In This Issue:
1. Executive Director's Updates
2. NEW Deadline of October 15th for The People Speak Dialogues
3. International Day of Peace Observance
4. Crisis in the Sudan
5. October Release of Return to the Earth Study Guide
6. Iraqi Religious Leaders Advance Common Action Through Religions for Peace
7. An Introduction to The American Sufi Muslim Association - ASMA Society
8. "Interreligious Insight"
9. Food for Thought: Dalai Lama
10. Donate to Religions for Peace - USA
11. Subscribe/Unsubscribe

In each issue, we hope to highlight for you specific projects or issues, demonstrating the work or interests of Religions for Peace – USA.

Deadline for "The People Speak" Mini-Grants Extended to October 15th!

We are still giving away simple $500 grants! So many of you are interested in hosting dialogues in your community about the role of the US in the world that we have decided to extend the deadline for reception of mini-grant applications. You now have until Friday, October 15th to send your application in to Religions for Peace-USA. Fax applications to 212-983-0566. Direct questions to rfpusa@rfpusa.org.

The application process couldn't be easier or the supporting resources more detailed! Less than a page of information from you and we can send you a check for your event - up to $500! Faith communities, school groups, campus ministries, … any civic group is eligible.

You can schedule your event for anytime, but we are asking that they be completed in October, if at all feasible.

International Day of Peace - September 21 every year

More than 100 representatives from a wide variety of faith groups gathered at Tillman Chapel in the Church Center for the United Nations on September 21, 2004 to celebrate together the International Day of Peace.

Dr. Jan Love, chief executive the Women's Division of The United Methodist Church and moderator of the Decade to Overcome Violence of the World Council of Churches, offered the key address. The event included everything from Native American honor songs to a Shinto Ryu-teki to a Sufi performance on the tonbur and ney.

To host an event in your community next year, consider visiting http://www.idpvigil.com.

Crisis in the Sudan: From the Peace Accords in the South to Genocide in Darfur

Tens of thousands of people are dying in Darfur, an area about the size of Texas in the west of Sudan. With little direct media coverage of the conditions there, save special efforts like those made by our friends at www.savedarfur.org and www.faithfulamerica.org, the world is unaware of the proportions of the problem. With the assistance of prophetic voices, some of the US's and UN's leadership have recently called it a "genocide" of potentially overwhelming proportions.

Two of those voices, Dr. Haruun Ruun, Executive Secretary of the New Sudan Council of Churches and Mr. Emmanuel LoWilla, Director of RECONCILE, The Resource Centre for Civil Leadership, spoke to the Executive Council of Religions for Peace-USA and again to a general audience of NGO and UN-related officials in late September. Dr. Ruun said that religious communities were "providing hope in a hopeless situation."

Both gentlemen said that a range of issues needed to be addressed, including, but not limited to: 1) the decades long economic depravity of the country, 2) racial/ethnic tensions at play in the conflict, 3) the encroachment of the desert which is exacerbating herder/farmer tensions, 4) access to oil as a mitigating factor in internal and external interests, 5) the current interest and past evidence of Al Qaeda as using the Sudan as a strategic staging point (nine countries border it and it has critical ports on the Red Sea). Both leaders encourage US religious communities to draw attention to the matter and encourage the UN, the US, the Africa Union, the Arab League, and other parties to take the appropriate steps of intervention and monitoring.

Religions for Peace is already hard at work in the Sudan establishing an interreligious council in the Sudan, as it has done in so many conflict-ridden regions around the globe. A second organizational meeting of Southern Sudan's religious leaders will take place on November 22nd. Religions for Peace has also issued a statement on the situation in the Sudan and Chad.

Remembering September 11th

New York City area religious leaders met together on the 3rd Anniversary of the September 11th to remember, reflect, and commit to working together for the future. "We need to be proactive in shaping our future," said Father Lyndon Harris, who, during the time of the tragedy, was pastor at St. Paul's Chapel which is immediately adjoining the WTC site. In the event co-sponsored by Religions for Peace-USA, many of the leaders agreed on a statement to be released to the public, which pointed to a series of actions steps to affirm our multilateralism and address ongoing interfaith relations in the region and beyond.

