Greetings of peace at this special time of blessings!
This evening is the last of the eight days of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of Lights, commemorating the rededication of the Temple after the victory of the Maccabees. December is also the month when the birth of the Prophet Mohammad is celebrated (23 December) as well as the Christmas festival, celebrating the birth of Christ.
Welcome
Before I mention the date and time of the December gathering of Religions for Peace Tasmania, I’d like to put in an invitation to Save a Date.
On Thursday 11 February 2016 at 12 noon, we will be holding our RfP Tas gathering in Parliament House, hosted by the Hon. Rob Valentine MLC.
The gathering will be in the form of a colloquium, entitled ‘Reflections on Peacebuilding‘. It is an opportunity to share our achievements, challenges and hopes as peacebuilders in our communities. The colloquium is planned to go for an hour, followed by a light lunch, catering for all the faith diets, as well as gluten/dairy free.
Everyone interested in attending is very welcome. RSVP to Terry by close of business on Monday 8 February.
December Gathering
Our gathering for December 2015 will be the conclusion of our series of honouring the elements. All faiths have a sense of the spiritual significance of light. This year is the UN International Year of Light, so we will take the opportunity to honour Light on 31 December 2015 at the Bruny Island Lighthouse. Those interested in attending, please contact Terry for details about meeting places and times.
Tasmanian Council of Churches
We welcome Frederik Mul as the new Executive Officer of Tasmanian Council of Churches and send him many blessings for taking up his new role. You can find out about Frederik at: http://beta.tcctas.org.au/index.php?page=14 We thank Rev Bob Faser for the role he played in the formation of Religions for Peace Tas, way back in 1999 and for his support throughout his years in Tasmania and send our good wishes for a long and happy retirement.
Climate Change Campaign
We’d also like to thank all those people of faith who attended the People’s March for Climate Change and would like to share the Press Statement of the President of France, H.E. Francois Hollande, in praising the contribution of the faith-based climate campaigners, including Religions for Peace, when receiving the petition of over 1,800,000 signatures at the Presidential Palace. You may read this here.
Misguided War on Terror
Finally, at this time of peace, we would recommend people finding the time to view the session below, delivered by Prof Robert Pape from the recent Parliament of the World’s Religions, held in Salt Lake City, Utah. The address is immensely important at this time and he acknowledges that his data, although accurate, won’t be published in any mainstream media, where its truthfulness will not be ‘popular’. He is relying on its dissemination through the internet and word of mouth.
Parliament Keynote Speaker, Prof Robert Pape Explains Misguided War on Terror
In a dedicated message to the Parliament community, Dr. Robert Pape, co-founder of the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism says, “This work is spreading the word about how to actually fight terrorism. For too long, we have relied on the false impression that we are in a war against Islam. Instead data from thousands of attacks around the world shows that foreign occupation, not religion, is the key driver for suicide terrorism.” Check out Pape’s Resources for Understanding Terrorism and Watch His 2015 Parliament Keynote Speech here (Opens in new window)
Parliament of the World’s Religions 2015
The recent Parliament of the World’s Religions in Salt Lake City Utah was an outstanding success. If you would like to watch any of the recorded sessions, you can do so at: http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/livestream They are well worth watching!!
Hobart Buddhist Meditation Centre
SUMMER RETREAT: Reflection and Quietude at Dorje Ling Retreat Centre, Fri evening Jan 8 – Sat Jan 16 lunchtime
Reflect and refresh after the hectic Christmas break. Experience the quietness of the land, explore the compassion of the heart and the wisdom of emptiness. The retreat will include meditation, Buddhist talks and discussion, and gentle exercise. There will be daily karma yoga included as part of this low-cost retreat (dana to the Centre). This retreat will be led by senior students of Hobart Buddhist Meditation Centre.
The retreat will be fully catered with simple vegetarian food. Accommodation is in tents or, for those who need it, there are some huts/small bedrooms available. Mattresses are provided. Please bring linen, sleeping bag, a torch, and all personal items, including medications. There is no shop available in the vicinity of the retreat. Beginners and families are welcome. Youth scholarships are available.
- Full: $480 (members) $525 (non-members). $400 (concession, members) $445 (concession, non-members). $240: Youth scholarships (please apply).
- Direct deposit or cheque preferred. Payment details are to be found at: http://tashicholing.net/about/bank-details/
- The booking window is closing soon for those who wish to go to this retreat. There are still places left, but your full payment or $100 booking deposit should reach us by Wednesday evening the 16th of December if you wish to be sure of your place.
- BOOKINGS and ENQUIRIES: We prefer bookings and enquiries to go through our website
- Phone enquiries (not bookings) to Charles on 6223 5023.
Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Ven. Thay Thong Phap, Buddhist Chaplain at UTAS, draws our attention to the Buddhist Peace Fellowship website.
UCA Relations with Other Faiths
The Uniting Church of Australia’s Relations with Other Faiths has update their news page. More here.
From Zenit:
Imam Joins Dominican Friar in Fight Against Christian Persecution in Pakistan
In taking interreligious dialogue to the next level, they make a unique pair: Imam Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad, who heads the second largest mosque in Pakistan, with room for 100,000 worshippers—the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore—and Father James Channan, OP, the director of Lahore’s Peace Center. Side-by-side, they are actively fighting the discrimination and persecution of Christians in Pakistan.
