The Dalai Lama returns to Montreal later this year on September 7, to address the Second Global Conference On World’s Religions after September 11, which will meet at the Palais des Congrès, almost after a decade following the events of 9/11.

Other renowned speakers include Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, world-famous author Deepak Chopra, Professor Tariq Ramadan, and Professor Robert Thurman. Professor Gregory Baum, recipient of the Order of Canada and Swami Dayananda Saraswati will also participate in the conference.

Under the theme of “Peace Through Religion”, the one-day event will include the unveiling of the latest version of a proposed Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the World’s Religions, which has been on the anvil since 1996 and which is designed as a complement to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.

“The aim of the conference is to bring together the various religions of the world in an ecumenical spirit to address the many issues facing the world today, in the hope that this will help all of us become better human beings”, emphasized the convenor of the event, Arvind Sharma, Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at the Faculty of Religious Studies of McGill University.
Panel discussions with the speakers will seek to generate consensus around two fundamental social and religious issues:

• Should a course on world religions also be taught whenever the confessional study or religion is carried out?

and

• Should violating the sanctity of the scripture of any religion be considered tantamount to violating the sanctity of the scriptures of all religions?

The Conference is co-sponsored by McGill University and Université de Montréal.

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The Teenage Interfaith Diversity Education (TIDE) Conference is planned and led by teens who want to have their voices heard and their presence felt as a positive force in the global community. A three-day event planned by fifty high school students of diverse backgrounds, the conference seeks to train teens to communicate respectfully and use their skills in discussions about highly charged issues; develop leadership and facilitation skills; and foster bonds and friendships among the youth in attendance that will continue after the conference. Conference attendees will participate in workshops, dialogues, and other activities throughout the weekend that allow them to discover more about themselves and their own understanding of personal identity; learn about the beliefs and identities of others; and make their voices heard at a conference that has been planned by high school students specifically for their peers. This is an exciting opportunity to see future leaders in action! Adults working with teens attend a parallel but separate adult track at the conference. The conference is sponsored by Interfaith Action, Inc. in collaboration with the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University.

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From Huffington Post/RNS

By Francis X. Rocca
Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI told scientists that their research can lead to knowledge of God by revealing the natural order of the universe.

The pope made his remarks on Thursday (Oct. 28) before a plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican.

The evident logic governing the universe “leads us to admit the existence of an all-powerful Reason, which is other than that of man, and which sustains the world,” Benedict said.

“This is the meeting point between the natural sciences and religion,” the pope said. “As a result, science becomes a place of dialogue, a meeting between man and nature and, potentially, even between man and his Creator.”

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From USA Today

Is everybody happy today? And what would that mean? Does God want you to be happy now? How?

Emory University’s Center for the study of Law and Religion brought on the biggest international pro on happiness,, the Dalai Lama, yesterday to chat in a round table with major voices of world religions: the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church; British chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and Islamic scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University.

Did the Dalai Lama say anything surprising at the Happiness Summit? Not according to his Twitter fans, who get frequent snippets of Buddhist wisdom uploaded by His Holiness’ staff such as:

According to my own experience, the highest level of inner calm comes from the development of love and compassion.

Anyone want to speak against that? Not likely.

Later this week you’ll be able to check out the big thinkers’ conversations on YouTube. But leading up to this, as part of the university’s five year research drive, the Pursuit of Happiness Project, they also loaded up videos from Emory experts from world religions.

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From CNN

Editor’s Note: CNN White House Producer Xuan Thai filed this report from the U.N. General Assembly.

It might be called a match made in heaven. The United Nations is partnering with faith based organizations and their vast network of donors, development groups, and grass roots organizers to bring aid to developing countries around the world. You could say they are putting their money where their mouth is. Except both groups have been putting money up for a long time.

Last week during the annual U.N. General Assembly, the United Methodist Church announced a five year, $75 million pledge to the United Nations’ Global Fund, the first of its kind for the fund.
For 47-year-old Joyce Kamwana, the partnership is a validation of sorts, one she has long been looking for.

Kamwana is from the small southeast African nation of Malawi. She learned she was HIV positive in 1988. Her husband, Dan, brought the disease home. Luckily their two daughters were spared. Since then, Kamwana’s life has not been easy, especially within the church.

At first, the church was “condemning us. They say we deserve it because we have done something wrong so it was like a punishment from God,” Kamwana said of the initial reaction to her illness.

“It’s been difficult because way back then, having HIV was like having leprosy in the biblical times,” said Kamwana, who also lost her job as a result of her HIV status.

“There was also the stigma due to little information and so many people didn’t want to associate with me.” But the tide has turned and churches are now a fundamental part of the army working to combat the disease. Specifically Methodists and Lutherans are delivering the potent mix of passion, grass roots knowledge, and cash.

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From ISNA

(Washington, D.C. Sept 7, 2010) Directly following the interfaith summit, organized by ISNA and held in Washington D.C. today, members in attendance held a press conference and issued a joint statement to the public regarding unified action for faith communities to promote tolerance and combat anti-Muslim rhetoric, hate crimes, and Islamaphobia.

The press conference, telecast live on CNN and CSPAN, included statements from members of the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths to discuss the critical need for members of all faiths to protect the safety and civil rights of Muslims. A member of the interfaith summit stated, “Hate is neither a religious nor democratic value.”