October Release of Return to the Earth Study Guide

Looking for a constructive way to recognize "Columbus Day" or "Heritage Day?" We have just the resource for you! The study guide for Return to the Earth is scheduled to be released in October, just in time for the Columbus Day holiday. This guide will offer Native Americans and Non-Natives the opportunity to explore the issues of repatriation, restorative justice, and reconciliation with one another. Watch your inbox!

This month we highlight the Iraqi religious leaders advance of common action through Religions for Peace.

Our world is in a period of great tension and turmoil. There is deep misgiving and concern in many quarters that the unilateral policies of some are weakening the multilateral organizations that we all depend upon for common standards for peace and security. To the pain of conflicts in different parts of the world, there is now added the fear of terrorism that threatens to further polarize our human family. While people around the world overwhelmingly reject terrorism and recognize that there are no moral grounds for it, many are deeply disturbed by policies that – while intended to combat terrorism – may actually serve to legitimize it in the minds of those most attracted to it.

The people of Iraq are caught within powerfully conflicting forces including terrorism, de facto “occupation,” resistance, and conflicting interpretations of self-determination. However, despite intensifying insecurity, Iraqi religious leaders continue to mobilize themselves through Religions for Peace to counteract those who misuse religion to sow hatred, and to advance a deepening moral consensus on the conditions essential for genuine Iraqi self-determination. It is extremely difficult for them, and our Iraqi religious colleagues deserve our world-wide solidarity and support.

Though their political and religious views vary widely, a remarkably representative group of Shia, Sunni, and Christian religious leaders of Religions for Peace-Iraq met in Kyoto, Japan, during the last week of July and committed themselves to work together to assist war-wounded Iraqi children – without regard for their religious, sectarian, or ethnic identities. The religious leaders declared that their meeting in Kyoto was an occasion to “overcome our injuries and sorrows, giving priority to the sufferings of the nation over our own.”

The Iraqi religious leaders’ commitment to work together to assist war-wounded children is terribly important in two ways: the first and most obvious is that many innocent children horribly wounded during the war can be helped. Second, by working together on a non-political issue that cuts across all sectors of Iraqi society, the religious leaders can provide a genuine image of solidarity acceptable to all Iraqis despite their differences. Deepening nation-wide solidarity based on shared values is a key to advancing the genuine self-determination of the Iraqi peoples.

To read more click here.

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 American Sufi Muslim Association - ASMA Society.

The ASMA Society, a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 founded in 1997 in New York City, is an Islamic cultural and educational organization dedicated to fostering an American-Muslim identity and building bridges between American Muslims and the American public. ASMA's philosophical objective is to strengthen a culturally American expression of Islam based on tolerance and on cultural and religious harmony and to foster an environment in which Muslims can thrive within a pluralistic society without compromising their essential values and beliefs.

ASMA's participants and members are drawn from two large and specific groups of individuals: Muslims seeking to improve their own understanding of Islam and to practice their faith in the company of individuals committed to understanding the true principles of Islam, free of cultural biases; Non-Muslims seeking to understand Islam and to overcome negative perceptions of Islam.

ASMA intends to meet six key objectives over the next five years:

IDENTITY: To forge an American Muslim identity that combines the best aspects of being both American and Muslim.

EMPOWERMENT OF YOUTH LEADERS: To empower young American Muslims to become spokespeople for a tolerant, harmonious, authentic Islam by encouraging them to identify with the essentials of the Islamic faith that cut across cultural boundaries.

BUILDING BRIDGES: To aid non-Muslims overcome biases and negative perceptions by dismantling the common stereotypes and myths surrounding Muslims and Islam. Conversely, to work toward dismantling myths regarding Americans held in parts of the Muslim world.

CULTURAL EXPRESSION: To explore and celebrate the role that various expressions of Islamic art have played in contributing to world civilizations and to promote contemporary Muslim artists and their inclusion into the artistic fabric of America.

INTERFAITH: Encouraging spiritual evolution in Muslim and non-Muslim Americans by engaging with other contemplative traditions that penetrate beyond different languages, practices, and faiths to the common substrate of the religious experience.

INTRAFAITH: To amplify Islamic arguments demonstrating that Islamic texts, theology and law support the principles of separation of powers, justice, and freedom of religious practice.

