Peace & Community

The need for real dialog, candid debate, and mutual respect among various faith traditions is central to bridging the widening gap between religions at home and aboard. The claim that peace sits at the center of the Abrahamic faiths begins by "walking together" in the quest for justice. For five years, a group of faithful folks have walked together in Philadelphia, PA. On May 18th, they will continue to make the road of hope, peace and justice by walking to a Christian Church, Unitarian gathering place, a mosque, and synagogue. Please join them. For more information go to: www.interfaithpeacewalk.org

The following update was just received Susan Mark Landis, a member of our Iran peace delegation.

"But our countries are enemies!" a man I met in the aisle of the plane said to me. I explained friendship, citizenship, grassroots diplomacy. He agreed--it is not the people who are enemies, it is the government. I added that I hope I have the chance to help people in the United States learn more about the people of Iran, and then these people will work for peace between our countries. "It is very good," he said.

The woman across the aisle said, "Iran is very beautiful, not like the news tells you. You will have a wonderful time."

As the wheels of the plane emerged, the announcement came, "Law in the Republic of Iran is for women to wear headscarves. For your safety we suggest you put on your headscarf now."

U.S. Civilian Diplomacy Delegation Departs for Iran;
Woman Rabbi Makes Historic Visit for Peace
April 28, 2008 -- For Immediate Release

In the wake of comments on April 21st by U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, who responded to a question of a theoretical future attack by Iran on Israel by saying, “I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran,” a 21-person interfaith peace delegation to Iran will depart New York on Tuesday, April 29, 2008. The two-week delegation is organized by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), the oldest and largest interfaith peace organization in the United States, and is FOR’s seventh fact-finding and friendship delegation to Iran.

March 17th is celebrated as a holiday in many U.S. communities, and as the descendant of Irish immigrants -- and having been named after an ancestor who was a renowned Irish-American patriot during the Revolutionary War, Ethan Allen -- normally I'd like to feel a measure of pride in our nation.

Tomorrow begins two days of events related to the Interfaith Peace Witness in Washington, DC, organized by the new national coalition of religious groups working to end the war in Iraq. I will be heading to DC to meet with dozens of faith community leaders tomorrow evening (facilitated by the Fellowship of Reconciliation), and will then participate with hundreds of others in a major religious gathering on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., to be held outdoors in Upper Senate Park.

Kudos to our friend Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center for spearheading an interfaith effort to confront presidential candidates and the nation with a powerful message of peace.

During the past few weeks, we have witnessed a powerful period of fasting. The holy Muslim month of Ramadan came to a close this weekend, and it embraced the Jewish period of Yom Kippur as well as last week's Interfaith Fast to End the War in Iraq. I was privileged to host a breaking of the fast gathering in my home last Monday as part of the Interfaith Fast, and that evening, I learned from a Roman Catholic nun named Sister Clare about another justice-centered fast that has been taking place.