Interfaith opportunities galore: 4-14-09

The other day i stopped by the new Raindrop Turkish House in Lenexa, Kan., to sit in on a gathering of the Kansas City Area Interfaith Roundtable.

The roundtable is made up of a dozen or so folks who represent various groups active in promoting interfaith understanding and dialogue. They meet several times a year to check signals, keep each other up to date and get the pulse of the local effort to make Kansas city "the most welcoming community in the world," in the words of the day's convenor, the Rev. David Nelson.

(In the picture on the left is Priscilla Wilson, left, a Christian who has led the annual Festival of Faiths here for the last couple of years, and Mahnaz Shabbir, a Muslim who has been one of the leaders of the Crescent Peace Society here. In the picture on the right is Fatih Ozcan, left, a Muslim who is the Kansas City representative of the Institute of Intefaith Dialog, and Vern Barnet, a Unitarian-Universalism clergyman who founded CRES.)

And as I sat there listening to plans for this or that gathering, this or that concert, this or that speaker, it occurred to me that people aren't trying very hard if they say they would like to know more about different religions and the people who practice them but don't know how to go about that.

Interfaith connections are happening all across the Kansas City metro area, with new groups springing up pretty regularly.

The primary clearing house for all this activity is the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council as well as CRES, the organization that helped to birth that council.

If you spend a bit of time on the Web sites of each of those groups you'll get a good view of what's happening and where you might fit in. I sat next to Shannon Clark, executive director of the Interfaith Council, and she reported that the council's Web site is undergoing a reconstruction but that in May she hopes it will be the home of a thorough regional calendar of interfaith events. Even now, however, you can find out enough there and at the CRES site to get engaged in what's going on.

Why does any of this matter?

Because America's religious landscape is changing rapidly, and we are headed for trouble if we move into the future in ignorance and with prejudice about people who follow faiths other than our own. The goal is not to ignore our differences but to understand them and to be able to live in harmony despite our differences.

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OUR WORSHIP-SHOPPING PRESIDENT

Wondering which mosque our allegedly Muslim president is joining now that he lives in Washington? Well, the mainstream media still seem to think he'll join a Christian church, though he hasn't done so yet. President Obama did, however, attend an Episcopal church for Easter services. What kind of Muslim is this man that he would worship in an Anglican church? I'm sure some of the never-wrong conspiracy bloggers will have a logical answer for this soon. Or not.

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P.S.: When that terrible earthquake hit Italy recently, Jews who were saved from the Holocaust by some of the residents of that very area went to help as a small remembrance of the people who had rescued them. Reverberations from the Holocaust seem endless. For information about my upcoming book that describes how non-Jews in Poland saved Jews from the Holocaust, click here.

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ANOTHER P.S.: If you want to sponsor me in the AIDSWalk KC 2009 edition to raise funds for the AIDS Service Foundation, click here. I do this as part of the AIDS Ministry at my church. And thanks.

Comments

[DW]

Regarding "Interfaith dialogue" -

2 John 1:7-11:

7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.
9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting,
11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

[Dolores Lear]

I have a contact, David, after reading my previous Web Site, encouraged me to read Zacharia Sitchin, who translated ancient tablets, dug up in Mesopotamia.

Sitchin wrote many books, including "The 12th Planet", about the Anunnaki, from Space.
http://search.live.com/results.aspx?FORM=SOLTDF&q=Zacharia+Sitchin&src=IE-SearchBox

I have written some of the things Sitchin translates about, in other posts last year. I do not have a web site now.

Now David has sent me a new name, Barbara Marciniak, who has teachings from the Pleiades. This has information about the Noah Flood, and Space Human Duologue.

http://www.amazon.com/Bringers-Dawn-Pleiadians-Barbara-Marciniak/dp/093968098X

I do not have Star Base for my information, I all of a sudden Know. I tie it into the Christian Bible, Other Religious writings and Myth.

I do tie my information, to the Lord God, our High Tech Ancestors that Colonized Earth, and accept Jesus is with them.

Instead of InterReligious Conferences, Humans should start looking at all the High Tech Science information, that Humans have access to in Religious Writings that can be explained with High Tech Science.

Human Life 'is' in Space, like the Lord God in Genesis, in our Image. They are the God of many religions on our Home Planet.

It is Time to look at what Religious Humans call nonsense, and crazy.

Religion today is like Inbreeding. Finding the 'Literal' Beginning Elements of Life on Earth is difficult.

But with High Tech Science, and all the Space Information received for Centuries, in ancient writings, it is available.

It is Time for Humans to look beyond Religious differences, and accept there is Eternal High Tech Physical Human Life After Birth, on Planets and in Spaceships.

[Will Graham]

Bill, your mention of the display at Union Station about the science that led to the Holocaust is interesting.