ASMA manifests its mission and objectives through outreach lectures, inreach study groups, spiritual education, cultural and art programs, coalition building and interfaith dialogue.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf Founder and CEO of the American Sufi Muslim Association (ASMA Society) and Imam of Masjid Al-Farah, a mosque in New York City, twelve blocks from Ground Zero. He has dedicated his life to building bridges between Muslims and the West and is a leader in the effort to build religious pluralism and integrate Islam into modern American society. By establishing ASMA in 1997, he created the first American organization committed to bringing Muslims and non-Muslims together through programs in culture, art, academia and current affairs. As Imam of Masjid Al-Farah, he preaches a message of peace and understanding between people, regardless of creed, nationality or political beliefs. His inspiring sermons have made him one of the most sought-after Muslim clerics in the country. Imam Feisal is a member of the World Economic Forum's Council of 100 Leaders and the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Center of New York. He is also an advisor to the Interfaith Center of New York. A charismatic public speaker, Imam Feisal has appeared in national and international media such as CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS and BBC. He has been quoted in the New York Times, New York Daily News, Jerusalem Post, and Associated Press. He was educated in England and Malaysia and has a degree in physics from Columbia University.

Daisy Khan is the Executive Director of ASMA Society and wife of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf of Masjid al-Farah in New York City. Ms. Khan mentors young Muslim women who face challenges of cultural assimilation in America, and counsels Muslims in marital and relationship issues. Having immigrated to the US at the age of 15, Ms. Khan is particularly effective with young adults grappling with issues of dual identity, gender relations and cultural integration. She serves on panels and lectures regularly. She was featured in the PBS documentary Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, the National Geographic Documentary Inside Mecca, and a Hallmark Channel program titled Listening to Islam. Ms. Khan has been quoted by print publications ranging from the New York Daily News to Newsweek. She is also currently serving on RFP-USA's Executive Council.

In this section we feature interesting, replicable projects of our member religious communities or thought-provoking publications for our common mission. In this issue we highlight "Interreligious Insight." The October 2004 edition will feature an article by RFP-USA's Executive Director, Rev. Bud Heckman.

The journal is published four times a year by World Congress of Faiths, Common Ground, and the Interreligious Engagement Project. The intended audience is a mixture of academic, interested individuals and practitioners of dialogue and engagement at organizational and local levels. The journal combines several interests: learned articles, spirituality, reflection on practical projects, significant news and developments from international interreligious organizations, extended reflections on significant books, book reviews, film and website reviews. This new journal serves an increasing need for a quality production that reflects both the challenging dialogue between the religions at philosophical and theological levels and the practical engagement between religious people working and reflecting together for a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world.

A Journal of Dialogue and Engagement:

Take Dialogue first. There may be as many definitions of dialogue as there are practitioners of the art, but at root there is the assumption that no one religion possesses the fullness of religious truth. Our convictions are precisely that, our convictions, fallible intimations of a mysterious transcendent reservoir of being and value. Dialogue implies that we have as much to receive as to give in the dynamic of our conversations with one another. We neither water down nor inflate what we offer in dialogue. Most of all, we cultivate self-criticism as the foundation of all criticism and the beginning of respect. The space between is a space of letting-go of outmoded prejudices, of rejoicing in differences and of discovering our interdependence before the sacredness that resides immanently in all things. We struggle in the making of judgements, for not everything generated by the religious imagination is conducive to human and planetary good. Yet the struggle is also against attitudes of inherited judgementalism.

What now of Engagement? The journal will reflect on practical projects, examples where faith-communities are working together in order to make a difference. What ethical values are being harnessed, or even generated, when people enter relationships of trust and so aspire to a greater common good? No doubt the failure of religious communities to cooperate has contributed to the sum total of anguish and pain in the world. Yet this history can be reversed, for the religions at their ethical best are fountains of compassion, harmony, and hope. These are fundamental values that await their full flowering as shared values within the interreligious movement.

If the religions are interwoven with the world’s problems, they also possess intrinsic elements of the solutions. Models of good practice are increasing around the world and this journal will lure many players to even further practical engagement.

Articles and letters should be sent, by e-mail only, to the Editor-in-Chief. Articles should not normally exceed 3,500 words.