Guide to Religious Tolerance in A Hostile Environment
Actions For Interfaith Solidarity
An interfaith guide to help individuals and groups counter rising hostility toward Muslims and other religious minorities in North America and beyond.
The tenth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks has created a critical time to reach out to our Muslim neighbors. In the spirit of URI, this tool kit is aimed at helping people take positive action to promote religious tolerance in an environment of increasing hostility toward Muslims and other religious communities. The grassroots-style action ideas and resources provide ways to offer support and solidarity; help educate people about Islam and its traditions; and ignite simple but concerted actions that “walk the talk” of interfaith cooperation. We Invite Your Participation!
By using the resource section included at the end of the tool kit you can develop your own programs and ideas. We encourage you to send your questions, suggestions and success stories to newsdesk@uri.org .
New Golden Rule Video
Scarboro Missions Releases New Golden Rule Video
Scarboro Missions, 2685 Kingston Road , Scarborough , ON
Inquiries: 416-262-7135 ext. 296 or interfaith@scarboromissions.ca
In their ongoing commitment to catalyzing interfaith dialogue, Scarboro Missions recently released a new Golden Rule video. According to Paul McKenna, “Interfaith organizations and religions are co-operating on everything from soup kitchens to spirituality, to social justice, to scholarship, and everything in-between. There are now thousands of interfaith organizations. 60 years ago, there was a handful.” You are invited to view the video and share it with your communities. Available on You Tube – use link below.
New Video: From a Village in India to Multi-Cultural Toronto
(The Three Lives Of) Panditji
(The Three Lives of) Panditjiisa first-person account of the extraordinary voyage of discovery that is the life of Acharya Shiv Shankar Dwivedi. The Vedic pandit, or priest, at the Edmonton Hindu Cultural Centre was born in a small, remote Indian village and sent off to an ashram when he was eleven, after his mother died. Shiv Shankar became an all-India Gold Medal Sanskrit scholar, but then was plucked from his deeply spiritual world to become a Canadian Hindu priest.
The story moves back and forth between snow-covered Alberta and rural India where we see into Panditji's old life. We witness his first-ever return to his ashram, experience a rare Vedic cow ceremony, and join him as he visits his school that has changed the lives of so many.
As Shiv Shankar unfolds his story, we see into the mysteries of the world’s oldest religion, and how one man struggles for balance on his extraordinary path towards moksha, spiritual liberation - while living in the material world ...
(The Three Lives of ) Panditji is a fascinating personal story of a man who is a teacher and a student, a guide and a seeker, a much-loved and respected priest. He has a foot in two worlds and a heart set on a timeless third - being perfectly at home everywhere by cultivating a permanent state of grace. (The Three Lives of) Panditji is the first in what is being called The Heritage Series - documentaries that highlight the contributions of members of Canada ’s South Asian community to the country’s multicultural mosaic.”
(Ed. March 2017): The original article connected to this no longer exists. Here is an article about the film from Vue Weekly.
Meaning Making Involves Us All
State Of Formation (SoF) and The Interfaith Observer (TIO) Collaborate to Explore “Meaning Making”
While interfaith dialogue attempts to increase understanding between groups of people from different traditions, too often the work itself occurs in silos. Barriers exist between people of different ethnic and cultural traditions, generations, socioeconomic classes, gender, and education backgrounds between the most open minded conversation partners.
Part of the work of State of Formation is to deconstruct silos and dismantle barriers to foster conversation where it once was challenged to survive. Over the past few months, State of Formation (SoF) staff have been in conversation with those at The Interfaith Observer (TIO) to produce an inter-generational conversation around meaning making within different religious and ethical traditions. With a shared writing objective, fifteen contributors from both organizations wrote about Meaning Making from their own backgrounds.
The Interfaith Observer is an electronic journal created to explore interreligious relations and the interfaith movement. View supporting documents from The Interfaith Observer on Meaning Making …