 From the Editor…
As I understand it, Judaism does not give great weight to panaceas. There is no silver bullet, no single action or belief that enables you to achieve a good life. But what my religion does teach is that creating good systems—of action, belief, and communal life—enables communities to thrive.
I think there are lessons from this approach that can be applied to the inter-religious movement—and this newsletter. The first is that there is no single constituency. There are youth leaders and experienced clergy, politicians and business people, writers and educators, theists and humanists who are all essential to this movement. Their voices must be heard and amplified. For they—we—are all part of the movement and the network that has helped it grow.
The second is that communities rely on clear communication between their members. The inter-religious movement, in its continued growth, must allow for open communication, even when it leads to a plurality of views and even when those views do not align. A shared vision for a social movement can coalesce only when disagreements can be openly expressed and challenging topics directly engaged.
As the new editor of the Parliament of the World’s Religions’ newsletter and its Religious Leadership Fellow, I look forward to hearing and amplifying your views. As a young leader and future rabbi, I will look to those of other traditions, professions, and ages for contributions and insights. As a person invested in online publications and organizations—notably in my involvement founding the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue and State of Formation—I will seek out those who are invested in more traditional mediums of expression. As a person who tends towards boisterousness, I will work to quiet my own voice in order to ensure that the newsletter remains about us and the movement we continue to build.
The Parliament of the World’s Religions newsletter will now appear twice each month in order to keep you up to date on breaking stories and enriched by incisive articles from our colleagues and reflections on the personal journeys that people within our large and growing network of movement-builders have taken in order to become a part of it.
Our stories are different. But they intersect in this movement and will have a voice in this newsletter. Our newsletter.
Joshua Stanton,
Religious Leadership Fellow
Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions
Celebrating a Death
by Rev. Paul Raushenbush
It is a strange and conflicting emotion to celebrate a death. My professed beliefs include the redemption of evil and the potential good in all humanity. Yet I felt a sense of exhilaration when I read the headline ‘DEAD’ about Osama Bin Laden.
Read more…
My Take: Burial at sea shows compassion of Islamic law
By Imam Khalid Latif
I was sitting in a KFC in Brooklyn on Sunday night (halal for those who are worried) with two of my students when my phone started to buzz like crazy as friends, colleagues and family let me know that Osama bin Laden was dead.
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Lessons from My Journey
 by Helen Spector
CPWR Trustee
When Rev. Dr. David Ramage recruited me in 1990 to serve on the Board of Trustees leading up to the 1993 Parliament, I was not engaged in or much aware of the inter-religious movement.
My commitment to the Council’s work caught fire when I joined a group of Trustees to travel to Cape Town in 1998, to meet with our organizing counterparts and talk with leaders from all the faith communities who would support the Parliament in 1999 in Cape Town. From that visit and my work since, I have come to see clearly the power of the interfaith experience and the positive impact of Council’s community organizing approach.
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Greening Your Religious Community
 May 11, 2011
10:00am U.S. Central Time
Rev. Dr. Clare Butterfield
 Director, Faith in Place
This webinar will provide training in basic approaches to organizing your religious community to be more sustainable in its own practices and to promote sustainability in the homes of members and in the public square.
Latest from State of Formation
Voices of Emerging Leaders
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Paul Vargis
Ty
A Monk's Musings 