For once, you are placing the blame where it belongs, and not just on Christians or Catholics. But why do you call it "phony" science? Eugenics was NOT a Nazi invention; in fact, the father of eugenics was Francis Galton, Darwin's cousin. (Darwin even praises his cousins work in The Descent of Man, and so did the German scientist Ernst Haeckel, who is frequently still praised by evolutionists.)

Eugenics was considered good enough science for over 70 years; just because scientific ideas change...and many are eventually exposed as wrong...does not mean they were phony.

Unless, of course, you are saying Darwin, Galton, and Haeckel were phonies.

Without Galton's work the Holocaust could not have taken the form it did. The Union Station dispaly makes that clear.

And it has been exposed before:

http://www.waragainsttheweak.com/

[Susan]

Bill, about reverberataions from the Holocaust being endless -- I still remember my brother and me getting off a bus somewhere in Germany or Austria, nearly 23 years ago, and an older lady reaching through the door and thrusting a whole roll of her bus-tickets into our hands, and saying the Americans were good to her. I didn't always hear such wonderful feedback about my country during that summer trip (and rightfully so -- this was right after the killing of the Greenpeace workers), so this is just something that sticks out in my mind all these years later.

Will, OF COURSE the scientific research of the time shaped the way the Holocaust happened, just as the anti-Semetic teachings of the church were what laid the groundwork for it to happen in the first place. And all the ways technology had developed up to that time, also enabled the Nazis to carry out Hitler's murderous schemes way more rapidly and efficiently than they could have been carried out previously.

This doesn't mean that technology is bad, or that scientific research is bad, just because insanely-murderous people can use the information to do horrid things. However, I think most people would agree that the anti-Semitic attitudes so prevalent among christendom at that time, and during the years leading up to that time, were very, very bad. And truly not helpful to society in any way.

About interfaith dialog, D.W. kind of proves my point that it can only work with people who've moved beyond fear-based religion. If you think the other people will be going to hell if they don't adopt your beliefs, or if you think you're in danger of losing your salvation through associating with them, it seems to me that you will only see two options: proseletyze or distance yourself.

[Michael]

Happy Easter everyone. I thought I would jump back into the conversation head first after being away. I want to respond to a comment Susan posted.

"Here's a challenge for you, adamh -- can you find any place in the Bible where Jesus Himself directly says anything negative about homosexuality, or even ANYTHING about homosexuality at all?"

Are you serious!? I guess Jesus was soft on incest, pedophilia, and bestiality and alike as well. He never said anything about those either! Go MBLA!

"But my argument is that of Daniel A. Helminiak, who wrote "What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality." Helminiak feels that the burden of proof should be on the people who want to condemn homosexuality. This makes sense to me, because the anti-gay people would like to limit the freedoms of certain other human beings, whereas those of us who are pro gay-rights are not trying to limit anyone else's freedom."

Helminiak's claim is likewise absurd. Let's talk about the burden of proof. For 2,000 years Christianity has taught that same-sex behavior is sinful and sexually deviant. Before that, at least 1,400 years Judaism has taught the same. So Helminiak's claim that the burden of proof lies on those who have condemned homosexuality as sinful for the past 3,400 years to prove their case is absolute lunacy. How about the burden of proof lying with the people who have just figured out how to interpret the religious teachings of three religions since the late freaking 1980s. How about the burden of proof lies with people who have made up a new take on homosexuality in the past 20 years and not with the people who continue to embrace the teaching of the past 3,400 years. How about that.

Or how about I make up something else new. Hmmmmm... The Bible SEEMS to say we should not kill. Lots of killing takes place in the Bible obviously, so what gives? Well my new interpretation is this: Killing is OK if you only kill mean people. I mean really, read the Bible, that is what every text that talks of killing really means in its context. When people kill people in the Bible and it is OK, it is because the people they kill are mean. Thus, my conclusion is that it is OK to kill all mean people in our society. Oh yeah, the burden of proof to my claim is not on me (because my new interpretation is obviously correct). No, the burden of proof lies with all those in Christianity and Judaism who have believed that killing is wrong for the past 3,400 years. Those idiots, how could they have missed it all along!

[Dolores Lear]

Very Good posts today Susan.

Susan:
"This doesn't mean that technology is bad, or that scientific research is bad, just because insanely-murderous people can use the information to do horrid things."

Me:
How about all the Pollution, all over our Home Planet by Big Business? This has many people sick, and is destroying our Eco System and Ozone Canopy. Just because of insanely-murderous religious people?

How about what the USA and other Countries have done with their scientific research? They made atomic and nuclear bombs, and the USA used their Atomic Bombs two times on Japan. Just because of insanely-murderous religious people?

How about all the atomic and nuclear waste that cannot be destroyed, that has many humans sick? This Waste is stacked by many nuclear plants, buried in concrete in the Pacific Ocean, and a big pile is stacked in Utah, that we do not Know what to do with? Just because of insanely-murderous people?

How about the USA has military basis in many Countries? Why? Just because of insanely-murderous people?

How about all the Haves and Havenots on our Planet of 7 Billion Humans, in a runaway Population Explosion of insanely-murderous religious people?

