In second semester i’m doing HYM5260: Medieval dialogues: Reason, mysticism and society, which has 2 lecturers, one of whom is Jewish. Should be great too!  There’s also a related newly-formed Religion and Theology Study group that meets monthly with students from all 3 faiths. This group provides another great opportunity to discuss in a more academic environment some of the meaty issues that unite and divide us.

So check out your local University. its a great environment for serious inter-faith learning and relationship development!

PS: For anyone planning for 2011… HYM5175 Synopsis:
“Judaism and Christianity are both text-centred religions and, as such, the practice of interpretation invariably mediates the authority of the text. Interpretation is the way in which the authority of the text is extended and contested. This course examines the interpretive methods as well as the theological and ideological content of practices such as: Midrash, allegory, legal interpretation, mystical symbolism and multi-levelled approaches to the text. Focus will be given to the historical contexts in which such practices arose and to their socio-political investment, as well as to the differences and similarities of Jewish and Christian approaches.”

Fr. John D’Alton

Definitely worth a listen.

Dave

Here are the bFM podcasts:

Dave Moskovitz:

Anjum Rahman:

The bottom line: While Anjum and I have different perspectives on history and the core issues, we continue to be good friends and seek to support those who work for peace.

Thanks to Joe and bFM for running excellent, balanced, and yet probing interviews.

Dave

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chair of the Muslim Charities Foundation, Dr Hany El Banna and the Head of the Movement for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield, are calling on people of all faiths to give generously to the Faiths Working Together Appeal to help rebuild shattered lives in Gaza.

“I hope that all people of faith – and all of goodwill – will support this initiative by giving generously and by using all available websites and other resources to contribute and to spread the word.” – Dr Rowan Williams

“I warmly support this initiative as a model for cooperation between the Abrahamic faiths and welcome the practical concern for all the victims of the conflict, regardless of faith or nationality.“ –Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield, Head of the Movement for Reform Judaism.

Donations will be collected by Christian Aid and then used by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Christian Aid and Islamic Relief to fund their relief, reconstruction and post emergency work.

To donate, visit:   http://www.faithsworkingtogether.org/donate/

It was a very moving ceremony and demonstrated the ability for many people from different faiths, ethnicities and political viewpoints to come together and pray for a common purpose.

Speakers included:

• Tiopira Rauna (LDS, Secretary of the Wellington Regional Interfaith Network)
• Dr Margaret Mayman (Reverand of St Andrew’s on the Terrace)
• Rev Godfrey Nicholson (Vicar of St Peter’s on Willis)
• Sultan Eusuf (Chief Officer, Federation of Islamic Associations)
• Rabbi Johanna Hershenson (Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation)
• Ratilal Champaneri (President, NZ Indian Central Association)
• Carrie Coddington (Past Secretary, Baha’i Kapiti Network)
• Melanie Gregg and Lime (Soka Gakkai NZ)

You can download or listen to an audio recording (35 minutes, 16 MB):

Ghouse says some brilliant things in his article:

Watching this film (as well as other films in the past) and listening to the responses of the audience has confirmed my belief that one of the primary obstacles to peace is simply inadequate communications stemming from the unwillingness to see another point of view. There are certainly rotten apples in the barrel, but focusing on them to the exclusion of the positive only exacerbates the problem.  Muslims and Jews need to dialogue without keeping a score or blaming the other.

The guardians of traditions have a role to preserve their way of life for their respective communities. Occasionally their role has led them to marginalize the “other”.  We need a change, and this change will need to come from the hitherto silent moderate majority in both communities.  This is a responsibility we need to step up to.

This very much mirrors my own “Don’t tolerate intolerance” line … but Ghouse’s key statement is this:

If you are a Muslim and don’t say anything against anti-Semitic rhetoric; if you are a Jew and smile when you hear anti-Arab or Anti-Muslim rhetoric; if you are a Baptist and rejoice anti-Mormon rhetoric; if you are a Catholic and remain silent when some one belittles the practices of Hindu, Wicca or Pagans; then do you have the right to complain if some one is anti-you?  This is a serious question, the more you are silent about it, the more you are justifying anti-sentiments against your own creed. No, if it is not good for you, it is not good for others either.

The whole article is well worth a read, and the above statement is particularly worth reflecting on.  If we remain silent in the face of bigotry against others, we lose our right to complain when others are bigoted against us.

Dave

“This could reflect a greater focus on self than external distractions for Calvinists, says Hommel. He suggests it may even be a cognitive consequence of their religion and speculates that Calvinists might be more inward looking than atheists because they have lived their whole lives with an emphasis on minding their own business.

Hommel plans to give the same test to Catholics, as well as Muslims and Jews, but he must first figure out how to eliminate other cultural differences that could mask any insights. ‘It doesn’t make any sense to compare Iranian Muslims with Dutch atheists,’ he says.”

Does this mean that religious people see things more clearly?  You be the judge.

