those that acted with sensitivity and care that the World Assembly was an outstanding example for all peoples of faiths.

The last and most important tribute belongs to our charming and considerate Japanese hosts. The most outstanding and visible examples to us all were the hundreds of Japanese youth volunteers, who welcomed us enthusiastically; showed us the way effectively; help us out willingly and gave us a memorable farewell. Thank you to them all.

Dr Brian Walker with two of the Japanese Youth volunteers

Post-Assembly Conference, Religions for Peace (Japan), Nagasaki

Immediately after the World Conference, Dr Brian Walker flew to Nagasaki, courtesy of Religions for Peace (Japan), with religious leaders from Canada, Japan, Senegal and South Africa, to pay his respects at the Atomic Bomb Blast Epicentre and to speak on Shared Security at the Nagasaki Post-Assembly Conference. Some 350 delegates attended and there was widespread consensus that we should continue to work together, particularly on Peace Education best practice.

Reconciliation and Healing and the Critical Role of Multi-religious Cooperation
Assembly, Kyoto 2006 Commission on Conflict Transformation - Presentation of Sub-Commission Resource Person on Reconciliation and Healing and the critical role of multi-religious cooperation by Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid representing Brighton and Hove Interfaith Contact Group (IFCG), Chairman Religions for Peace UK and Chairman Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony UK.

The Spiritual Aspect of Reconciliation

This deals with rebuilding fractured lives so that social reconciliation can happen. Governments cannot legislate the healing of memories or guarantee forgiveness. There have to be other processes in place. For us as believers.- Christians, Muslims and Jews and people of different faiths reconciliation is a gift and grace, an initiative that comes from God calling the oppressor to repentance and the victim to forgiveness. However, the only way to be knowingly reconciled with God is to be reconciled with other people.

First, the process of reconciliation begins with the victim, not with the wrongdoer. Reconciliation processes should restore dignity, humanity, selfhood and life to the victim. It is thus more than the lifting of a burden but being brought to a new place of hope where a new vision of reality can be forged. The reconciliation process cannot begin with wrongdoers since they often refuse to believe they have done wrong (take the examples of General Pinochet in Chile or the late Slobodan Milosovič of Serbia). The restoration of the humanity of the victim is the first step in restoring the humanity of the wrongdoers whose acts have diminished their own dignity as human beings and in leading them and the society of which they are part to a new possibility.

In order to achieve this, both victim and wrongdoer have to be taken to a “new place” where they can reconstruct the trust that has been lost as the first step in establishing a new relationship and ultimately a new society. That new place is where the wrongdoer repents and the victim no longer seeks revenge. There are three important steps in taking the person to that ‘new place’.

The first is apology, an important first step in the healing process. The apologies issued by the United Church of Canada in 1988 to the First Nation people of Canada followed by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate a few years later were constructed with the victims so that the institutions whose members had committed the physical and sexual abuse of children in their care were given a deeper insight into the pain caused by listening to the victims’ stories which were also cathartic for the victims themselves. The apologies were the fundament to create a new, long-term relationship. The apologies by Germany to the Jewish people and by Pope John Paul II in 2000 to those whom the Catholic Church had harmed in the past are powerful reminders that we can all apologise.

The second step in taking people to the ‘new place’ is repentance and reparation. These constitute public acts that communicate remorse about what has happened in the past. They try to make up for the past and look forward to indicate that such events must never happen again. Repentance needs to be spoken by the perpetrator and reparation may entail financial payment to victims or even imprisonment depending on the deed. This has to be handled sensitively, however. In Rwanda, the perpetrators of the genocide imprisoned by the International Criminal Court for Rwanda have three meals a day and those who are HIV-positive receive anti-retroviral medicines whereas the victims have largely returned to the poverty of before.

The third step is forgiveness. Asking victims to ‘forgive and forget’ is, however, asking them to become victims again. Forgetting could trivialise the crime committed. If we understand forgiveness as overcoming resentment about the past, then, though the memory persists, the victim is no longer held hostage to the past. That is why it is necessary to let forgiveness come slowly otherwise it will be difficult for the victim to be completely healed. Forgiveness by victims becomes an act of freedom as they are not controlled by what had happened in the past but are taken to a new future where they may not forget the crime perpetrated but remember it in a new way. Truth and justice are linked to forgiveness.

