Lifted hands, open hearts

Baltimore Sun
January 21, 2008

by Matthew Dolan, Sun Reporter

If any member of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation at first appeared to be subdued during the joint service with First Mount Olive Free Will Baptist Church, Senior Rabbi Rex D. Perlmeter offered an explanation.

"You lift your hands in prayer, and by tradition we have sat on our hands in worship," Perlmeter said of his Reform congregation's custom of relatively reserved services.

But the stillness was short-lived yesterday as both the Baptist and Jewish congregations in Baltimore took to their feet with cheers praising God at the sprawling Park Heights Avenue temple. They united for more than two hours in a song-filled, tear-soaked, dancing-in-the-aisles service for the first time this weekend to celebrate the birth of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

In recent years, local Reform synagogues and African-American churches have held joint activities around the holiday for the slain civil rights leader in an effort to foster understanding between African-Americans and Jews, two communities that have had somewhat strained relations in the past.

Read the full article.

Favorite Films of 2007 - Part 1

For today's Monday Media Review we have elected to share with you Stephen Simon's (Spiritual Cinema Circle) personal favorite films of 2007. Many of you already know that we are HUGE fans of the Spiritual Cinema Circle and of Stephen Simon, so it should come as no surprise that we place value on his opinions. Below are the first two of his 2007 selections and, in Mr. Simon's words, his reasons for these choices. We will present the his additional selections next week.

REIGN OVER ME

With bravura performances from both Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle, the film is a beautiful paean to the powers of love, friendship, and, most importantly, healing. Sandler, in particular, is brilliant beyond words. Unfortunately, like Jim Carrey in ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND in 2004 and Will Ferrell in STRANGER THAN FICTION in 2006, Sandler is seen as, and I’m afraid somewhat resented for, being a successful broad comedian, and his incredible performance has been unjustly ignored.

ENCHANTED

What a delightful, whimsical, and hilarious film! Putting some of Disney’s classic fairy tale characters into a modern day context works so well that my whole family just sat there smiling, laughing, and applauding throughout the film. Amy Adams’ fairy tale princess, separated from her prince and sent to modern day New York by an evil queen, is so pitch perfect that we were repeating her lines for days.

Toledo Blade Features Common Tables

The Toledo Blade, Toledo, OH, featured Common Tables in a nice article in this morning's edition. David Yost, Religion Reporter, said in part:

"In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Dave Corby's first reaction was 'to be mad at them - which in my mind was Muslims.'

"After thinking it over, however, he came to the conclusion that 'it was pretty stupid of me because I didn't know any Muslims.'

"That realization was among several factors that inspired Mr. Corby to start Common Tables, a nonprofit, nondenominational group based in Denver, Colo. Its mission is to bring people of different religious traditions together to share meals in relaxed settings, usually someone's home, in order to build better relationships and help diverse groups live in harmony.

"The organization was founded last April, went online in May, and has had more than 300 people enrolled so far. Its ambitious goal, however, is to enlist 3 million participants worldwide within a year."

See the complete article by clicking here: Toledo Blade

"Promoting Dialogue," a Commentary by Interfaith Montgomery (Alabama)

Jan 18, 2008
Montgomery Advertiser

"With the appearance of this column, Interfaith Montgomery and the Montgomery Advertiser introduce a new monthly column dedicated to the increasingly diverse religious communities in our city and surrounding areas. This initial column was written by Rev. Robert Graetz and Rev. Paul Britner, co-conveners of Interfaith Montgomery; Rev. Andrew Dawkins, treasurer; and Rev. Dr. Susan Diamond, secretary.

"The religious spectrum in Montgomery today includes not only the full range of Christian traditions familiar to most people, but also smaller, yet vibrant communities of Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'is, Muslims, and Jews, among others. This diversity is not new, just more prominent.

"The first Jewish community was organized here more than 100 years ago, and Muslims have worshiped at the Masjid Quasim Bilal El-Amin since 1984. Unitarian Universalism, which has roots in the Christian tradition and which today is an open, diverse, non-creedal faith, has been in Montgomery since the 1950s.