Example: when suicide bombers attacked the Youhanabad Christian neighborhood in Lahore—one of the largest Christian communities in South East Asia—and killed 22 people, the imam visited the neighborhood to declare his solidarity, before organizing a massive rally in front of the Badshahi mosque to signal opposition to terrorism, while calling for peace and harmony among different faiths
As Father Channan is active organizing Christian-Muslim dialogue throughout the country, the imam focuses on rural Islamic clerics, who are often the instigators of religious violence. In 2004, Imam Abdul Khabir Azad even organized an interfaith conference inside the Badshahi mosque—it was the first time Christians had been invited to speak in the mosque in its 350-year history.
One of the biggest issues facing Christians in Pakistan is the country’s blasphemy law. The imam and the friar are jointly pushing for reform of the law, so that abuse of the law—to settle personal scores or gain business advantages, with more Muslims than Christians ending up as victims—will be vigorously prosecuted.
All too often, alleged Christian offenses against the Quran or the Prophet Mohammed trigger mob violence. In one of the worst recent incidents a couple was burned alive in a brick kiln, after the wife was accused of desecrating the Muslim holy book. Both Father Channan and the imam condemned the murders as “barbaric.”
It is dangerous to speak out against such abuses, but Imam Khabir Azad does so regularly. “I have received threats for the work that I am doing, but I am not going to give up. It is the need of the hour, and it is my mission,” he told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. The imam takes inspiration from Jesus as the “Prince of Peace,” which he referred to as his favorite image of Christ.
Father Channan calls evangelization and interreligious dialogue the “two tracks on which the train of Catholicism runs.” Unlike the goal of evangelization, the aim of interreligious dialogue, the friar explained, is not to convert non-Christians, but to work with those of other faiths for the common good and for the promotion of peaceful co-existence and respect for all faiths. Father Channan, the former Vice-Provincial for the Dominican order in Pakistan, believes that this process can bring about a “conversion of heart” so that Muslims come to recognize Christians as worthy fellow citizens.
Father Channan has served as Consultor for both the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (1985-1995) and the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims (1999-2004). Father Channan, whom the Pakistani government calls on regularly for advice in religious maters, travels widely as a lecturer on interreligious dialogue.
The friar has seen many Islamic leaders in Pakistan from a stance of refusing to even share a meal with Christians to one of real friendship—the kind of bond exemplified by the unique relationship of Imam Abdul Khabir Azad and Father Channan.
From Tablet: (tabletmag, USA)
Jews supporting the rights of Muslim Americans:
According to FBI statistics for 2014, Jews were far more likely than members of other religious groups to be the victims of religiously motivated hate crimes. Despite Jews’ small numbers, 59 percent of the year’s 6,400 religious bias crimes were against Jews; to take one point of comparison, Catholics, who make up about a fifth of the country, accounted for only 6 percent of victims. The FBI said that hate crimes against Jews were down last year, but the Anti-Defamation League, which keeps its own statistics, said that 2014 was a particularly bad year for anti-Semitism, with incidents up 21 percent over the previous year.
Read more here.
New documents on Jewish-Christian relations
Theological reflections from fifty years of dialogue
The Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews has published today the document “The Gifts and the Calling of God are Irrevocable: a Reflection on Theological Questions Pertaining to Catholic-Jewish Relations on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of ‘Nostra Aetate’ (No. 4)”.
The document looks back at all that has been achieved over fifty years of dialogue and offers reflections on current theological questions that have developed since Vatican II. The text is not a magisterial document or doctrinal teaching of the Catholic Church, but is intended to be a starting point for further theological thought with a view to enriching and intensifying the theological dimension of Jewish-Christian dialogue.
Read more here
Othodox Rabbinic Statement on Christianity
3 December 2015. As a collaborative international effort, a group of Orthodox rabbis have issued a statement on Christianity. With the title ‘To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven: Toward a Partnership between Jews and Christians’, its opening paragraph reads: “After nearly two millennia of mutual hostility and alienation, we Orthodox Rabbis who lead communities, institutions and seminaries in Israel, the United States and Europe recognize the historic opportunity now before us. We seek to do the will of our Father in Heaven by accepting the hand offered to us by our Christian brothers and sisters. Jews and Christians must work together as partners to address the moral challenges of our era.”
Jewish festival of Chanukah (or Hannukah): A time for candle-lighting
Jewish communities are currently celebrating Chanukah (7-14 Dec 2015). “While Christmas is one of the most important days of the Christian calendar, Chanukah is a minor Jewish festival. What they share in common is that both are festivals of the winter solstice, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, which is the location of the Holy Land in both traditions. Chanukah comes at the darkest time of the solar year and of the lunar month. Both festivals celebrate the triumph of light over darkness … This theme is certainly of special importance as we mark the end of 2015, one of the most difficult years we have known in recent history. We all need to light many candles, both literally and f
iguratively.” (Excerpt from a greeting by Dr Debbie Weissman, ICCJ.org)
Coda
Tribute to Mother Nature
Many good wishes for a special time of blessings as we celebrate our festivals and move forward into 2016. ,
Terry
Convenor RfP Tasmania Branch
6272 6521
Religions for Peace Tasmania
