Parliament of Worlds Religion 1999 Capetown SA

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

Page 156

1999 PARLIAMENT OF THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS DIALOGUE
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5
enlightenment Jim Wolf, MSW, is a storyteller, clder, minister, dancer, folk artist, and
3:00 PM–3:45 PM IN COMMERCE 4.15 social activist. His worldwide travels include Laos, Malaysia. He spends
Connecting Women in Ministry: the Story of the time learning, sharing, teaching programs/workshops for personal, spiritual and community growth peace, justice, environmental and
Women's Institute in the Berkshires planetary issues.
Rev. Dr. Allison Stokes; Ms. Theresa Anne O'Keefe
The presenters are going to offer the story of the Women's 3:00 PM–3:45 PM IN COMM 2.60
Interfaith Institute as one model for connecting women in A Rationale and Methodology for Interreligious
ministry. They will describe how this organization of women in Dialogue at the Local, Non-Specialist Level
leadership and ministry in Western Massachusetts has created
opportunities for dialogue, education, and research. Their Dr. Benjamin J. Hubbard; Ms. Maura O'Neil
purpose is to engage participants in a discussion of other While many parts of the world are increasing in ethnic, cultural
experiences and models, and to promote networking for the and religious diversity, people of differing and sometimes
future. conflicting faiths are often becoming more entrenched in
Rev. Allison Stokes, Ph.D. is Founding Director of the Women's Interfaith
Institute and a United Church of Christ Pastor. With degrees from Yale homogeneously grouped communities. Such people are
and Harvard Divinity Schools, she is co-author of Defecting in Place, motivated by fear of prejudice and of being swayed from their
Women Claiming Responsibility for their own spiritual Lives. beliefs by neighbors with very different religious convictions.
Theresa Anne O'Keefe has been a Diocesan Consultant for Religious Stories of intolerance sometimes erupting into violence are
Education for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts quite common in the media. The presenters suggest that the
since 1990. She is involved in interfaith dialogue on the local level, and is establishment of interfaith dialogue groups in local
a member of the Women's Interfaith Institute's Board of Directors congregational and communal settings could help aliay prejudice and violence, and promote mutual understanding
3:00 PM-3:45 PM IN COMMERCE 3.60 and tolerance. Using the United States as an example, this presentation will illustrate the need for participation in
Islam, Muslims, and Religious Pluralism interreligious dialogue and how it should be conducted. Since these interfaith encounters are increasing in popularity and
Ms. Fatima Seedat frequency in the US, they need to be studied more closely and
Islarni's response/responses to the theological challenges of encouraged. Both of the presenters have studied and practiced
inter- and intra-religious pluralism. A critique of the role of dialogue and have been promoting it in communal and
Muslims in interfaith, both in South Africa and around the academic settings. They are interested in popularizing the work
world. of pluralist religion scholars so as to create a more peaceful and
Ms. Seedat Parliamentary officer of the South African Commission for tolerant local community.
Gender Equality. She studies Islamic thought and issues of women in
Islam Dr. Benjamin Hubbard chairs the Department of Comparative Religion at California State University Fullerton. He co authored America's Religions: An Educator's Guide to Beliefs and Practices (Libraries Unlimited, 1997) and is currently working on whose Religion is True? An Introduction to
3:00 PM–5:00 PM IN COMMERCE 1.33 Religious Diversity
New Perspective on Nonviolence: An Interfaith Dr. Maura O'Neil is professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Chaffey College, a two year community college in Southern California
Dialogue on Prayer and Meditation She has studied interrreligious dialogue titled Women Spcaking, Women Listening in 1990. She has contributed with articles on interreligious
Prof. Arthur Stein; Ms. Omie Baldwin; Br. Wayne dialogue to two collections: Pluralism and Oppression in 1988 and
Teasdale; Ms. Ernestina Thomas; Dr. Achahn Models and Criteria for Interreligious Dialogue in 1993. Her articles on
Phangcham; Robert V. Thompson; Prof. Andrew Vidich *Community" and "Celibacy appear in the recent Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions. She also has engaged in local community
When we become nonviolent ourselves, we have a profound dialogues for the past ten years.
effect on creating peace in the world. This interfaith dialogue will focus on ways to use our inner source of nonviolence and
peace, accessed through prayer and meditation, as 3:00 PM–3:45 PM IN COMMERCE 1.37
experienced within our individual faith traditions. Panelists will The Challenge of Fundamentalism: The End of
explore how becoming nonviolent human beings enables us to Modernity and the Future of Interreligious
become more effective peace builders in our families and Dialogue
communities, and draw upon their personal experiences. There
will be interactive participation between panelists and the Dr. Peter A. Huff
audience, and the session will end with a shared meditation Along with the rise of global interreligious dialogue,
Dr. Arthur Stein teaches Peace Studies and Comparative Religion at the fundamentalism has been one of the most significant religious
University of Rhode Island. He has written extensively in these areas,
including several books to his credit, and is a co-founder of the new developments of the twentieth century. At the end of the
Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode century, it energizes millions of people in their various religious
Island. He has been a student of meditation and other contemplative commitments and identities while serving as a radically
practices for many years. transforming force in all of the major religious traditions of the
Ms. Baldwin (Dine) is the Program Manager of University Services at the world. Yet fundamentalists are rarely represented in
University of Wisconsin. She is actively involved in education celebrations of interfaith encounter. At the end of modernity.
environmental and spiritual issues regarding Native Americans the future of interreligious dialogue hinges on its ability to find
Brother Wayne Teasdale is a Christian sannyası, or renunciate (lay monk) common ground with fundamentalists in all world traditions.
in the lineage of Father Bede Griffiths, O.S.B. Cam. He has a Ph.D. in
theology from Fordham University, and is an adjunct professor at DePaul Peter A. Huff (Ph.D., Saint Louis University) is Assistant Professor of
University, Columbia College and Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Historical Theology and Director of Catholic Studies at Saint Anselm
He serves on the board of directors of the Parliament of the World's USA). He is author of Allen Tate and the Catholic Revival: Trace
Religions, writes, lectures widely, including Common Ground in the of the Fugitive Gods (Paulist, 1996) and co-editor of Knowledge and
Chicago area, and gives occasional retreats. His new book is The Mystic Belief in America Enlightenment Traditions and Modern Religious
Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World's Religions. Thought (Cambridge, 1995). He is currently writing an introduction to
Ernestina Thomas is an entrepreneur, real estate developer, and lecturer. the academic study of fundamentalism.
She holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago. Ms. Thomas owns and runs ET International Consulting Group, a consulting, investment and real estate development company. which she started in 1982. She has been a practitioner of various types of
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