"Of course, the Christian community hardly speaks with one voice. Our community has Greek and Roman Catholics, and there are many variations of Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists and Lutherans, to name just a few of the Protestant traditions in Montgomery. Thus, Christians should not presume to speak for each other any more than they would for faith groups outside the Christian tradition."

Read the Full Article

Our Blogging Policies

We suppose this is as good a time as any to let the reader know what our policies are. In general, those involved in interfaith activities are independent sorts who don’t like a lot of rules. With that in mind, we have set policies in only a couple of areas:

First are policies concerning our posts:

We will always strive to be truthful and accurate. When we make a mistake of a material nature, we will correct it as soon as we can.

Any necessary corrections or updates will be made in such a way as to not materially impact the substance of our original blog posting.

Mistakes of a non-material nature will not be edited. In other words, we will leave our mistakes visible unless they cause harm.

When we feel it is appropriate, we will link to other websites and blogs; however, we are not endorsing or responsible for the opinions and content of those sites.

Finally, we will post only those items we feel will be of interest to readers with an active involvement in interfaith activities.

And then there are policies impacting reader participation:

You may post comments to this blog.

Our intent is to encourage active and lively participation in this blog. With that goal in mind, we will enforce only a limited number of rules and guidelines:

Your comments will not be moderated before they are made visible.

Your comments will not be edited.

We will not delete criticism of the Common Tables model for interfaith dialogue nor will we delete criticism of our opinions.

We will delete comments determined by us to be proselytizing.

We will delete those posts which criticize or find fault with the beliefs of others.

We will delete comments which contain obscenities, which are believed by us to be spam, and those which don’t contribute to the purposes of this blog.

Statement of Purpose

This blog is established to provide a source of timely information to those with an interest in interfaith dialogue. Most are lead to this site specifically because of their involvement in the Common Tables interfaith initiative; however, visitors with even a casual interest in improving global harmony will find much to occupy them here.

An open heart and a spirit of curiosity are the only requirements for participation in this community. Most have been guided to this site from the Common Tables website (http://www.commontables.org/). While membership in the Common Tables family is not a prerequisite to participation in this community, our members consistently tell us they find their Common Tables experience to be one of the most rewarding activities they have ever been involved with. More information is available on our website.

We welcome your comments and input.

Many thanks for your presence!

Dave, Kay, Randy and Sandy
Founders, Common Tables

Vatican, Muslims Plan 'Historic' Meeting (Vatican City, International)

Jan 2, 2008

by NICOLE WINFIELD
The News & Observer/AP

Catholic and Muslim representatives plan to meet in Rome in the spring to start a "historic" dialogue between the faiths after relations were soured by Pope Benedict XVI's 2006 comments about Islam and holy war, Vatican officials said. Benedict proposed the encounter as part of his official response to an open letter sent to him and other Christian leaders in October by 138 Muslim scholars from around the world. The letter urged Christians and Muslims to develop their common ground of belief in one God.

Three representatives of the Muslim scholars will come to Rome in February or March to prepare for the meeting, the head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano this weekend.

Read the full story

A Busy Week for International Visitors!!

This past week was a HUGE one for visitors to the Common Tables website . . . and one that set new records for us in global outreach as we had first-time visitors from organizations and/or individuals from 14 new countries!

New countries on the site this week included: Nigeria, Dominican Republic, Montenegro, Taiwan, Poland, South Africa, Costa Rica, Croatia, Norway, Greece, Barbados, Estonia, Jordan and Denmark!

We have now seen a total of 73 different countries on the Common Tables website.

Embracing the New Year

We received this from a Common Tables member in Paksitan early in the morning on New Years Eve Day:

"My dear friends, Salaam alaykum! As this year draws to a close - some might say ignominiously so for us here in Pakistan - I wanted to reach out and share with you in the spirit of heartfelt brotherhood a prayer for a more peaceful 2008; for greater understanding, tolerance, compassion and firmness in the face of blind destructive forces; for more sweetness of inhabiting the life-suckling waters of inner stillness; for more joy in seeing and tasting that though we are indeed in this world, our essential substance is other-worldly - glorious, luminous and eternal."

