|
|
|
Spring
2009 |
||||
|
The
Newsletter of the North American Interfaith Network, Inc. Building |
||||||
|
NAINews Committee ° Judy Trautman, Editor ° Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia ° Rev. Paul Chaffee ° Susan Cook ° Bettina Gray ° Rev. Robert Hankinson ° Peter Laurence ° Dr. Teja
Singh ° Terry Weller °
Dr. Jim Wiggins |
Contents: Links
to NAINConnect 2009 Information NAINConnect
2009: A Pre-Parliament Event Where
does interfaith education need to go?
|
|||||
|
|
NAINConnect 2009 An Official Pre-Parliament Event! |
|||||
|
NAINConnect 2009 Annual Conference “EXPERIENCING THE SPIRIT IN EDUCATION: THE CHALLENGE OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM” Local Hosts: Greater Conference Co-Chairs: Susan
Cook, Greater Peter Laurence, Education as Transformation Links to NAINConnect 2009 Information NAINConnect 2009: A Pre-Parliament Event http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/_templates/templateprepar.cfm?ppid=44 RegistrationBe sure to register for the Connect and then ask to be transferred to the hotel for your accommodations. Early registration for your accommodations is advised as space is limited. Registration Brochure Early
Bird Registration Deadline May 15 WorkshopsThere are 35 workshops scheduled among five slots with four repeats. You may make your choices in advance by viewing the schedule online. Workshop Schedule Checklist (PDF) Workshop
Schedule Checklist (Word) Young Adult ScholarshipsYouth between the ages of 18 and 35 should
apply right away for a Young Adult Scholarship. Deadline has been extended until April
30. Young Adult Scholarship
Information Where does interfaith education need to go? By Peter Laurence, Executive Director of the Education as Transformation
project at Wellesley College Given this
year’s focus and the timeliness of its message, NAIN has reconvened its
Interfaith Education Committee. During the Saturday afternoon break, there
will be a special forum hosted by committee chair, Ralph Singh, entitled “NAIN’s
FUTURE ROLE IN INTERFAITH EDUCATION: WHERE DOES INTERFAITH EDUCATION NEED TO GO? Ralph
would like to invite workshop leaders and any others interested to a
discussion focused on developing an Interfaith Education Consortium and Resource
Center which could serve current and future members, broaden NAIN’s services,
and have Education remain a core track of NAIN related activities. “We are at
a critical point in our civilization where we need to build community and
broaden our consciousness. Spiritually based education had been the way
traditional societies attempted to maintain their standards. Now in a period
religious and ethnic diversity, we must add “interfaith” to the mix to arrive
at our goal of a pluralistic civil society.” In advance
of this year’s Connect, Ralph would like all those interested in
participating in the forum to consider the questions on the linked survey. If
they could be returned to him prior to the meeting he will be prepared
to share them. If not, please come prepared to discuss these and other issues
important to this vital subject. The Jewish
Publication Society (JPS) through its Mitzvah Project Program,
sends thousands of free JPS books to communities and organizations in
need. Last year, JPS sent more than 500 pounds of books to 11
communities in North and On March 1,
2009 a group of children and families from Surrey, BC, embarked on a multifaith adventure that took them to the places of
worship of nine different faith communities in Surrey: Bahá’í, Buddhism,
Christianity, First Nations, Hinduism, Islam, Mormon, Sikhism and Unitarianism.
As part of the Surrey Neighbouring Faiths Program
(SNFP), each visit engaged the children in fun, age-appropriate activities to
introduce them to the people and practices of each faith community. For more
information please visit: www.snfp.ca Scarboro
Missions is happy to announce
the publication of the Spanish-language version of the Golden Rule Poster.
The four-color poster maintains the same design as the English version and is
22 x 29 inches in size. The poster features the Golden Rule - scripturally
and symbolically - in 13 religions. This poster has achieved international
renown as an educational and interfaith resource. The Scarboro Missions
website provides lots of free educational resources for using the poster. The
poster will be a very effective interfaith tool among Spanish-speaking
peoples in the The poster
is available from two distributors:
Pflaum Publishing ( Scarboro
Missions is also proud to announce that our Golden Rule movie has been
released - "Animating the Golden Rule". The DVD features Grade 11 students in
three high schools embodying golden rule values in skits, artwork,
interviews, music, dance, song, rap. This is a great
piece of work and very useful for teachers and youth educators. For more
info about the film, see this link: http://www.scarboromissions.ca/Golden_rule/animating_gold.php The movie
can be ordered from Broughton's Books and Gifts in Please note
that on our website we also have a free and very useful teaching resource -- A
Golden Rule Interactive Flash Presentation. Here is the link: http://www.scarboromissions.ca/Golden_rule/interactive_flash.php |
||||||
|
|
Mother Teresa's Organization appointed Goodwill Ambassadors of the Golden Rule and Receive Golden Rule Medal of IPI.Interfaith Peace-building Initiative (IPI), a
URI CC in The Golden Rule Medal, Trophy, the Golden Rule Poster and Certificate of the Appointment of Goodwill Ambassador of Golden Rule were presented to Missionaries of Charity by Board Members of IPI on April 5th, 2009 in the office of IPI. |
|||||
|
Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath is the first feature-length documentary film on hate violence following Sept. 11, 2001. Recently released on DVD, the film follows the journey of 20-year-old college student Valarie Kaur as she documents hate violence against Sikhs and Muslims in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001 and examines the larger question of “who counts” as American. Of particular interest for educators and community leaders are the 9 short films included on the DVD, addressing topics such as the psychology of hate, the Japanese-American Internment, national security and civil rights after 9/11, and the Sikh religion. (A complete listing of special features can be found at http://www.dwf-film.com/buy.html). These short films were created specifically for use in the classroom and with small groups to foster deep dialogue. Institutional purchase of the DVD also comes with a complete curriculum binder to enhance the learning experience. For more information on how to purchase the film, please visit the website at www.dwf-film.com, or contact Jodi Elliott at jodi@dwf-film.com. |
||||||
Launch of Journal of Inter-Religious DialogueMarch 9, 2009, For more information, please contact Hannah McConnaughay, Publicity Editor for the Journal, via e-mail (outreach@irdialogue.org) or telephone (717-512-8112). The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue's Call
for Submissions may be accessed on their website, http://www.irdialogue.org/submissions. |
|
|||||
|
Encounter Point
|
As part of Just Vision's efforts to publicize grassroots non-violent peace building, they released an award-winning feature documentary film, Encounter Point, to sold-out audiences in theaters and festivals around the world. “If you lost your loved ones, if you spent ten
years in prison, if conflict drove you from your home... Would you seek
revenge? Or struggle for peace? A true story about the everyday leaders who
refuse to sit back as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalates." |
|
|
Now available on DVD in 5 languages with more than an hour of additional content, Encounter Point has screened in 150 cities worldwide, including Gaza, Tel Aviv, NYC, Ramallah, Sderot, Dubai, Doha, Amman, Barcelona, London and many more. [I met Irene Nasser, the Just Vision Outreach Associate, at an Interfaith
Conference at |
||
|
From Gitanjali
("Song Offerings"), the collection of Poems by Rabindranath Tagore
(Nobel Laureate), one of the greatest spiritual
poets during the last century in |
|
|
Leave This Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee! He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil! Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation; he is bound with us all for ever. Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow. http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/gitanjali.html |
||