Dave

Far from there being “too many dialogues“, the more point-to-point connections we develop, the stronger we are as a community of communities.  While we can rely on our umbrella organisations to support our endeavours, the real progress is made by people getting to know, and working with, other people.

What is your religious group doing to extend its hand in friendship to others?

Dave

1. As Believers in the one God, we all believe that to continue our conflicts is violation of God’s moral code and its imperative of justice. Violent actions as humans do not promote the cause of God and have negative repercussions for all.

2. We all believe that the concepts of “holy war” or crusades are neither compatible with the will of God nor with the true spirit of our religions.

3. We all believe that Just Peacemaking is the best option to resolve human conflicts and actively work toward the elimination of the conditions that lead to violence. We define violence as the illegitimate use of force.

4. We all believe that we have the responsibility within our respective communities to correct scriptural misinterpretations used to justify violence, through education of our own religious communities about the true message of our faiths, and also through engagement in intrafaith dialogue.

5. We all believe that we need to look both inward to our traditions as we do this work, and look outward to share results and receive feedback.

6. We all believe that psychological issues, social issues, and historical narratives must be taken into account as critical components of the process of conflict transformation.

7. We all believe that there is no religious justification for “terrorism” that targets innocents/noncombatants.

8. We recognize that we have continuing tensions, unresolved issues, and tasks, such
as:

a) to take account, soon, of the extraordinary crisis and risk to human survival
in current global affairs. We cannot wait, however, to solve all the “issues” before we act;

b) to understand in what sense each tradition must promote its own claims for “truth” without engaging in triumphalism. Can an “invitational” religion not imply some form of superiority over others?

c) to determine if our diverse historical experiences remain merely side by side, or must we work to write a common account of our histories? Are histories reconcilable? Can we internalize the “other’s” history?

9. We propose to explore a world day of celebration of shared human dignity.

10. We all agree that we should explore the necessary procedures and steps to implement this document.

11. We all agree to mine our own religious traditions to further develop the Just Peacemaking practices.

–

The basic tennets of Just Peacemaking, as cited in the document are:

1.  Support nonviolent direct action.
2.  Take independent initiatives to reduce threat.
3.  Use cooperative conflict resolution.
4.  Acknowledge responsibility for conflict and injustice and seek repentance and forgiveness.
5.  Advance democracy, human rights, and religious liberty.
6.  Foster just and sustainable economic development.
7.  Work with emerging cooperative forces.
8.  Strengthen the United Nations and international efforts for cooperation and human rights.
9.  Reduce offensive weapons and weapons trade.
10. Encourage grassroots peacemaking groups and voluntary associations.

–

Sure, I hear you thinking, this is all mum-and-apple-pie stuff.  But it’s very real and very achievable, but only if we each take personal responsibility for making it happen.  This goes way beyond “have you hugged a Jew / Christian / Muslim today” to asking yourself, “what can I do myself, with my family, within my own community, in my own country, and in the world to make peace a viable alternative to war?“

Summary

• Jewish, Muslim, and Christian sacred texts all contain sections that support violence and justify warfare as a means to achieve certain goals. In particular historical circumstances, these texts have served as the basis to legitimate violent campaigns, oftentimes against other faith communities.
• Many of the passages from sacred texts in all three religious traditions that are misused in contemporary situations to support violence and war are taken out of context, interpreted in historically inaccurate ways, or can be better translated. Finally, all of these passages need to be understood within (and constrained by) the primary spiritual aims of the individual faith.
• There are also a great many teachings and ethical imperatives within Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures that promote peace and present the means to achieve it. These include mandates to strive for political, social, and economic justice; tolerant intercommunal coexistence; and nonviolent conflict resolution.
• The three religious delegations that participated in the conference leading to this report presented slightly different and yet overlapping methods for peacemaking articulated by their sacred scriptures. The considerable overlap led the scholars to affirm the existence of a coherent “Abrahamic Just Peacemaking” paradigm, which began to take focus through their rigorous interfaith debate.
• Further work is needed to articulate fully this Abrahamic Just Peacemaking paradigm. The conference scholars committed themselves to continued development of this model in pursuit of a rigorous and effective faith-based program to promote alternatives to war.

About the Report

Eight Muslim scholar-leaders, six Jewish scholar-leaders, and eight Christian scholar-leaders met from June 13 to 15, 2007, in Stony Point, N.Y., at a conference sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace and the Churches’ Center for Theology and Public Policy. Conference participants specified practices within each of the three faith traditions that could lay the groundwork for nonviolent alternatives to resolving conflict and addressing injustice, while also identifying roadblocks in the sacred texts of their traditions to creating such processes. The scholars ’ teachings found that these ancient religious teachings on peace and justice are often consistent with modern conflict-resolution theory. This report examines passages that support violence in each tradition’s scripture, presents definitions of “just peacemaking” in each tradition, summarizes places of convergence that might create the foundation for a program offering an Abrahamic alternative to war and presents a joint statement and series of commitments reached at the end of the conference.

A fantastic initiative, and a fascinating read!

You can also download the full PDF.

Dave