U.S. Jews and Muslims Seek Paths to Harmony

Dec 24, 2007

by Michael Conlon
Reuters

Muslims and Jews, a tiny slice of the U.S. population, are looking for new ways to get along that could set a worldwide example for two ancient but often alienated faiths, religious leaders and experts say.

"I've encountered (among Muslims) a more centrist, a more moderate voice that is looking to the Jewish community to help project that voice ... to the greater world," said Rabbi Marc Schneier of New York, speaking of a national summit of imams and rabbis he helped organize earlier this year.

He also cited a recent incident in a New York subway "where four young Jews were being verbally and physically assaulted on a train for wishing the passengers a happy Hanukkah, and the only individual to come to their rescue was a young Muslim man," Hassan Askari, of Bangladeshi heritage, who was beaten.

"That is a very, very powerful example" of what can happen. The challenge is to try to strengthen Jewish-Muslim cooperation and have it serve as a paradigm for communities around the world," added Schneier, who founded the New York Synagogue in Manhattan and also the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.

Read the full story

More From The Pew Research Center

Released by the Pew Research Center, September 25, 2007:

(This from a nationwide survey of 3,002 adults, August 1-18 of this year.)

• 51% stated that they know very little, or nothing, about Mormons
• 62% stated that the Mormon religion is very different from their own
• 53% have a favorable opinion of Mormons, but that is much less than the 76% favorable rating for Jews and Catholics
• The most common one-word impressions of Mormonism was “polygamy, bigamy, cult” despite the fact that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints banned polygamy almost a century ago

and it isn't just the Muslims and the Mormons who are misunderstood:

• Only 38% (overall) believe that the Pope has done a good job promoting relations with other religions

The Bottom Line:

Although the acceptance rate among Protestants, Catholics and Jews has improved slightly in the U.S., the acceptance of adherents of non-traditional U. S. theologies is generally poor and is frequently based on incorrect understandings of their belief systems and scriptures.

Prayers for Pakistan

As the assassination of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto continues to send shockwaves around the world, we ask that all who read this entry hold the people of Pakistan in their thoughts and prayers. The destabilization of the situation in Pakistan, and the danger that this instability will expand throughout the region, is a concern to us all.

On a personal note, we pass on this email which we received on Thursday night from a Common Tables member in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan (due to the instability in Pakistan we are not releasing the member's name):

To all at Common Tables,

Thank you for the message and prayers. Last night we were in Karachi and heard the news at the office. Members of the family had gone to attend a friend's mother's funeral service, which ended rather abruptly when someone got an sms (from Dubai) about the news...and there was a hasty exit of 70 or so women who had gathered. (This was a ladies only gathering) And my wife and a colleague were in the car and they saw the rising mayhem in the City centre...and while we in the office were worried about them (she was to pick me on the way home) the mobile phones went off the air...which created even more stress... but sms worked...and they arrived at the office where on the TV we watched the unfolding chaos and sadness in the madness.... and then the news and the sheer awfulness of it hit home... all this was 7 pm (local time) ...we stayed till 9 pm when we got word that the roads have eased (a little) and the time to take a quick decision, and a quicker dash home had come...so at 9 :45 pm we decided to do so...and on the way we saw:...burnt cars, trucks, tires, cabs, broken bill boards, and many cars which had been abandoned on the road because they ran out of gas ...and many many stones and broken pieces of glass... but without any incident, or threat of harm, we reached home at 10.35 pm...and heaved a sigh of relief.

My driver lived in an area where he had to just walk to...and sadly he reached home at 2 am. But he was safe and called at that time to say so (as he had been told to do).

The city is quiet today...everyone is watching the Bhutto funeral arrangements on TV. All shops are closed. There is some panic buying of foodstuffs but otherwise, we expect things to creep back to some sort of order in the next few days.