Many countries involved are, or were, Mostly Christians during this insanely-murderous Knowledge Explosion.

Go figure who are the insanely-murderous people on Earth? Mostly religious people, like the history of insanely-murderous religious people in all their Holy Books?

Eternal Physical Life After Birth, is for Equal High Tech Sharing Humans, not divided insanely-murderous religious people, that Kill Each Other and their Home Planet.

[Susan]

Michael, Jesus said all the law and commandments could be summed up in Love God, Love Others. The Law of Love precludes behaviors like incest (which can produce children with horrible defects), pedophilia, bestiality, and also it precludes murder.

As Bill has pointed out, anti-Semitism is a pretty old and long-standing teaching in the Christian church. Just because people have embraced hate for a number of years, that doesn't make it right.

[Goldstein Squad Member]

Susan, you keep making these accusations about the "Christian church".

What do you mean by the "Christian church"...it sounds like you are saying all Christians are guilty of this, which is of course manifestly false.

But perhaps you mean something else by the "Christian church."

[Susan]

Dolores wrote, "How about all the Pollution, all over our Home Planet by Big Business? This has many people sick, and is destroying our Ecosystem and Ozone Canopy. Just because of insanely-murderous religious people?"

Excellent point, Dolores. I think it's primarily spokespeople for the Religious Right, such as Rush Limbaugh, who have worked so hard to persuade the public that environmentalists are just sounding the alarm when there's really nothing to be alarmed about, and everything's just fine and dandy, and will continue to be fine and dandy, so long as no one's allowed to interfere with free-enterprise.

And, of course, many fundamentalist Christians promote the idea that even if our ecosystem IS being destroyed, there's really nothing we can do about it: we can't stop the judgment of God, and we're not earthly citizens anyway, so we might as well just use whatever energy we might have used cleaning up our planet, for proseletyzing so everyone else can become Heavenly citizens, too.

I believed this for such a long time, and it was really sad, because what the environmentalists had to say was also very compelling to me. I just bought the whole fundamentalist line about how concern for our environment was just a waste of energy -- we had another home waiting for us, so our focus should be on taking as many with us as we could.

I'm sure I will undoubtedly now hear about how none of this was ever a fundamentalist teaching, and I was just "wrong ground" and distorted all that good fundamentalist teaching. But if this is the case, then why is our planet in such a toxic mess right now? Surely just one or two or a handful of "wrong ground"-people, didn't single-handedly get our earth into its current state.

I think anyone who says that fundamentalist Christian teachings have nothing to do with all the past and present abuse of our ecosystem -- anyone who really says and believes this, is badly deluded.

[Susan]

adamh, the Christian church, as you say, does comprise ALL believers in Christ everywhere. So I should have modified by previous statement by saying something like "...anti-Semitism has been a pretty old and long-standing teaching for a large and very powerful segment of the Christian church."

Thanks for the heads-up, adamh! It's good to know you're looking out for me!

[Susan]

To add to my last post --

Just as we shouldn't assume that *all* Christians have accepted, or currently accept, hate-filled philosophies like anti-Semitism and homophobia -- so we shouldn't assume that *all* Scientists create "weapons of mass-destruction." We also shouldn't assume that *all* scientists are Atheists. Also, as Dolores has pointed out, we the people (a majority of whom claim to be Christian) are the ones voting in the officials who order these weapons to be made, and we are the ones financing it through our taxes.

[Goldstein Squad Member]

Susan, if you can talk about the "Christian church", I can talk about "scientists" and "atheists" and point out that "Scientists" create weapons of mass destruction.

Its a fact, they do.

And you must have misunderstood me...I am not watching out for you, I am watching out for the smears you try to wipe all over the Christians.

[DW]

Susan, your point about fear-based religion and believing that people who don't believe faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for the forgiveness of sins is exactly why Bill and others who push interfaith dialogue are extremely dangerous. They claim to only want understanding, but what they really want is for Christians to fundamentally change their beliefs and accept all religions as equally valid and true. As a result, Interfaith dialogue is designed to mislead people and lead them away from Christinaity in general, which does not provide for alternate paths of salvation, and faith in Jesus Christ in particular, Who is the only path to salvation.

[Barb McAtee]

I agree with Bill that interfaith understanding is crucial in this age. Religions of the world should be a subject taught in school--in a fact-based, objective manner.

Regarding the quotation from 2 John 1:7-11: I have been actively involved in interfaith activities for more than 25 years. I have met hundreds of people who enjoy sharing. Never once have I met anyone who lost faith or converted to another faith because of their exposure to interfaith activities. The point of interfaith sharing is not who is right or wrong, but simply to understand what others believe. During interfaith dialogue, no one tries to convert others. No one tries to assert that theirs is the only true path. They may believe that, but it is not relevant to the discussion.

Most people I have met through interfaith activities comment that interfaith dialogue has enriched and deepened their own faith.