Help Imagine, Design and Organize an "Occupy Interfaith" Dialogue - Occupy Cafe2024-03-29T06:12:25Zhttp://www.occupycafe.org/forum/topics/help-organize-a-cafe-call-on-interfaith-possibilities?groupUrl=faith-in-occupy&commentId=6451976%3AComment%3A25215&groupId=6451976%3AGroup%3A3848&feed=yes&xn_auth=noi'd like to do more of this i…tag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-11-10:6451976:Comment:346152012-11-10T14:53:56.633ZKellyAngelPdxhttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/KellyAngelPdx
<p>i'd like to do more of this in pdx and connect to larger efforts too...</p>
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<p>i'd like to do more of this in pdx and connect to larger efforts too...</p>
<p></p> Thanks, Bruce. As you may kn…tag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-05-28:6451976:Comment:252512012-05-28T16:00:33.602ZOccupy Cafe Stewardshttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/21u3twzbb9qcp
<p>Thanks, Bruce. As you may know, this comes out of Karen Armstrong's Charter for Compassion initiative, which is rooted in Interfaith concepts--especially the universal embrace of the Golden Rule. Jitendra and I know Jeff vanderClute, who is closely involved with Compassionate Cities, btw.</p>
<p>Thanks, Bruce. As you may know, this comes out of Karen Armstrong's Charter for Compassion initiative, which is rooted in Interfaith concepts--especially the universal embrace of the Golden Rule. Jitendra and I know Jeff vanderClute, who is closely involved with Compassionate Cities, btw.</p> Here's another fascinating th…tag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-05-26:6451976:Comment:251872012-05-26T16:10:28.991ZBruce Schumanhttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/BruceSchuman
<p>Here's another fascinating things to check out</p>
<p>HeartMap - Compassionate Seattle -- a network of community organizations </p>
<p><a href="http://www.compassionateseattle.org/heartmap">http://www.compassionateseattle.org/heartmap</a></p>
<p>Here's another fascinating things to check out</p>
<p>HeartMap - Compassionate Seattle -- a network of community organizations </p>
<p><a href="http://www.compassionateseattle.org/heartmap">http://www.compassionateseattle.org/heartmap</a></p> <<""What question, if a…tag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-05-26:6451976:Comment:250932012-05-26T15:48:44.747ZJohn Backmanhttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/JohnBackman
<p><<""What question, if answered, could make the greatest difference to the future of interfaith initiatives?">></p>
<p>Reading our thread here brought up a shard of an idea for a question.</p>
<p>"What in our faith traditions could we plumb more deeply to bring even deeper wisdom and more energy to addressing the issues of the world?"</p>
<p>Here's the shard: the interfaith communications that I've seen (and granted, I haven't followed many of them) cite a few abstract elements…</p>
<p><<""What question, if answered, could make the greatest difference to the future of interfaith initiatives?">></p>
<p>Reading our thread here brought up a shard of an idea for a question.</p>
<p>"What in our faith traditions could we plumb more deeply to bring even deeper wisdom and more energy to addressing the issues of the world?"</p>
<p>Here's the shard: the interfaith communications that I've seen (and granted, I haven't followed many of them) cite a few abstract elements that most faiths have in common--commitments to justice, compassion, ecology--and put them side by side with today's issues, making a basic connection between the one and the other. This is certainly not a bad thing.</p>
<p>But I want that connection to go much deeper: to explore specific elements of other faiths, especially commonalities among most faiths, and see how they can inform our efforts on a deeper level. For instance, I've heard it said that a belief in life after death, particularly an apocalypse of some sort, leads people into apathy about this world and its issues. However, in my experience, it can work quite dramatically the opposite: a confidence in life after death allows one not to live for one's own personal gain, but to give oneself away extravagantly for a cause, etc.</p>
<p>If you think there's something in this, I'd love to hear your thoughts.</p>
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<p></p> Ah, I wish I could have made…tag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-05-26:6451976:Comment:253512012-05-26T15:17:41.863ZJohn Backmanhttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/JohnBackman
<p>Ah, I wish I could have made the call--but that pesky paying job kept me away.</p>
<p>I like your introduction of restorative justice into this conversation. It occurs to me, though, that even when justice is restorative, it will still be a challenge to draw into conversation those whose self-interest clashes with the ends of justice. This may be one place where a faith perspective can open doors to the conversation. Undoubtedly, many people in the 1% are people of faith; that faith can give…</p>
<p>Ah, I wish I could have made the call--but that pesky paying job kept me away.</p>
<p>I like your introduction of restorative justice into this conversation. It occurs to me, though, that even when justice is restorative, it will still be a challenge to draw into conversation those whose self-interest clashes with the ends of justice. This may be one place where a faith perspective can open doors to the conversation. Undoubtedly, many people in the 1% are people of faith; that faith can give us a common language from which to dialogue--particularly about the need to look beyond self-interest to the greater good</p> The day after I created this…tag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-05-22:6451976:Comment:250512012-05-22T20:18:51.022ZOccupy Cafe Stewardshttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/21u3twzbb9qcp
<p>The day after I created this thread to explore the idea of an Occupy Interfaith dialogue, I got an email from <a href="http://www.gpiw.org/index.html" target="_blank">The Global Peace Initiative of Women</a> asking if Jitendra or I were interested in being part of a rountable discussion they are convening in NYC on June 6 on the subject of "Re-Envisioning Prosperity." This is part of work they are doing in a collaborative called "The Contemplative Alliance," which "was formed in 2008 in…</p>
