Religions for Peace - USA January 2007 E-Newsletter

Having Difficulty Viewing This E-mail?, Please Click Here.

In This Issue:

From Our Executive Director…

After five years of joy-filled service, Rev. Bud Heckman has resigned as the Executive Director at Religions for Peace-USA to take a post at Hartford Seminary as Chief Development Officer. He will be sorely missed.

A search process is currently underway. Persons interested in the position of the Executive Director should send a full resume to searchcommittee@rfpusa.org. The job description may be viewed here.

RFP-USA Presents Interfaith Academies for Religious Leaders
The United States today is an increasingly multi-religious society, and many who are engaged in religious formation, training, and ministry are seeking opportunities to dialogue with people outside their religious tradition. The Interfaith Academies for Religious Leaders are intensive study programs for people engaged in or training for leadership in various religious traditions. The Interfaith Academy for Emerging Religious Leaders and the Interfaith Academy for Religious Professionals provide a forum where people from diverse religious traditions can learn about each other’s faiths with and from each other.

The Academies will involve lectures, seminars, and readings on a variety of religious traditions, as well as group visits to various places of religious observance. Most importantly, participants will have the opportunity to build relationships and learn from one another through conversation in the classroom, in dormitories, and at meals.

For more information, please visit here or send an e-mail to: interfaithacademy@rfpusa.org..

The 2007 Briefing Book – Better World Campaign
The United States faces numerous transnational issues, including proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, global health, and the environment. These challenges cannot be solved unilaterally. As the new year begins, The Better World Campaign has prepared background information on the role of the UN in regards to these main issues. In many ways, UN advancement and multilateral cooperation not only furthers American foreign policy interests, but also serves the interests of peace and justice in the global community. Please visit the 2007 Briefing Book for information and detailed descriptions of UN global efforts.

Now Showing: “Control Room” – A FREE Movie Event Toolkit
With our friends at the Stanley Foundation, we are offering an event toolkit based on the documentary “Control Room.” It is yet another free movie/discussion kit for you. Control Room is a documentary featuring Al Jazeera's coverage of the current Iraq conflict. The movie will be included in a "Now Showing...Control Room" event toolkit. In addition to the Control Room DVD, the toolkit will include a discussion guide, the "24/7: The Rise and Influence of Arab Media" radio documentary, a recent issue of the Stanley Foundation’s quarterly magazine Courier focusing on Arab media, as well as the Open Media and Transitioning Societies in the Arab Middle East: Implications for US Security Policy report, and other materials.

Sign up now to receive the toolkit and find out how your organization can partner with the Stanley Foundation and Religions for Peace-USA. Once you have hosted a "Now Showing...Control Room" event, please fill out a brief survey.

Religion and the 2006 Elections
Exit polls show that the religious divide that has come to characterize American politics persisted in the 2006 election; white evangelicals and those who attend church frequently continued to support Republicans by large margins, while secular voters and infrequent churchgoers were similarly lopsided in their support of Democrats. But a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted in the days immediately following the election, suggests that Americans across a number of different religious groups had fairly positive reactions to the election.

To read more about the findings of the Pew Forum, see here.

Annual Conference of The Peace Alliance
Join The Peace Alliance for their annual conference, Feb 3 - 5, 2007, in Washington, D.C. Connect with hundreds of citizens from across the country who have come to Washington to lobby for a US Department of Peace. Expand your understanding of the US Department of Peace legislation, being re-introduced in the U.S. House and Senate. Spend two days of education and training, walk the Halls of Congress, and visit your members of the House and Senate to lobby for the bill.

Join Marianne Williamson, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Deepak Chopra, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Joaquin Phoenix, Congressman Keith Ellison, Michael Bernard Beckwith, Denise Brown (Nicole Brown Foundation), Jan Hartke, along with leading experts in: Conflict Resolution & Prevention; Peace-building & Global Security; Human Security: Keeping America Safe; and more.

For more information, see here

Soul Train Chugging into Workplaces
A prominent business research organization reported that companies are facing such issues as whether to regulate employee e-mail signature signoffs that quote scripture. Workplaces are dealing with requests to hold prayer breakfasts on company property, postings on company intranets that invite co-workers to faith-based events, and requests for inhouse chaplains.

Many employers are uncertain how to respond to the "soul train."

An important distinction employers must draw, said David Miller, executive director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, in The Conference Board report, is between "faith-based" and "faith-friendly." The former, he said, generally is inappropriate for large and publicly traded companies, while the latter is welcoming of all traditions, employees and customers.

The report notes that the office is the prime community for many people, and people of faith generally want to be able to express their faiths in their communities. To learn more visit, their website here.

Changing the Present
Each year Americans spend $250 billion buying gifts for one another. Recently, however, the trend has been shifting. People are discovering that the best way to show you care for someone isn’t giving them something they don’t need, but rather, in doing something to make the world a better place, in their name.

