Every little bit of action helps build the density of the interfaith relationship web. The next few months there’s various inter-faith conferences and events which i hope to go to. At first I was feeling a little tired at the thought, but now I have new energy. Who knows who I’ll meet there. Who knows what relationship webs will form under the hand of the Creator and Sustainer of all. I think I’ll just have to put more energy into meeting people even when I’m tired! Every little bit helps.

Fr. John D’Alton

Dialogue Australiasia is an organisation comprising mainly Christian schools in Australia and New Zealand. Their purpose is to “help young people become more fully human by nuturing and promoting the development of a broad-based academic approach to the teaching of Values, Philosophy & Religious Studies”, and their vision is to “be a vibrant organisation that brings together educators who have a shared sense of the importance of our purpose, and a willingess to work together to achieve its objectives.”

According to the conference blurb, “Relations between Christians, Jews and Muslims are among the most divisive, challenging and important issues in the world today. Despite their often violent differences, each share a common heritage as the Children of Abraham and the worship of one God. In a time when understanding these three religions has taken on a new and critical urgency, this important conference will equip educators with practical strategies and resources to enable students to explore the similarities, differences and relationships between the Abrahamic faith traditions.”

For more information, see the Conference Information page.

Dave

The story from the Standard Newswire reports a Muslim woman from Jordan saying, “I have realized I have much more in common with a Christian from Palestine than [with] a Muslim from the West … The differences are mainly cultural, not religious.”

Three of the participants were interviewed, and you can listen to their stories below:

Razan Abd El Haque, a Muslim woman from Jordan:

Olivier Salagi, a Jewish man from France:

Veranika Shetskaya, a Christian woman from Belarus:

Thanks to MidEastYouth for the link!

Dave

“…[R]eligious diversity confronts us with many challenges. The place of religion itself in the public arena, the accommodation of various religious practices in public institutions such as schools and universities, or the real fear of religious conflict are just some of the questions that have no ready answers and require serious consideration.”

Speakers include Paul Weller (Derby, UK), Toh Swee-Hin (Griffith University, Aus), Douglas Pratt (Waikato, NZ), Javed Khan (FIANZ, NZ), Sylvia Bell (Human Rights Commission, NZ), and Paul Morris (Victoria Uni, NZ).