Many many people stayed the night at their offices. or factories, as there was no way any transport could make them reach their homes.But most people are calm...there was no honking or hooting of horns on the entire journey last night... despite the traffic jams of over four hours.

This might give you a view from the ground. For what it is worth.

Thank you for the message...and giving me this opportunity to write all this.

Friday's Food for Thought

Benazir Bhutto (1953–2007) was a "brave woman" and a "warrior without borders for peace," Israeli President Shimon Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said Thursday.

Appropriately, we have selected a couple of quotes from Benazir Bhutto for this week's "Friday's Food for Thought":

"You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea. You can kill a man, but not an idea."

"Every dictator uses religion as a prop to keep himself in power."

Boston Police and Sikh American Community Achieve Landmark Partnership

Common Tables salutes the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Boston Police Department for their efforts to create cross-cultural awareness on Sikh religious practices . . . an outstanding example of the type of training that can prevent cultural misunderstandings.

This article is from:

Washington, D.C. - December 11, 2007: The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest and largest Sikh American civil rights organization, concluded a highly successful year-long campaign to train the entire Boston Police Department (BPD) on Sikh religious practices. The over 3,000 BPD officers join the 95,000 trained by SALDEF across the nation.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis remarked: "This program has provided officers a tremendous opportunity to broaden their knowledge of the cultural and historical factors impacting the Sikh community. The city of Boston is a melting pot of diversity. Therefore, it is critical that our officers are exposed to a curriculum that includes cross-cultural awareness that strengthens community relations and prevents cultural misunderstandings."

Beginning in January 2007, SALDEF New England Director Navjeet Singh and a group of dedicated community activists and volunteers have been training law enforcement officers every week to increase cultural awareness of the Sikh American community and develop an ongoing partnership between law enforcement and the community.

"It’s important that police leaders in our community are aware of and have an understanding of the diversity in the City of Boston," said Mr. Singh. "The completion of this training is a first step in working more with our fellow Americans to ensure they understand who we are and what we believe."

The training is part of SALDEF’s Law Enforcement Partnership Program which has trained over 95,000 law enforcement officers over the past eight years. In 2007 alone, SALDEF training efforts have already reached over 14,000 law enforcement officers in cities across the nation including Washington, DC; Columbia, MO; Des Moines, IA; Greensboro, NC; Charlestown, WV; Portland, OR; and Pittsburgh, PA. Additionally, all 43,000 Transportation Security Officers in the United States will view On Common Ground by year's end as part of their mandated training.

SALDEF would like to thank the U.S. Department of Justice and acknowledge the Boston volunteers: Satnam Singh, Sarbjit Singh Thiara, Kanwaldeep Singh Arneja, Jaswant Singh Chani, KaviRaj Singh, and Achint Kaur, for their dedication to ensure this training endeavor was carried out to its successful conclusion.

If you would like to conduct a similar training in your area, please contact SALDEF at training@saldef.org or (202) 393-2700.

In God's Name

Monday's Media Review

In God's Name: A Two Hour, Prime Time CBS Special

As we summarize our thoughts following last night’s CBS prime time special “In God’s Name”, the first thing that comes to mind is the need to give a big round of applause to CBS and the Naudets. It isn’t often that we find such spiritual questing in network prime time. At a minimum, they deserve praise for tackling a big idea.

The project represented, in one sense, a bet that there is enough spiritual hunger in America to make the numbers work for CBS. Here at Common Tables we are hoping that proved to be the case – that “In God’s Name” did at least as well in the ratings as the normal cheesy holiday fluff which dominates programming this time of year.

Given the scope of the project, we feel the Naudets did an admirable job of creating a beautiful portrait showcasing a dozen human variations of this thing we call faith. The program flowed well and did a good job of presenting images and ideas which have the potential to awaken the viewer to new possibilities.