How do we come to a common vision of a spirituality that will contribute to these various elements and lead to effective reconciliation strategies?

The Social Aspect of Reconciliation
This is trying to ensure that structures and processes are in place to reconstruct a shattered society after conflict on the basis of justice, truth and trust. While the spiritual aspect deals with more individual and personal ways of reconciling people, there must also be a collective structural element which provides initiatives that give hope to society and are linked to long-term transformative efforts. Just, democratic structures have to be put in place to punish the wrongdoers, provide some reparation for the victims and to ensure that the social chaos that normally follows conflict with a rise in organised crime, murders, domestic violence, child abuse and sexual offences, let alone issues of poverty, is mitigated. People must be shown that their politicians are sincere in constructing a new society where the injustices of the past will not be repeated.

Religious groups are now being included in many civil society actions, sometimes in link with government such as being members of committees in some of the countries given debt relief in order to ensure that the extra cash is spent on socially useful projects. While they are members of these committees because of the respect in which they are held and because of their probity, in my experience they have to be convinced as well as trained in order to be effective. For example, Caritas with the Pontifical Council Justice and Peace held seminars for bishops from Africa and Latin America some time ago to train them how to contribute to the new Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers of the World Bank. The same is true of religious leaders who become members of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions.

Part of the social response to conflict is humanitarianism. Many faiths have humanitarian agencies which must learn not only to ‘do no harm’ but ‘do good’ by being conflict sensitive. In Sri Lanka, for example, in order that the tsunami did not become a focus for social disharmony, our Caritas there tried to work as much as possible with the Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu communities, choosing to buy goods for the people affected from merchants of all faiths rather than one. Now, during the commemorations of the tsunami and related events to stop conflict spreading all the faith traditions try to speak with one voice. In Macedonia, in a mixed Albanian-Slav (which means mostly Moslem/Orthodox) area, there were tensions between the two groups. The local school had an Albanian shift in the morning and a Macedonian one in the afternoon. Tensions were lessened through a Caritas programme providing funds for a new, improved curriculum for both Albanian and Macedonian pupils led by a governing council of mixed parents. Through problem-solving and for the sake of their children, the parents mixed as never before and tensions have eased and the prejudices of before are gradually disappearing as they focus on a safe future for their children.

How can we muster the strengths of our various faiths to take a more active part in social reconciliation?

Forgiveness: A different outlook and a new start:

In Islamic history one may find an outlook of a different nature. When the Romans conquered any country, the first thing they would do is mass massacre. When the Muslims entered any country, they would give guarantees of life, property and honour to all the non-belligerents. Even in war a Muslims are not allowed to kill an old person, a woman, and a child, those who are crippled or disabled. Not only that, even trees are not to be cut and crops are not to be burnt. The entire Islamic history does not know of the concept of mass killing or massacre of enemies. One cannot find one single example of any Inquisition or ethnic cleansing on the name of Islam

I draw your attention to look to the actions of the Holy Prophet of Islam when he entered Makkah as victor. Everyone was offered complete amnesty and complete forgiveness. When Caliph Umar entered Jerusalem he was not even prepared to pray in a Church for fear that those who came after him may treat the place as a mosque and take it away from the Christians. But when the Crusaders there took the city of Jerusalem was total massacre of the population. What happened in Spain? Not a single Muslim or Jew was left unexecuted or un-exiled. It was the same in Sicily where all the mosques were demolished. Even in the last century the same practice was adopted in Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya and many other parts of the world.

Islam condemns and rejects all forms of terror, killing without due process of law, injustice, corruption, tyranny and oppression. There is no justification for the usage of terms such as ‘Islamic terrorists’. As a Muslim we must take account of our deeds by other Muslims on the name of Islam. I feel ashamed when I hear that Muslims are breaking the Law of Islam. I sincerely apologize to those who have suffered due to any senseless actions of so-called Muslims. I seek forgiveness from Allah for any mistake done and ask forgiveness from my fellow beings. However, we must find the root cause of the problem.

Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid
8 Caburn Road Hove BN3 6EF (UK)
Tel: 01273 722438 Mobile: 07971861972
Email: imamsajid@gmail.com
30 August 2006

The Kyoto Declaration on Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared Security
Preamble
Representing all major religious traditions and every region of the world, more than eight hundred religious leaders from over one hundred countries convened in Kyoto , Japan as the Eighth World Assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace to address the theme, “Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared Security”. We, the Assembly
Delegates, come from the global Religions for Peace network of local, national, regional, and international inter-religious councils and groups, as well as networks of youth and women of faith. We recognize and build on the significant contributions and statements of youth and women of faith made in their respective assemblies.
The first Religions for Peace World Assembly that convened in Kyoto in 1970, and every Assembly since, affirmed deeply held and widely shared religious principles that still inspire our search for peace with justice today. We share a conviction of the fundamental unity of the human family, and the equality and dignity of all human beings. We affirm the sacredness of the individual person and the importance of his or her freedom of conscience. We are committed to the ethical values and attitudes commonly shared by our religious traditions. We uphold the value of life manifest in human community and in all creation. We acknowledge the importance of the environment to sustain life for the human family. We realize that human power is neither self-sufficient nor absolute, and that the spirit of love, compassion, selflessness, and the force of inner truthfulness ultimately have greater power than prejudice, hate, enmity or violence. Meeting in Japan, the nation that experienced the horrors of nuclear attacks, we commit ourselves to continue to struggle toward comprehensive nuclear disarmament and against the proliferation of arms.
The first Assembly of Religions for Peace declared: “As men and women of religions, we confess in humility and penitence that we have very often betrayed our religious ideals and our commitment to peace. It is not religion that has failed the cause of peace, but religious people. This betrayal of religion can and must be corrected” It is crucial now to engrave the reflection of our respected predecessors deeply in our hearts.
Today, we live in a world in the grip of many forms of violence, both direct an structural. Violent conflicts âˆ’ within states and across borders, carried out by both state and non-state actors âˆ’ take lives and destroy communities. They cause more civilian than military casualties and their disproportionate impact is on vulnerable populations.
Religious communities in particular must play a central role identifying and confronting violence in all its forms and manifestations. The worldâ€™s religions have experienced abuse by those who seek to misuse religion for their own purposes. In ongoing violent conflicts around the world, religion is being used as a justification or excuse for violence.
We must regretfully accept that some groups within our religious communities hav indeed sought to employ violence. We must reject this and recommit religions to the way of peace. Religious communities and leaders must stand up, speak out, and take action against the misuse of religion.
The diverse and interconnected threats currently experienced by innumerable members of the human family call for a much broader understanding of violence in the world. The world’s religious communities must play a central role partnering with one another and all sectors of society, to prevent and stop war, expose injustice, combat poverty, and protect the earth.
The time to do this is now; and our key to confronting violence is cooperation based on mutual respect and acceptance.
Confronting Violence
Today, genocide, state-sponsored repression, terrorism, and other forms of human rights abuse violate international law, target innocent civilians, and threaten the safety of many communities. State laws restricting human rights and civil liberties are also a form of
violence. Conflict-related disease, famine, displacement and environmental catastrophes constitute serious threats to life. Violence against women and children, including rape, forced pregnancy, enslavement, forced labour, prostitution, the use of child soldiers, and trafficking, has become a tactic of warfare in many conflicts.
Direct physical threats are the most commonly offered definition of violence, but the reality of the diverse and interconnected chronic threats to human survival experienced by millions calls for a much broader understanding of violence in the world. Economic injustices leading to extreme poverty and hunger kill 50,000 people each day. Preventable and treatable diseases kill millions. Twenty-five million people have already died from AIDS, while approximately forty million more are living with HIV and AIDS, and the impact on our communities is devastating. Many corporations, especially at the multinational level, set their business interests without concern for values that foster sustainable development. Environmental degradation and dwindling resources threaten our planet’s ability to sustain life.
The poor, the powerless, and the most vulnerable populations disproportionately suffer the consequences of violence in all its forms, ranging from armed conflict to extreme poverty to environmental degradation.
Unfortunately, religion plays a significant role in some of the most intractable and violent conflicts around the world. Religion is being hijacked by extremists, and too often by politicians, and by the media. Extremists use religion to incite violence and hatred and foster sectarian conflict, contrary to our most deeply held beliefs. Religious people need to recognize the reasons why religions are being hijacked, such as through manipulation and misuse of their central principles. Politicians often exploit and manipulate sectarian differences to serve their own ends, frequently dragging religion into social, economic and political disputes. The media also contribute to the scapegoating of religions in conflict situations through disrespectful representations. They also too easily identify parties to a conflict by religious labels and present religion as a source of conflict without reporting the diversity within religious traditions and the many ways that religious communities are confronting violence and working for peace.
A Multi-Religious Response
As people of religious conviction, we hold the responsibility to effectively confront violence within our own communities whenever religion is misused as a justification or excuse for violence. Religious communities need to express their opposition whenever religion and its sacred principles are distorted in the service of violence. They should take appropriate steps to exercise their moral authority to oppose attempts to misuse religion.
There are religious and ethical imperatives for multi-religious cooperation to resist and reject violence, prevent it when possible, as well as promote reconciliation and healing.
Our religious traditions call us to care for one another and to treat the problems faced by others as our own. Violence against any individual is an attack against all and should prompt our concern. Religious communities know that they are especially called to stand on the side of the most vulnerable, including the poor, the marginalized, and the defenceless. Our religious traditions acknowledge the fundamental vulnerability of human life. The vulnerability of each person should make us recognize the need to respond to the vulnerability of all persons.
