Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

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

Page 355

PROGRAM DET÷
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Sacred Activism: Cooperative Partnerships Advocating for Global Peace, Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals
James J Hurtak
Desiree Hurtak
Audrey Kitagawa
Roger Ross
Room 208
Panel Discussion
NGOs, parliamentarians, religious leaders, and community groups have key roles to play in carrying out the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Increasingly, governments and global institutions are recognising the importance of engaging communities of faith in the dissemination and implementation of MDG programs, and the delivery of needed services to remote populations. Expanding the level and variety of committed human resources and better managing their use is an urgent priority for social problem solving. With their broad outreach, communities of faith can be effective, positive agents of change. In the current global socioeconomic disarray and destabilisation, communities of faith must join hands to provide the inspired leadership that is needed to create just and equitable solutions to planetary crises. The decisions taken in the next decade by altruistic and compassionate leaders will determine how quickly the world can respond to the issues of survival faced by millions born into poverty and deprivation. This presentation will discuss how partnerships in and between faith communities and other stakeholders can create strategic alliances between compassionate service groups that will critically aid the achievement of the UN's MDGs.
James J Hurtak, PhD, is the founder and president of the Academy for Future Science. He has worked in the fields of education, science and spiritual philosophy, applying each to the task of cross-cultural understanding. He is the author of more than 12 books in 15 languages, including his most recent work, End of Suffering, and his films include 'The Voice of Africa: A Study of a Zulu Shaman' and 'The Light Body".. Desiree Hurtak is an author and activist for global consciousness and a sustainable future. Director of the Academy for Future Science, she works with Indigenous people in Africa and South America towards sustainable development solutions. Desiree has been involved in promoting solutions to our environmental crisis which include establishing cross-cultural dialogue on issues of science and religion.
Audrey Kitagawa is Co-Vice Chair of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, president of the Light of Awareness International Spiritual Family, adviser to the World Federation of United Nations Association and chair of the NGO Committee on Spirituality. Values and Global Concerns, New York. A member of the advisory council for the Toda Institute for Peace and Global Policy Research, she also co-facilitates the United Religions Initiative United Nations Cooperation Circle. Rabbi Roger Ross is the Executive Director of the New Seminary for Interfaith Studies, the Executive Director of the Rabbinical Seminary International, and the Treasurer of the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns, New York. He received his Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Philosophy from New York University, and his ordination as Interfaith Minister from The New Seminary. Rabbi Ross received Rabbinical Ordination from the Rabbinical Seminary International.
Interpreting the Text: Creationism, Intelligent Design and Evolution
9:30-11:00am INTRARELIGIOUS SESSION
Phil Batterham
Rabbi Shimon Cowen
John Buckeridge
Room 209
Panel Discussion
This year, the scientific world is celebrating 200 years since the birth of Charles Darwin and 150 years since the publication of 'On the Origin of Species. The theory of evolution through natural selection caught the religious world, Christian and Muslim, by surprise. It led to the development of creationism and intelligent design as alternative hypotheses based on literal interpretations of scripture. This panel of scientific and scriptural scholars will discuss the issues and the remaining challenges.
Phil Batterham is an Associate Dean in the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne. He is the executive of the International Genetics Federation and vice-president of the Genetics Society of AustratAsia. Phil is a member of the Ministerial Advisory Council for Science and Mathematics Education. He is a co-author of the VCE Biology text, Biology 2, and a regular speaker on science in both primary and secondary schools.
Rabbi Dr Shimon Cowen has a dual background in secular and religious studies. He received a PhD in social philosophy from Monash University, Melbourne and rabbinic ordination Is'michal both in the Kollel Menachem Lubavitch, Melbourne, of which he was Program Director, and from the Chief Rabbi of Haifa, Rabbi S Y Cohen. He founded the Institute for Judaism and Civilization in 1998, with the purpose of helping to bring together the two worlds of religious tradition and secular society in discussion and, ultimately, harmony.
John Buckeridge is the president of the International Society of Zoological Sciences. He also chairs the International Union of Biological Sciences Bioethics Committee and has worked as an advisor to the UNESCO Commission for Ethics in Science and Technology. John is based in Melbourne, Australia, where he holds a chair in Natural Resources Engineering at RMIT University. His current research interests involve ethics, sustainability engineering, marine biology and palaeobiology. He has published widely on environmental issues, ethics, natural systems and education.
The Future of Religion in Australia? Melbourne's Religious Leaders in Dialogue with Young People (Seminar 2) Archbishop Dr Philip Freier
Rabbi John Levi
Sheikh Isse A Musse
Mathew Crane Alana Bruce Azmeena Hussain Room 210 Seminar
This second of two parallel seminars, which will have the participation of the Parliament's senior and youth patrons, will discuss the future of religion in Australia and across the world. Recent decades have seen a very significant decline in mainstream Christianity together with a huge rise in those without a religion. In addition, new religious movements have emerged, adding to the diversity of Australia's multifaith society. This will be a discussion
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