Some random observations about the program:

First, the scope of the project really requires more air time. It is a noble effort, but we hope the ratings are strong enough to justify a future miniseries.

Second, it was fascinating to see how, even through the veil of translation, each of the leaders exudes their own kind of charisma – from the Dalai Lama's playful smile to the Archbishop of Canterbury's thoughts on morality.

Finally, the efforts to openly discuss religion in the context of intolerance, terrorism and violence, while of necessity a bit superficial, represent a “good start”. We have seen the issues presented from the perspective of self-styled religious extremists ad nauseam. Let us all hope for future programming which expands these topics from the broader point of view of the religious mainstream.

“The idea is to show the things that unite us, rather than divide us, and to give a sense of progression through the day — and through the questions we ask," said 34-year-old Jules Naudet. Given the time restraints of a two hour special, it seems to us that “In God’s Name” did an admirable job of doing exactly that.

We are interested in hearing your feedback – your thoughts about this groundbreaking, prime time special.

From The Pew Research Center

Released by the Pew Research Center, September 25, 2007:

(This from a nationwide survey of 3,002 adults, August 1-18 of this year.)

• 58% stated that they know very little, or nothing, about Muslims
• 70% stated that the Muslim's religion was very different from their own
• 53% had a favorable opinion of Muslim Americans but only 43% had a favorable opinion of Muslims in general, and that is down from 47% in March of 2002
• The most common one-word impressions of Islam was “fanatic, radical, terror”

In our activities within the interfaith community, we have found Muslims to be a warm, loving, heart-centered people; however, this study tells us that few Americans have had an opportunity to get to know people of the Islamic faith.

And that is what we at Common Tables are all about - breaking bread with and getting to know people from communities which feel disconnected from our own.

The Muslim American Society

It came to our attention yesterday that the Muslim American Society has a link to the Common Tables Blog on their site! We can't begin to tell you how much excitement that caused around here!!

We have a number of Muslims who we personally value as special friends. Of perhaps greater importance is that, based on our responses and feedback over the past several months, there are literally millions of Americans - and millions more globally - who would like to dialogue at a grass-roots level with members of the Muslim community.

Remember: As a global family the problem isn't that we can't get along, it's that we often just don't!

Hindu Prayer to Open New Mexico Senate

Newswire Services
December 17, 2007

Santa Fe - New Mexico State Senate of USA will have its first Hindu prayer containing Sanskrit mantras on January 28.

Rajan Zed, a prominent Hindu chaplain, will read the historic opening prayer from ancient Hindu scriptures before New Mexico Senate in Santa Fe on this day. After first delivering in Sanskrit, he will then read the English translation of the prayer.

According to reports, no Hindu has delivered opening prayer in New Mexico State Senate since its formation. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of all Indo-European languages.

Rajan Zed will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, dated from around 1,500 BCE, besides lines from Upanisads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start and end the prayer with "OM", the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanisad, Rajan Zed plans to say "Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya", which roughly translates as "Lead us from the unreal to the Real, from darkness to Light, and from death to Immortality."

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has no datable beginning but some scholars put it around 3,000 BCE. It has no founder, no one authoritative figure, and no single prophet or holy book. One of its scriptures, Mahabharata, is the longest poem ever written, comprising over 100,000 couplets. Hinduism in North America was introduced in 1830s with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau studying Hindu scriptures like Upanisads and Bhagavad-Gita. Vivekananda made a strong impression at World's Parliament of Religion in Chicago in 1893 and he then founded Vedanta Society. Protap Chunder Mozoomdar of Brahmo Samaj delivered his first American address on September 02, 1883 in Concord, Massachusetts.

New Mexico State Senate is composed of 42 members, with each district having a population of about 43,300. New Mexico, which has the lowest water-to-land ratio in USA, was the home of first atomic bomb. Native Americans have been living in New Mexico for about 20, 000 years and it has the oldest public building of America, The Palace of Governors in Santa Fe, built in 1610.