There are also practical grounds for cooperation. No group is immune to violence or its consequences. War, poverty, disease, and the destruction of the environment have direct or indirect impacts on all of us. Individuals and communities deceive themselves if they believe they are secure while others are suffering. Walls can never be high enough to insulate us from the impacts of the genuine needs and vulnerabilities of others. No nation can be secure while other nations are threatened. We are no safer than the most vulnerable among us.
The efforts of individual religious communities are made vastly more effective through multi-religious cooperation. Religious communities working together can be powerful actors to prevent violence before it erupts, diffuse conflict, mediate among armed groups in the midst of conflict, and lead their communities to rebuild war-torn societies.
Religious communities are called not only to reject war and foreign occupation, sectarian violence, weapons proliferation, and human rights abuse, but also to identify and confront the root causes of injustice, economic inequalities, governance failures, development obstacles, social exclusions, and environmental abuses.
Shared Security
The moral and ethical convictions of our diverse religious traditions provide a moral foundation for confronting violence in its many forms and for suggesting a vision of shared security.
Existing notions of security inadequately address violence in its many forms. National security does not necessarily ensure peace; in fact, it often promotes violence and foments insecurity. Armed conflict takes place between states, and increasingly within states and among non-state actors. Human security acknowledges the solidarity of the human family by approaching security from the perspective of human rights and needs. But defining human security in these terms fails to address adequately how these needs are to be met and who is responsible for ensuring them.
A well-developed concept of shared security articulates security needs, how they are to be met, and the necessary agents, instruments, and relationships to achieve it. Importantly, shared security would highlight the collective responsibility of all people to meet our common need for security.
Shared security requires all sectors of society to acknowledge our common vulnerabilities and our shared responsibility to address them. It is undertaken collectively by multiple stakeholders acknowledging that every sector of society must confront violence if we hope to do so effectively. It supports participatory and democratic forms of governance. Governments, international organizations, civil society, and religious communities themselves must all advance shared security. Effective shared security spans boundaries of geography, nationality, ethnicity, and religion. It marshals human responsibility, accountability and capacity wherever it exists.
Effective shared security, at all levels of community, meets national security needs; acknowledges and addresses both direct and chronic threats to individual physical security; and protects the poor, the powerless and the most vulnerable. It strengthens governance efforts and addresses the disparities and inequities of globalisation. Shared security supports religious communities and religious leaders in their efforts to oppose the abuse of religion for violent ends and to build institutions for collaboration among governments, all elements of civil society and religious communities. A commitment to shared security enables multi-religious networks, such as the global Religions for Peace network, in their efforts to transform conflict, build peace, struggle for justice, and advance sustainable development.
Religions for Peace
Religions for Peace has become a major global multi-religious voice and agent for peace.
Guided by respect for religious differences, the global Religions for Peace network fosters multi-religious collaboration harnessing the power of religious communities to transform conflict, build peace, and advance sustainable development.
We, the delegates of the Eighth World Assembly of Religions for Peace, are firmly
united in our commitment to prevent and confront violence in all its forms and confident in the power of multi-religious cooperation to advance a common vision of shared security. We are determined to mobilize our religious communities to work together and with all sectors of society to stop war, struggle to build more just communities, foster education for justice and peace, eliminate poverty and advance sustainable development for future generations.
A Multi-Religious Call to Action
As religious leaders, we commit ourselves to advance shared security through advocacy, education, and other forms of multi-religious action, and to share this Kyoto Declaration within our religious communities.
We call on all sectors of society “public and private, religious and secular“ to work together to achieve shared security for the human family.
Specifically, the Religions for Peace World Assembly calls on:
1) Religious communities to:
Resist and confront any misuse of religion for violent purposes;
Become effective educators, advocates and actors for conflict transformation, fostering justice, peace-building, and sustainable development;
Draw upon their individual spiritual traditions to educate their members on our shared responsibilities to advance shared security;
Strengthen peace education on all levels;
Hold governments accountable for the commitments they make on behalf of their peoples;
Network locally, nationally, regionally and globally to foster multi-religious cooperation among the world’s religious bodies; and
Partner with governments, international organizations and other sectors of society to confront violence and advance a new notion of shared security.
2) The global network of Religions for Peace to:
Foster high-level multi-religious cooperation around the issue of shared security;
Build, equip, and network inter-religious councils locally, nationally, and regionally;
Strengthen the global Religions for Peace network as a platform for collaboration to advance shared security;
Further commit to actions for women’s empowerment and women’s human right within its structures at all levels;
Embrace the central position of religious women and place gender concerns at the centre of the shared security agenda;
Keep religious youth and their concerns at the centre of its agenda and promotetheir full involvement in advancing shared security;
Support and collaborate with the Peace-building Commission of the United Nations;
Advocate practices that advance sustainable development and environmental protection; and
Partner with all sectors of society, especially in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
3) Governments, International Organizations, and the Business Sector to:
Support the efforts of religious leaders to address violence within and beyond their communities, and include them as appropriate in political negotiations surrounding conflict situations;
Forge partnerships with religious communities to achieve the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, combat disease, and advance sustainable development;
Harness advances in science and technology toward peaceful purposes and to eliminate poverty and advance sustainable development; and
Seek out religious networks for their ability to reach vast numbers of people and their capacity to effect change.
We ask all people of goodwill to support and collaborate with religious communities as we work toward shared security for all.
These commitments and the calls to action that arise from them express our most deeply held and widely shared religious beliefs.
Kyoto , Japan
29 August 2006