ChangingthePresent is a one-stop-shop for individuals to find just about any cause they are looking to support. If you make a donation gift through their site, they will even send a personalized greeting card letting the recipient know. You can even make your own wish-list to tell people what organization you want to support. Check it out today!

The Golden Rule and Business Ethics
Scarboro Missions is proud to announce the addition of another important document to the Golden Rule section of their website – “The Golden Rule and Business Ethics”.

By exploring this collection of 50 websites, you can investigate, in the spirit of the Golden Rule, the many moral issues associated with the practice of business in today's world. This document deals with numerous relevant issues including ecology, ethical investment, ethical consumption, customer treatment, economic justice, codes of ethics, child labour, Third world development, faith & ethics, faith & business, global ethics. Check it out here.

NAIN Connect 2007
The North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) is calling for papers and presentations for NAIN Connect 2007, scheduled to take place in Richmond, Virginia on July 13-15, 2007.

The NAIN Connect 2007 program objective is to create an environment where the participants will develop a clearer understanding of Religious Freedom through examining current issues and presenting potential systematic solutions related to the issues of Religious Freedom, from regional, national and international perspectives.

Questions and submissions may be emailed to the NAIN 2007 Program Team at: NAINConnect2007@yahoo.com.

Even if you are not presenting, don’t forget to register for NAIN Connect 2007 here.

Illuminations
On November 20, Mark L. Tompkins and Jennifer McMahon launched their book, Illuminations, featuring a collection of photographs, art-pieces, poems and interviews all aimed at furthering the understanding of and respect for the religious traditions and, above all, spiritual paths of the world. Illuminations explores the questions people face when trying to choose or pursue a spiritual path, in order to promote a deeper understanding of individuals on their disparate journeys. Celebrating the remarkable similarities that exist among truth seekers across a spectrum of beliefs, these works express the challenges, insights, struggles, epiphanies, disillusionments, and breakthroughs that make the process of spiritual exploration so meaningful.

National Directory of Faith Groups for Justice and the Common Good
Mapping Faith brings together in one searchable database the leading faith advocates for justice and the common good from around the country. This unique resource allows users to sort these diverse leaders and organizations by geography, policy specialization, and faith affiliation. Faith in Public Life has compiled this information through research and personal interviews with faith leaders on the ground in each of these states.

A Dialogue on Interfaith Relations in the Middle East
On Wednesday, January 24, 2007 the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) hosted a public event on “The Crisis in Interfaith Relations in the Middle East.” USIP convened top experts to discuss how interfaith tensions are affecting current conflicts in the Middle East. Speakers included Rend Rahim Francke, Samuel Rizk, Prof. Marc Gopin, and Prof. Mohammed Abu Nimer. The discussion was moderated by David Smock.

For more information on this event, visit here.

Stanley Foundation’s - “Leveraging Strength in an Uncertain World”
The United States post-9/11 has increasingly relied on regional and international security. Multilateral efforts are required in order for the United States to develop a compelling vision for 21st-century leadership. “Leveraging Strength in an Uncertain World” was the topic of the Stanley Foundation’s first conference on global and national security held in Washington D.C on December 7th, 2006. The conference highlighted issues and policy considerations that the United States must examine in order to meet the security challenges that face the American people post 9-11.

For Panel summaries, full session audio and video, complete transcripts and more please visit The Stanley Foundation or their blog.

Celebrating the Life of Nikkyo Niwano
Religions for Peace and Rissho Kosei-Kai New York Center for Engaged Buddhism, a Japan-based Buddhist organization, joined together to commemorate the birth centennial of Rev. Nikkyo Niwano.

Rev. Nikkyo Niwano sitting next to Pope John Paul II at the Sixth World Assembly of Religions for Peace held in Italy in 1994.

Rev. Nikkyo Niwano was a peace advocate, a humanitarian, and an international spiritual leader. With the help of Rev. Dr. Dana McLean Greeley, the former president of the Unitarian Universalist Association of America, Rev. Niwano founded Religions for Peace in 1970. He believed in a notion of socially “engaged Buddhism,” in which individuals participate in contemporary social issues from their faith perspective. Throughout his career, he became an advocate for such causes as nuclear disarmament and the release of American hostages from the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, Iran in 1979. In addition to his advocacy work, Rev. Niwano was the only non-Christian guest at the second Vatican Council, which was convened by Pope Paul VI in 1965, and had the honor of addressing the UN and the Kremlin.

The celebration for Rev. Niwano included many noteworthy speakers, including a greetings address by H.E. Ambassador Nobuaki Tanaka, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, as delivered by Mr. Iaon Tudor, a senior political officer also from the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs. Through the discussion of Rev. Niwano’s internationally renowned career, two main topics were addressed by various speakers: Buddhist Approaches to Shared Security and Inter-Religious Cooperation for Peace. These topics were core principles in Rev. Niwano’s life and continue to remain a central focus in today’s international community.

This event was a celebration of the faith of Buddhism, international cooperation and peace, and most importantly, the life and legacy of a profound spiritual and political leader.