<p>The day after I created this thread to explore the idea of an Occupy Interfaith dialogue, I got an email from <a href="http://www.gpiw.org/index.html" target="_blank">The Global Peace Initiative of Women</a> asking if Jitendra or I were interested in being part of a rountable discussion they are convening in NYC on June 6 on the subject of "Re-Envisioning Prosperity." This is part of work they are doing in a collaborative called "The Contemplative Alliance," which "was formed in 2008 in response to the need for a new multi-faith spiritual voice for the nation, one based on a vision of the unity of faiths, the sacredness of the natural world and the need to tap inner spiritual resources to achieve a more inclusive and balanced form of prosperity."</p>
<p>Interesting synchronicity, to be sure. I have posted <a href="http://www.occupycafe.org/group/faith-in-occupy/page/re-envisioning-prosperity-dialogue-june-6-in-nyc" target="_blank">a description of the event as a page within this group here</a>.</p>
<p>So it seems that both the Interfaith and "Occupy meets Transition, etc." (New Economies) conversations are possibly merging, or at least that there is considerable overlap.</p> Well, let's see -- I'd say a…tag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-05-22:6451976:Comment:252152012-05-22T19:59:34.663ZBruce Schumanhttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/BruceSchuman
<p>Well, let's see -- I'd say a lot of what he is talking about is politics. I'll be taking more time with this soon. Here's another major link that came through today -- on "interfaith politics" -- from a group of international religious leaders (I'm not yet sure exactly who they are) on the G8 Summit</p>
<p><a href="http://repository.berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/120517FinalStatementJRLCS.pdf">http://repository.berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/120517FinalStatementJRLCS.pdf</a></p>
<p>Generally,…</p>
<p>Well, let's see -- I'd say a lot of what he is talking about is politics. I'll be taking more time with this soon. Here's another major link that came through today -- on "interfaith politics" -- from a group of international religious leaders (I'm not yet sure exactly who they are) on the G8 Summit</p>
<p><a href="http://repository.berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/120517FinalStatementJRLCS.pdf">http://repository.berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/120517FinalStatementJRLCS.pdf</a></p>
<p>Generally, for me -- and for many interfaith activists -- political impact and influence is very much the purpose of becoming involved. The idea in simple terms is -- religions are supposed to be sources of community healing and wisdom -- even if that is often not the case -- but interfaith is -- in my opinion -- the attempt to draw all the best of religious ideas together -- and establish "common ground" -- and "common good"</p> Speaking is not something I f…tag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-05-22:6451976:Comment:252102012-05-22T17:59:33.457ZOccupy Cafe Stewardshttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/21u3twzbb9qcp
<p>Speaking is not something I find myself needing to urge YOU to do, Bruce! And I'm glad you're here to help us grow a Dreaming Tree.</p>
<p>Curious what among Frank Frederick's fairly technical advice on using social media to promote an initiative you thought might be most relevant here. </p>
<p>Also struck by his "no politics rule." Is that something you think we need to be wary of in the Interfaith context? Can we Occupy Interfaith and not be political? Pretty hard to imagine how, or…</p>
<p>Speaking is not something I find myself needing to urge YOU to do, Bruce! And I'm glad you're here to help us grow a Dreaming Tree.</p>
<p>Curious what among Frank Frederick's fairly technical advice on using social media to promote an initiative you thought might be most relevant here. </p>
<p>Also struck by his "no politics rule." Is that something you think we need to be wary of in the Interfaith context? Can we Occupy Interfaith and not be political? Pretty hard to imagine how, or even why we would go there. That said, the political dimensions of this subject are challenging, are they not? I belong to a "liberal" religious tradition (UU), which doesn't mean liberal politically per se, and yet it certainly attracts people of that persuasion. Meanwhile, we have the Religious Right in this country and elsewhere that is on the opposite side of that divide. Is one of our goals in this dialogue to transcend that, or to offer a more prominent platform for expressions of faith that are inclusive and are also embracing the prophetic tradition of speaking truth to power?</p>
<p>Ben</p> ok, i'll speak, i'll speak!!…tag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-05-22:6451976:Comment:252092012-05-22T16:54:38.954ZBruce Schumanhttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/BruceSchuman
<p>ok, i'll speak, i'll speak!! :):):)</p>
<p>(laugh)</p>
<p>thanks for all of this. plain truth is -- i got my hands full at the moment.</p>
<p>if you have a few minutes -- any of you -- check out this video on interfaith on social media.</p>
<p>this guy frank fredericks is hot…</p>
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<p>ok, i'll speak, i'll speak!! :):):)</p>
<p>(laugh)</p>
<p>thanks for all of this. plain truth is -- i got my hands full at the moment.</p>
<p>if you have a few minutes -- any of you -- check out this video on interfaith on social media.</p>
<p>this guy frank fredericks is hot</p>
<p><a href="http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/news/index.php/2012/05/interfaith-social-media-question-and-answer/">http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/news/index.php/2012/05/interfaith-social-media-question-and-answer/</a></p> No, not esoteric at all. Of…tag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-05-22:6451976:Comment:254062012-05-22T16:27:36.890ZBen Robertshttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/BenRoberts
<p>No, not esoteric at all. Of course, there is also the idea of <em>restorative justice,</em> which eschews punishment and the demonizing of those who commit offenses. The idea that we must embrace the 1% as well has been part of the conversation within the movement and here at the Cafe since the beginning. We did a call on it last Friday for our Occupy Heart Series, in fact.</p>
<p>No, not esoteric at all. Of course, there is also the idea of <em>restorative justice,</em> which eschews punishment and the demonizing of those who commit offenses. The idea that we must embrace the 1% as well has been part of the conversation within the movement and here at the Cafe since the beginning. We did a call on it last Friday for our Occupy Heart Series, in fact.</p>