Our visit to the British Library

2006-09-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

What a great trip we had to the British Library. there was a mixed band of enthusiasts, from us at the QWorld Congress and from my synagogue. If you had imagined that we were going to dusty dark basements to be shown round by an old bent librarian, you would have been wrong! the building itself was fascinating, bright and airy, and the librarian so enthusiastic it took our breath away...but then she had such treasures to share with us. We had both an expnation of how the system works, how books are acquired and displayed and detailed backgrounds to the books we saw. These included the oldest manusciprt of a Hebrew Bible complete with the Massoretic notes from the ninth century. (These notes explain the grammar of the text and give variant readings.) Then we were treated to a visit to one of the reading rooms which is huge and its shelves are crammed not with the actual books you and i might want to read, but just the catalogues of the books held by the libraray on various subjects to do with the Orient. Joy Barrow, our Sikh expert, was in seventh heaven when she found the catalogues dealing with the papers of the East India Company.

in April 2007, there will be an exhibition of manuscripts from the three Abrahamic Faiths and we hope to arrage another trip then.

see you soon!
Jackie

Forgiveness

2006-07-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

What a great conference we had on Sunday. i was a little worried that between the heat and the lack of public transport (half the underground trains weren't running that day) we would have to give up and go home. But 25 of us gathered for what was a thought-provoking afternoon.

