InterfaithNews.Net

Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia, Secretary of the Interfaith Center for Peace
in Columbus, Ohio, and Secretary-General of the World Sikh Council - American
Region, offers his review of the June 2005 "World Council of
Churches' landmark international interfaith conference titled
'Critical Moment in Interreligious Dialogue.'"

On September 11, the Washington National Cathedral (in Washington, D.C.,
USA), will host delegates from Christian denominations worldwide as they call
for United Nations member states to support the
Millennium Development
Goals.

Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center points out the confluence of
holy days from many different religions in October, encouraging faith
communities to use that time for shared celebration, prayer, reflection,
and peacebuilding.

It is a sad mark of the persistence of ethnic, cultural, and religious
bigotry that so many people continue to paint all Muslims as fanatics and
terrorists, as evidenced by violence against individual Muslims and their
religious institutions. It is equally disturbing that the same brush is
often applied to non-Muslims of North African, Middle Eastern, and Indian
origin, particularly to Sikhs.

In June, a ground-breaking conference was held at the United Nations that
brought together government representatives, members of the United
Nations system, and religious NGOs. There they discussed the need for
strengthened interfaith dialogue and its importance for peacebuilding.
The following convenor’s report summarizes the goals, conclusions, and
recommendations of the conference.

Reacting to the bombings in London, the Fiq Council of North America on July 28 became the first known Muslim group to issue a fatwa against terrorism and religious extremism.

July 2005 letter from Charles Gibbs, Executive Director of the United Religions Initiative, to the Friends of the URI around the world.