Occupy Cafe
Faith in the 99%
This Interfaith working group for the Occupy movement exists to bring people together: to find common ground, to stand together on moral principles of justice & fairness, and to communicate the strong and powerful positions & convictions of our respective faiths, centred on peace & community spirit.
Help Imagine, Design and Organize an "Occupy Interfaith" Dialogue
The Interfaith theme has been showing up in a number of places for me lately, and I have become inspired to convene a conversation on the subject, and perhaps even a deep inquiry if the collective juice is there for it. Initially, I'm gathering a "design team" to put together a Vital Conversation call on this subject for a Monday in the not too distant future.
Anyone who wants to participate in that design process is welcome to post here. We might start by discussing the purpose and intentions for such a conversation. Here are a few items that come to mind for me right off the bat:
- share one or two really inspiring stories about our ability to use interfaith approaches to bring people together, as an antidote to the divisive role that religion often plays in our society. If the stories are Occupy related, so much the better, although that might not be necessary.
- give people a sense of all the things that are currently in motion in the interfaith space.
- address a core question that we feel is at our growth edge in bringing interfaith ideas and practices more powerfully into the Occupy movement and society at large (please offer some suggestions below!).
- create an experience within the conversation of connectedness and the power of spirit.
I would also LOVE to see us figure out a simple way for this conversation to have a face-to-face component, and to make use of our OC forum as well. Perhaps we come up with one or two questions for people to discuss in face-to-face conversations (as dyads or small groups) in advance of the call to help build energy, interest and a starting point for our group dialogue that feels highly relevant. Any insights that emerge could be posted to the Forum and that content could inform the conversation we have together on the Cafe Call.
What questions might we invite people to pose in these preliminary "living room conversations?" My first thought is this question for all seasons: "what question, if answered, could make the greatest difference to the future of Interfaith initiatives?" Perhaps an Occupy spin/context could be added to that formulation as well. Or another Occupy related question could be asked in conjunction. Thoughts???
Join the design conversation and come play!
Cheers,
Ben
Bruce Schuman
Ben, I like your question, let's think about this....
"What question, if answered, could make the greatest difference to the future of interfaith initiatives?"
I am one of the advisers/participants for an Interfaith Journal called "The Interfaith Observer" -- that is coordinated by Paul Chaffee, in the San Francisco Bay area
http://theinterfaithobserver.org/who-we-are/
Their April 2012 issue featured an article by interfaith organizer Rev. Bud Heckman, to which my project Circle2012 is in part a response. Bud Heckman is a senior interfaith activist who has been Executive Director for major national and international interfaith organizations, and his article can be read here:
http://theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2012/4/15/what-th...
In his article, Bud writes:
My thought would be -- let's explore this question -- and let's present our interest to Bud Heckman and The Interfaith Observer -- with the idea that this is indeed a significant and widely shared concern. We need a big framework for this conversation, and we need the right people in the conversation....
I have briefly mentioned to Paul Chaffee that we have been exploring "Appreciative Interviews". Paul is well-aware of "Appreciative Inquiry", and has been doing it, and writing about it, for years. Our Appreciative Interview framework might be a starting point for Bud's call -- and other possibilities -- such as linking to Occupy -- or to Interfaith/Occupy activists -- might also emerge....
As a PS, let me note that TIO published a letter from me in their current issue, which refers to this call from Bud Heckman, and also to an article by Chief Phil Lane, also in TIO, calling for ways to overcome the fragmentation of this world...
"Protecting the Sacred in a Shattered World" - "Unified Spiritual Action Required"
http://theinterfaithobserver.org/journal-articles/2012/4/12/protect...
May 17, 2012
Occupy Cafe Stewards
The day after I created this thread to explore the idea of an Occupy Interfaith dialogue, I got an email from The Global Peace Initiative of Women 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."
Interesting synchronicity, to be sure. I have posted a description of the event as a page within this group here.
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.
May 22, 2012
KellyAngelPdx
i'd like to do more of this in pdx and connect to larger efforts too...
Nov 10, 2012