The panel looked at forgiveness in the Sikh, Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions. Obviously, we shared a lot. We all acknowledged the need for forgiveness in this world. We all stressed how we saw God as a compassionate Being who would shower us with forgiveness if we would but ask. But we also noted the creative tensions between forgiveness and justice, between forgiving before you are asked or waiting till the person who has wronged you admits their guilt and apologises.

Then Alexandra, our guest who is usually resident in Beirut, shared with us the pain she felt at the present situation. And the plan she had for a Garden of Forgiveness in the heart of the city. I found her talk particularly hard as i have a brother who lives in Nahariyah, in the north of Israel, with his family. They have had to leave the area and move in with family further south as Ketusha rockets have been falling round them and they are frightened at the long term decire of Hezbolla to destroy the Jewish State. But i also feel for the Lebanese civilians, their pain, their suffering and it's hard to deal with both of these sets of emotions at the same time.

Our final speaker, Anne, touched our hearts with the plight of the earth beneath us. Would the earth forgive us the wrongs we inflict upon her every day? She pointed out that in both Greek and Hebrew the word to 'repent' means to return or to turn. Will we turn from our habits of consumerism and repent for what we do on a daily basis to destroy the world? will we only speak or will we also act?

And the whole day was chaired so magnificently by Gwen, with many breaks for us to re-hydrate ourselves and make contact with friends, old and new. A truly fascinating and inspiring occasion and with a bit of luck, I may even get out of it a discussion on Yom Kippur and a sermon for this shabbat!

What are Interfaith Groups Doing?

2006-07-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

Seventy years on from the founding of the World Congress of Faiths.

Here is an article about the state of interfaith dialogue today.
Click here to read it
Comments welcome
Marcus Braybrooke

Vigil for the Mumbai bombings

2006-07-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

See Comment

Youth and the Media

2006-07-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

See the comment for a discussion on BBC AsiaNet this morning

EXHIBITION ISLAM

2006-07-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

I am part of the Exhibition Islam team and we wish to invite the members of the World Congress of Faiths to attend our latest exhibition on the Sacred Islamic Text - The Quran, which is being jointly launched with the Islamic Cultural Centre and the London Central Mosque by Regents Park, London. The exhibition runs from Saturday 12th August until Sunday 20th August 2006 and is open daily from 12pm until 8pm except Friday 18th August when the exhibition opens from 2:30pm.
We would be delighted to arrange group visits from any organisation.
The Quran exhibition is a pioneering, beautifully designed, visually attractive and breathtaking exhibition on the sacred Islamic text the Quran. This exhibition provides a true insight into the Quran, its revelation, its preservation and its message to humanity.
Glimpse through Islamic history to see a rare display of unique handwritten historical Quran's from across the world:
. Elegant Quran pages from the earliest days of Islam (from 750CE onwards).
. Complete highly decorated Qurans that are centuries old, from over 800 years old to over 100 years old.

All showing the breathtaking beauty and tranquillity that typifies Islam.

Discover what the Quran says about:
. The divinely revealed books.
. Peace and justice for all.
. Women's rights, kindness to parents.
. Enjoining good and forbidding evil.
. Community and social harmony.

See how the Quran changes and continues shapes the world we live in today.
We hope the members of the World Congress of Faiths can attend The Quran Exhibition. We hope the members of the World Congress of Faiths can attend our exhibition to see the positive contribution being made by Muslims towards dialogue, peace and harmony.
I look forward to hearing from you and arranging a visit to the exhibition for the members of the World Congress of Faiths.

Regards,

Shahid Munir
Exhibition Islam

Forgiveness Conference 23 July

2006-07-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Our next conference in London will be on 23 July at the London Interfaith Centre.
Details are on the website at www.worldfaiths.org/2006%20Events.htm
We would welcome any comments here.
Please also try to publicise this meeting

The International Council of Jews and Christians

2006-07-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

Marcus and Mary Braybrooke have just got back from Vienna.

Globalisation for the Common Good

2006-07-01T23:10:00.000-07:00

Recently Marcus Braybrook and Alan Race attended a Conference on Globalisation for the Common Good at Oxford

2006-06-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

Just got back from our Executive Committee Meeting.
We all got excited about starting a blog of interfaith activities.
Watch this space!