With over 50 member religious communities and over 90 members on its three councils, Religions for Peace-USA, wishes to occasionally spotlight individual members or communities. This issue features the Interfaith Youth Core.

The Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) was envisioned by a group of dedicated college students in 1988. These students sought to develop a movement that would encourage young adults to strengthen their own religious identities, in addition to fostering deeper inter-religious cooperation and understanding among their peers.

In just a few years, this grassroots organization spread to five continents and has over 36,000 members, including 10,300 youth participants in their various programs. Some of these projects, such as the community service activities that took place in Chicago, brought together thousands of people from different faiths. In addition, IFYC has been extremely effective in developing inter-faith initiatives on college campuses. By providing a wide array of speeches, classes, and training sessions, IFYC has reached over 4,000 students, faculty, and staff on over 40 campus. The training sessions have subsequently sparked flagship programs which enabled hundreds more to become involved in both service activities and interfaith dialogue.

Dr. Eboo Patel, Founder and Executive Director of the Interfaith Youth Core, presents at the Religions for Peace - USA Gathering of Religious Leaders in January 2006.

This internationally renowned organization has develop a massive interfaith youth group movement. Through their active cooperation in different communities around the globe, this organization provides a prime example of how interfaith relations can be accomplished. Their “service-learning methodology” brings together young people from diverse backgrounds to work on various community service projects and asks them to express how the scripture, stories, rituals and heroes of their particular tradition speak to these projects. Through these conversations, the youth are not only able to serve their communities, but they are also able to develop a deeper understanding of different traditions.

IFYC has been profiled by major media networks, both in the U.S and around the globe In addition, IFYC has partnered with such leaders and organizations as the Office of Queen Rania of Jordan, President Bill Clinton, the Religious Advisory Council of the Council on Foreign Relations, the East-West Institute, the U.S. State Department and the United States Institute of Peace.

Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers
Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, by Christian Smith, with Melinda Lundquist Denton offers insight into the religious and spiritual lives of teenagers. Using the reports of the National Study of Youth and Religion, Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton show how religion is indeed an important factor in the lives of many American teenagers. This book also looks at how parents shape their children’s spirituality, and finally turns to the future of teen spirituality in America as it faces various transformations. The authors detailed analysis of interview data and survey statistics produced many surprising and fascinating conclusions.
ISBN: 0-19-518095-X

The Little Book on Conflict Transformation
By John Paul Lederach
John Paul Lederach, an internationally recognized figure, offers a hopeful and workable approach to conflict. Conflict transformation is a new perspective, which looks past the quick solution, and focus on the deeper context, content, and structure of the relationship of the people involved. Conflict transformation, says Lederach, requires “both solutions and social changes”. This book provides insight into this novel approach. To learn more, visit their website here.
ISBN: 1-56148-390-7

Islam: What Non-Muslims Should Know
By John Kaltner
This book offers basic information about Islam. By presenting the religion in an accessible and sympathetic way, Kaltner is able to break down common misconceptions of the faith. If one does not know a great deal about Islam, this book provides a solid understanding of the core practices and beliefs of the religion.
ISBN: 0-8006-35833-3

Muhammad: A Prophet of Our Time
By Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong’s Muhammad: A Prophet of Our Time enables readers to learn about the true origins and a spirituality of Islam. Within just sixty years, Muhammad was able to forge a new religious community. This book offers an in depth description of Muhammad’s life in order to present a balanced and true account of the man behind the faith.
ISBN: 0-06-059897-2

Introduction to World Religions
By Christopher Partridge, General Editor
This book provides fascinating explanations of the world’s past and present religions. Lavishly illustrated with over 200 maps and photographs, Introduction to World Religions offers detailed historical and personal accounts of seven prominent religions. Not only does this book vividly trace how religion contributed to the foundations of ancient society, but it also offers insight into contemporary issues.
ISBN: 0-8006-3714-3

Video: Revealing World Religions
By Cynthia Eller, Ph.D
This two disc computer CD series provides an interactive learning experience. In order to teach the details of the eight principal world religions, the program provides presentations with narrated texts and animation followed by a summary sections of the main points. This program is colorful and easy to use. Perfect learning experience for middle school students and above. To learn more, visit their website here.

Religions for Peace is a spam-free zone
This newsletter is sent by permission only. We promise not to trade, sell, or give away your address. Read our privacy policy.

Subscribe
To subscribe, please visit www.rfpusa.org and enter your e-mail OR send an e-mail to newsletter@rfpusa.org. Please consider sending this along to a friend and encouraging them join our e-newsletter for free!

Want to recommend something for us to share in this e-newsletter? Drop us a line at rfpusa@rfpusa.org.

Unsubscribe
If you wish to unsubscribe, click here.

Religions for Peace - USA
777 United Nations Plaza, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Tel: 212.338.9140 | Fax: 212.983.0566 | Email: rfpusa@rfpusa.org

©2006 RFP-USA        [Home] [Contact Us] [Site Map] [Privacy Policy]