InterfaithNews.Net

A new survey from ReachingCommonGround.com and Harris Interactive finds that a
majority of adult Americans believe that religious differences are the biggest
obstacle in the face of achieving world peace, translating this belief into a call
for greater respect for other religions in institutional religious education. The
survey also finds that religious tolerance is strongly correlated to age. The article
also announces an essay competition for youth, with $100,000 worth of prizes. [Editorial
note: what does “take the time to learn about other religions” really mean for
these folks? Am I just jaded that I don't believe that 59% of adults actually know
anything substantial about a religion other than their own?]

The College of Preachers at Washington National Cathedral organized and
hosted an unprecedented Abrahamic residency for three scholar-theologians
June 14-25. The task assigned to Bishop Krister Stendahl, Rabbi Marc
Gopin, and Abdulaziz Sachedina was to plumb the doctrinal, historical,
and psychological depths of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to discover
sources used to justify religious violence and develop approaches to
counteract them.

Can a group of passionate activists from a small town in California
really do anything about the retributions, recrimnations, and violence in
the Middle East? An initiative called “Hands Across the Jordan” seeks to
find out. Their intention is to build a bridge of peace across the Jordan
River, with help from all around the world, to help unite the people of
Israel and Jordan in a grassroots effort. Here is their statement.

Regular InterfaithNews.Net readers will recognize this year's winner of
the Niwano Peace Prize: the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative of
Uganda, a United Religions Initiative Cooperation Circle working to end
armed conflict.

Beginning June 27, 2004, teens from several conflict-ridden areas gathered for a program
called Face to Face/Faith to Faith. The program, which runs through July 12 in
New York City, seeks to establish the a groundwork for positive inter-faith interaction
and resolution of religiously-motivated conflict. Face to Face is sponsored by
the Auburn Theological Seminary of New York and Seeking Common Ground from Denver.

Dr. Bruce B. Lawrence, a professor or religion at Duke University, writes of
the need to shift the Western mindset on Islam. In doing so he critiques both Christian
and Muslim perceptions of each other, laying out his own vision for how the religions
can interact more harmoniously in the future. The article concludes with a response
from an American Muslim and Dr. Lawrence's reply.

In a world where religiously-motivated violence is still far too
prevalent, religious leaders have increasingly come to understand that
they must be instruments for change in the world, instruments for the
promotion of true peace. In His Holiness John Paul II's homily on the
World Day of Peace He emphasized the duty to promote peace in
the world. His were not the first words on the subject from an
international religious leader; indeed peace has long been a theme of
His. Nevertheless it is a call that must needs be constantly repeated to
peoples who have spent millenia hearing their leaders — usually with
some religion “on their side” — calling for violence against “the
other.” Read on for excerpts from His homily and for links to peace
statements from other traditions.

Representatives from Christian faith communities around the globe launched a year-long effort to confront and overcome violence in the United States during a stirring worship service commemorating the life and ministry of the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr at the Interchurch Center in New York City on 2 January. The focus on the US in 2004 is part of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV).

“India is going through enormous insecurity because religion is being
used for violence,” Siddhartha, a member of an inter-religious group
working for peace and justice in Bangalore, told participants at a
seminar at the World Social Forum in Mumbai.

The first regional conference of an African inter-faith initiative for peace started September 30 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with a call for genuine dialogue between religious leaders and their governments in order to safeguard peace and meaningfully contribute to nation building.