IN GOD's NAME - A MAJOR TELEVISION EVENT

This release from CBS Entertainment:

"IN GOD' S NAME," A MAJOR TELEVISION EVENT ADDRESSING SOME OF THE MOST CHALLENGING AND PROFOUND QUESTIONS OF OUR TIME, WILL BE BROADCAST SUNDAY, DEC. 23 ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

PRIMETIME SPECIAL INCLUDES EXTRAORDINARY FOOTAGE OF 12 OF THE WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS, ALL FEATURED IN A SINGLE BROADCAST FOR THE FIRST TIME

FILMMAKERS JULES AND GEDEON NAUDET RETURN TO THE NETWORK WITH THEIR FIRST PROJECT SINCE THE MULTIPLE AWARD-WINNING FILM "9/11"

IN GOD'S NAME, a CBS primetime special produced in association with the acclaimed French filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet, will explore the complex questions of our time through the intimate thoughts and beliefs of 12 of the world's most influential spiritual leaders. These diverse and powerful voices offer provocative, compelling and enlightening perspective on myriad issues in our post-9/11 world, including the rise of terrorism, fanaticism, intolerance and war. The two-hour special will be broadcast Sunday, Dec. 23 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

On the day of the terrorist attacks in September 2001, Jules and Gedeon Naudet were caught in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Jules was shooting inside when the South Tower fell. "On Sept. 11, we faced death and thought we had lost each other," said Jules Naudet. "This harrowing experience was the first step in a journey that would take us around the world searching for answers to the meaning of life."

The brothers' quest took them to Egypt, England, India, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Russia and the Vatican, as well as Illinois and South Carolina.

"We chose these 12 leaders because of the vast number of believers - more than four billion - that their faiths represent," said Gedeon Naudet. "We also wanted to explore the diversity of spirituality in our world today."

The program marks the first time that this distinct group of leaders has appeared in one broadcast. These spiritual beacons speak out about violence and hatred and reveal their own thoughts about faith, peace, unity, tolerance and hope. Viewers will see them in intimate settings, including their homes and personal places of worship. Ultimately, through the eyes of these 12 very different religious figures, the filmmakers discover the common ground among believers around the world.

The 12 leaders featured in this special, in alphabetical order, are:

o Alexy II, Patriarch of Moscow and head of the Russian Orthodox Church
o Amma (Sri Mata Amritanandamayi), a Hindu spiritual leader
o Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church
o The Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists
o Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent Shiite Muslim leader
o Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran World Federation
o Michihisa Kitashirakawa, Jingu Daiguji (High Priest) of the Shinto Grand Ise Shrine
o Yona Metzger, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel
o Dr. Frank Page, President of the Southern Baptist Convention
o Imam Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar and a prominent Sunni Muslim leader
o Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar Sri Akal Takht, the Sikhs' highest authority
o Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England

IN GOD'S NAME is produced by filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet and CBS News' Susan Zirinsky, who last collaborated as the executive producers of the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning film "9/11" for the Network. Mark Koops of Reveille, which represents the Naudets, serves as an executive producer. Also for CBS News, Nancy Kramer and Peter Schweitzer are the senior producers on the project, Mead Stone, Mike Vele and Basil Pappas are the producer-editors, Susan Mallie is the producer and Sarah Prior is the associate producer.

Dalai Lama in Amritsar Joins Religious Heads to Promote Love

Written by Harjot Singh
World Sikh News
Sunday, December 02, 2007

The Dalai Lama gave a keynote address at Guru Nanak Dev University on Wednesday morning (India time) on how can religions share their wisdom. "Our planet is in desperate need for love, forgiveness and inter-religious harmony. This meeting of leaders and scholars from around the world will explore how the wisdom of our traditions can help achieve these things."

Dr Alan Goshen-Gottstein, founder and Executive Director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute said, "this meeting of the most senior religious leaders in the world takes places at a crucial time in our history. While technologies advances have brought wonderful opportunities, we still see insecurities, violence and hatred. The answer to our most pressing problems do not lie in technology and the material realm alone."

click here to read the full article