In an excerpt from the interfaith statement issued at today’s press conference, the faith leaders stated,”Religious leaders denounce anti-Muslim bigotry and call for respect for America’s tradition of religious liberty. As religious leaders in this great country we have come together in our nation’s capitol to denounce categorically the derision, misinformation and outright bigotry being directed to the American Muslim community. We bear a sacred responsibility to honor America’s very favorite traditions and to promote a culture of mutual respect in assurance of religious freedom for all. In advance of the ninth anniversary of September 11 attacks, we announce a new era of interfaith cooperation…silence, silence, silence is not an option.”

The press conference spanned topics ranging from the role of ISNA and the interfaith community in protecting civil rights, the growth of the Muslim community, to the proposed Quran burning in Florida, to which ISNA President Dr. Ingrid Mattson called all Muslims to exercise the principles of Islam and this Ramadan of patience and remember that “although we are upset, we are alarmed, (by the acts of Quran burnings), our community should feel confident that God’s eternal words will live on. The Quran will not disappear with the burning of a book because millions of Muslims hold it in their hearts.”

To view the entire statement of interfaith action issued today at the summit, please click here. To watch the entire press conference from today, please click here.

Click here to watch the press conference.

From YouTube and The Pluralism Project

The North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) held its annual conference, NAINConnect 2010, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The theme of the 2010 conference was “Many Faiths, One Family, Building a World of Harmony,” organized by a series of panels.

CPWR Communications Director Alisa Roadcup was one of twelve NAIN Young Adult Scholarship recipients who attended NAINConnect 2010. In this video, she and other scholarship recipients discuss the future of the interfaith movement and the role of the next generation of interfaith leaders.

Click here to learn more about NAIN 2010.

The International Council of Christians and Jews met in Istanbul in June 2010 as part of an international conference. The theme of the conference, “So That You May Know One Another,” was lifted from Surah 49:13: O mankind, we created you from a single pair of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is he who is the most righteous of you.

CPWR Board of Trustees chair Dr. Abdul Malik Mujahid and International Advisory Board member Susannah Heschel presented keynote addresses. Topics included Islam in Europe, mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and studies of scriptural texts. Writes ICCJ President Dr. Deborah Weissman:

The most important immediate result of the conference was that at our annual general meeting held the morning after the conference, we decided to revive a veteran ICCJ framework known as the Abrahamic Forum, in order to engage Muslims. I think that by holding the conference in Turkey, precisely at such a difficult time, we have made a strong symbolic statement about the importance of interreligious dialogue.

The ground-breaking document issued by the ICCJ last year in Berlin – “A Time for Recommitment: Jewish-Christian Dialogue 70 Years After War and Shoah” (see www.iccj.org) – includes the following statement: “We understand that Jewish- Christian relations are not a ‘problem’ that is going to be ‘solved,’ but rather a continuing process of learning and refinement. Perhaps most important, we have found friendship and trust. We have sought and found light together.”

We must continue this process now with our Muslim colleagues. There are some local organizations within the framework of the ICCJ that aJ’e already doing this; most notably, the ICCI in Israel, which, from its inception, has been a forum for trilateral dialogue, and the Three Faiths Forum in the UK. Our Youth Leadership Council has included Muslims for many years, including some from Iran and Saudi Arabia (!). Now we will run trilateral programs for adults, on an international level.

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Click here to read more about the conference.

From The Salt Lake Tribune

Religious awareness and sensitivity are the missing ingredients in American diplomacy, professional peacemaker Douglas Johnston told interfaith leaders gathered in Salt Lake City Monday.

Johnston, president and founder of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy in Washington, D.C., freely quotes the Quran, refers to Islamic history and praises the goodness and accomplishments of Muslims in his work in Sudan, Kashmir, the Middle East and even this country to engage Muslims and others in conflict resolution.

Instead of asking how Jesus would react in certain situations, he gets participants to consider what the Prophet Muhammad would do.

Because Islam literally means, “submission to God,” Johnston once told a hostile group of 57 Taliban commanders, religious figures and tribal leaders, meeting with him in the mountains of Pakistan, “we’re all Muslim.”

“I was there to build upon common values, show respect and to create confidence,” Johnston told more than 100 representatives of the North American Interfaith Network, whose three-day gathering concludes today at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Salt Lake City. “It’s the only way to defuse rage.”

Though a Christian, Johnston comes at diplomatic relations from a military and academic perspective. He is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and holds a master’s degree in public administration and a doctorate in political science from Harvard University. He worked for the Department of Defense and founded the Kennedy School’s Executive Program in National and International Security.

Yet he knows a lot about many faiths and does a lot of listening as he partners with local groups to develop proposals.

In his keynote speech sponsored by Utah Valley University’s Religious Studies Program, Johnston said he first tested his ideas in Sudan a decade ago, where the war between the Islamic north and Christian south had brutalized the country for decades. Where other nongovernmental organizations flooded the south with services to victims, Johnston went north to find the root causes. There he found surprising openness among some Muslim leaders. Women didn’t wear burkas, for example, and were well-represented in the country’s Parliament and at the university.

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