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  • My new Twitter handle is now live - check me out at @jackiewgibson!

  • CNN has posted a history of bias against Sikhs - more reason for people to learn about religions before they attack anyone:...

  • Sikh temple shooting unfolding, learn about Sikhism here: http://t.co/A0ltLLIm

  • Sikh temple shooting unfolding, learn about Sikhism here: http://t.co/l3KrAJZf

  • Hackers group Anonymous takes down Vatican website: http://t.co/B6lbGAVp

  • WGN-TV calls doomsday prophecies "an illusion": http://t.co/mv8Gzyw7

  • RT @graceishuman: Really,? Asking people JUST LEAVING the service how they felt about it? Tacky, tacky, inappropriate

  • Whitney Houston's funeral service really took the world to church. Love Pastor Winans' honesty, very moving.

  • #teacher ? Here are appropriate responses to situations with your Jehovah's Witness student: http://t.co/A6UfqcgH

  • #Teachers: Want to know why your Jehovah's Witness student won't say the pledge and how to respond? http://t.co/EIdlgDwW

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Politics & Religion

That’s right, the Parliament of the World’s Religions…transcends.

Today is day five of the seven-day Parliament of the World’s Religions, an event held every five years in a major international city. The current parliament is being held in Melbourne, Australia. It has brought together around 10,000 religious adherants and leaders from more than 80 countries to discuss religion, religious understanding, diversity, and more.

How did all this start?

The first Parliament of the World’s Religions was held in conjunction with the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. This parliament was the first of its kind to bring together leaders and followers from the world’s religions to talk peace. At that meeting, the Baha’i faith was mentioned for the first time in the United States – and Americans got a crash course in Hinduism from Swami Vivekananda.

Learn more about the first parliament and its speakers online.

What are they talking about?

At each parliament, members of various religions are called to understand and respect one another’s differences. The event also challenges them to work through conflicts, extremism, and diversity issues and fosters peace, understanding, and dialogue — and otherwise “transcending” the muck, if you will.

In particular, they consider everything from global poverty and global warming to artistic expression and education of the young. This year’s topics include:

• Healing the Earth with Care and Concern
• Reconciling with the Indigenous Peoples
• Overcoming Poverty in a Patriarchal World
• Creating Social Cohesion in Village and City
• Sharing Wisdom in Search for Inner Peace
• Securing Food and Water for All People
• Building Peace in Pursuit of Justice

There’s quite a diversity of responses at these forums. You’d kind of expect it from Australia, which is home to all five major world religions along with smaller faith movements like Baha’i and Sikhism and even Aboriginal spiritualities.

Want more?

View photos, videos, and news bits from the event.

Check out today’s list of events.

View tweets from the parliament.

Created by Religion Transcends, 2009

Can we be a pluralistic society when it comes to…the holiday stamp?

That’s what Tracy Simmons of USA Today wants to know.

Simmons recently published an article about the typical holiday stamp – the secular kind that include things like Santa, snowmen, etc.

Of course, Simmons notes that the U.S. Postal Service offers a Christmas stamp along with Hanukkah and Kwanzaa stamps. The government has also developed an Eid stamp (to celebrate Islam’s Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha holidays).

The Eid stamp controversy

Apparently a forward has been making its way around the Internet recently, claiming that the Eid stamp was developed after 9/11 and therefore celebrates Muslim terrorist attacks. The e-mail claims that the stamp is a threat to Americans.

The original e-mail can be traced to Mayor Johnny Piper of Clarksville, TN. What the mayor didn’t realize is that the stamp was actually developed by the Bush administration ten days prior to 9/11/01. Its intentions were the same as the Christmas and Hanukkah stamps — to give Americans a way to celebrate their religions, not to promote terrorism.

What about Buddha?

Simmons asks, should the government also develop a Buddhist stamp and a Hindu stamp? It probably comes down to supply and demand. If there is a demand for the stamps, the government will be more likely to develop those stamps that will sell. But in principle, a government that produces stamps for one religion ought to produce stamps for all religions – or leave religion out of postage altogether. What do you think?

Created by ReligionTranscends.com, 2009

See, religions CAN come together for good.

This week is Interfaith Service Week, part of US President Obama’s United We Serve Initiative. The service week is among 3,000 projects coming out of the initiative, which ask people of different religions to work together.

This week, groups from various religions are doing service work in their communities – together. Here is a great opportunity to show the world that caring for one another is something all religions stand for.

Do your part.

Visit www.serve.gov to register a project or find an opportunity to serve. Available opportunities include everything from collecting canned goods or gardening to tutoring and graphic design.

Are you participating in Interfaith Service Week? Why do you think interfaith projects are good/bad? Post your comments and experiences in the comments section below.

Created by ReligionTranscends.com, 2009

The New Encyclical

Last Tuesday, Catholic Pope Benedict XVI released his latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth).

An encyclical is a letter from the pope that usually addresses doctrine and takes a stance on some idea or ideas. Perhaps the most famous encyclical is Humanae Vitae (1968), in which Pope Paul VI wrote about abortion, contraception, and so on.

According to The Examiner, Caritas in Veritate builds on Pope Paul VI’s 1967 encyclical Populorum Progressio which discusses worldly progress and truth.  The new encyclical makes it clear that there is a black and white answer for everything – and there should not be any relativism when it comes to morals. It also mentions Humanae Vitae, upholding the “strong links between life ethics and social ethics.” He wrote that man cannot depend on social foundations alone – in other words, we cannot make our decisions based on the progress of the day. Decisions (whether we apply them to abortion, poverty, etc.) must be grounded in a respect for life and in morality. He wrote:

“When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man’s true good…By cultivating openness to life, wealthy peoples can better understand the needs of poor ones, they can avoid employing huge economic and intellectual resources to satisfy the selfish desires of their own citizens, and instead, they can promote virtuous action within the perspective of production that is morally sound and marked by solidarity, respecting the fundamental right to life of every people and every individual.”

Read the full encyclical on the Vatican website.

The Pope and Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama met with Catholic Pope Benedict XVI on Friday. Highlights of the meeting include the following:

–The pope gave Obama a copy of Dignitas Personae (2008), his encyclical that talks about the dignity of humans, including the unborn. The statement is pro-life and urges politicians to consider morals when making laws.

–Obama said he’d like to reduce the number of abortions in the U.S.

–CNN reports they likely discussed stem cell research.

–The two discussed the pope’s new encyclical (see above).

A Catholic Surgeon General

Today, Obama named Alabama rural family physician Regina Benjamin as the next U.S. Surgeon General.

According to LifeNews.com, Benjamin:

–is Catholic

–has urged future physicians to learn how to perform abortions

–is on the board of Physicians for Human Rights, which speaks out against illegal abortions

–received a distinguished service medal from the current pope and the National Caring Award from Mother Teresa

By selecting Benjamin, it appears Obama has chosen someone the pope approves of – yet someone who seems to support legal abortions. So has Obama really taken to heart the pope’s call to consider morals? What do you think?

Content created by ReligionTranscends.com