Here is a sequence of 12 points which  1)  advocates for interfaith ashrams as an essential part of a holistic and collaborative problem solving approach to the challenges of our times, and  2)  suggests initiatives which could assist with establishing community supported interfaith ashrams.

1)  The beliefs that there is a critical need for an exponential increase in compassion for our fellow human beings—and that at no other time in history has there been more potential for…

From my own personal point of view, I see myself as a facilitator of workshops at Community Teaching and Learning Centers, of the kind which are created to be support centers for Community Visioning Initiatives.  I see myself as a facilitator for workshops introducing The Eight IPCR Concepts , Community Visioning Initiatives (CVIs), and Community Teaching and Learning Centers (CTLCs)(all mentioned in the second document refererenced below); I see myself as a Resource Coordinator for a…

Yesterday we Rochesterians were enjoying our first warm spring day after a long and brutally cold winter season.  Here at the University of Rochester campus, the students were out all over the quad, sporting tank tops, shorts and sandals and reveling in the warm air and the sunshine.  Then, shortly after…

Introducing Los Angeles Interfaith Seminary



There is an unstoppable culture of cooperation emerging and many are being called to be part of this momentum. Our communities have a lot to learn from one another. Our global village needs visionary leadership to navigate us toward a world that works for all. We recognize that many want to live a life of service and find ways to make a difference and "be the change” we wish to see in the world. The Los Angeles…

Humanity is diverse, that's God's intentional creation. The male/ female ratio has always remained around 50/50 with +/- 2 points variation on either side. The world would never be 100% male or female, likewise the world would never be 100% Gay, it will be a natural 10-15% of the population. Mike Ghouse…

The State Department has listed me as one of the stops for people visiting America to learn about our Religious landscape, interfaith trends, future of religion and pluralism.  Over the last six years, I have had conversations with over 100 visitors from about 30 some nations including China, central Asian, Middle East, Balkans, and North African religious leaders and scholars. 



It is exciting to…

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to take the life of the most innocent of the Lord’s creations: our children. The recent massacre in Newtown is a blatant act of terror even when such qualification…

Do you use social media?

Tens of thousands are joining Facebook, Meetup or Living Social every day. Many are using these internet sites to find friends and faith. Here's one example of a Meetup group that has met 33 times! There are 16 core members who invite many others for discussion and food.…

New Approach to Collaborative Problem Solving and Citizen Peacebuilding

(being introduced by two companion websites and four key documents)

[Below is the first section of a 6 page introduction to the Community Visioning Initiative Clearinghouse website and the Community Teaching and Learning Center Clearinghouse website.  The complete 6 page document is accessible from this link…

At a recent meeting of the Commission on Christian Jewish Relations (CCJR) here in Rochester, the members of the Commission were engaged in a painful and difficult discussion, arising out of the controversy that erupted over a letter, signed by leaders of fifteen Protestant religious denominations and organizations that was sent to Congress on October 5, 2012 asking that Israel be held accountable for monies sent to it by the United States in light of what the…

The Charisma of Saint Francis - speaking to the heart of our Oblates within the TCOSF

     …

Spiritual Olympians for 2012?

Would you agree that in today’s world, there…

Need to create an event to promote goodwill among people of different faiths? 

Instead of inviting official leaders to give speeches, try a one -time discussion group. 

EXAMPLE: How to Read Texts of Violence in Islam, Christianity and Judaism

READING: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-jenkins/priests-of-phinehas_b_1253395.html?

WHERE: A local school, library, church,…

In a recent rebroadcast of an interview between journalist Krista Tippett and poet Christian Wiman on Tippett’s OnBeing program on NPR radio, Wiman made a comment that really called me up short.  “I think that God calls some people to unbelief so that faith can take new forms.”  He and Tippett were discussing Wiman’s own journey from a childhood faith, through a period of agnosticism/atheism and a return in his late 30s to a Christian religious faith.  But the idea that God calls some people…

By Graeme Sharrock

On Sunday October  14, 2012, a 28 year-old Conservative rabbi and a 30 year-old Seventh-day Adventist minister  published an article in the…

In the past couple of weeks, two different incidents of cyber-bullying of women have garnered media attention.  On September 25 the Huffington Post reported on a post made to Reddit, a social media site, of a photograph of a young Sikh college student snapped by a man in an airport security line.  Balpreet Kaur, a sophomore at Ohio State University is a baptized and practicing Sikh and therefore does not cut her hair, in accordance with her religious tradition.  She…

The old childhood ditty about “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” (which, by the way, is a mischaracterization of the original poem in which the power of words to hurt was the whole point!) has run through my mind a lot in the past couple of weeks. First we endured the violence that erupted in a number of Muslim countries over the release of the anti-Muslim video denigrating the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and now we are subjected to print…

Dear All PeaceNext's Members:

Below is a very important letter from Anand Krishna, Author of more than 150 Books in Indonesian and English / Spiritual Activist / Humanist.... OUR VISION: One Earth, One Sky, One Humankind - OUR MISSION: Promotion of such Universal Values as Peace, Love, and Harmony. We really need your prayers and active supports. Many thanks

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