Noted Broadaster Rachael Kohn gave an address to a recent Religions for Peace Meeting at Parliament House, Sydney.
The Religions for Peace NSW Branch meets bi-monthly at Parliament House, Sydney.
Chaired by Josie Lacey, the meeting had 19 people (one not in photo) 8 Faiths, 13 denominations and great speaker, Rachael Kohn from the ABC “Spirit of Things”. Rachael fascinated us with stories of Sects and Cults she has interviewed and reflections on many of her experiences.
Des Cahill surprised us with a most welcome visit from Melbourne and an update on the national constitution and international RfP
At the July Meeting, Rachel Kohn spoke of her experiences as a religious affairs journalist with the ABC. Rachael Kohn is host of the ABC Radio program, The Spirit of Things.
The Spirit of Things is an adventure into religion and spirituality. It explores contemporary values and beliefs as expressed through ritual, art, music, and sacred texts.
The Spirit of Things focuses on how we discover, celebrate and make sense of spiritual meaning in our lives, both in established traditions and novel beliefs and practices.
Rachael Kohn was awarded a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) from the University of New South Wales in 2005 for ‘services to the community … fostering religious understanding’ through her broadcasts, public speaking and book, The New Believers: Re-imagining God, HarperCollins 2003. She has recently published Curious Obsessions in the History of Science and Spirituality, ABC Books 2007
Born in Canada, she graduated with an MA and PhD in Religious Studies from McMaster University and was awarded the prestigious Leverhulme Postdoctoral Fellowship, which she took up at the University of Lancaster, England.
Before joining the ABC in 1992, she taught Religious Studies at Sydney University and in universities in England and Canada.
Rachael has won three World Gold Medals from the New York Festivals International Radio Competition. She has produced documentaries for ABC TV’s Compass: The Dead Sea Scrolls, Buddhism East and West, and Paws for Thought (the spirituality of animals) .
Back row, Jeremy Jones AM (ECAJ), Bawa Jagdef OAM (SIKH Council), David Gill AM (Uniting Church), Ray Coombe(7th Day Adventist), Lorraine Murphy Parramatta Catholic Diocese), Robert Grant (Rama Krishna Vedanta)
Middle row L to R ; Sr Dr Giovanni Farquhar Catholic Archdiocese), Prof Des Cahill (National Chair), Mohini Gunesekara AM (Buddhist Council), Venus Khalesi, (Baha’i), Dr Rachael Kohn, Margaret Parker (Brahma Khumari) Wilma Visanathan (Uniting Church),Caroline Haski (Jewish)
Front row. Monika Smith (Quaker) Sr Dr Marianne Dacey (Catholic CCJ), Josie Lacey OAM (NSW Chair) Fr Dr Patrick McInerney (Columban)
(Out of photo) photographer Stafford Watts (Hindu)
