Archive for the 'peace' Category

The Washington Post and Newsweek have a joint weekly on-line feature called On Faith at which they pose the general question “in a time of extremism — for extremism is to the 21st century what totalitarianism was to the 20th — how can people engage in a conversation about faith and its implications in a way that sheds light rather than generates heat?” They say: “At The Washington Post and Newsweek, we believe the first step is conversation-intelligent, informed, eclectic, respectful conversation-among specialists and generalists who devote a good part of their lives to understanding and delineating religion’s influence on the life of the world.” On Faith provides a such a forum. It has twelve regular panelist from a range of religious traditions. There are sometimes guest panelists as well, and there is always the opportunity for readers to comment.

Recently, it posed the question “International scientists have raised a new alarm about the dangers of global warming. Should care for the environment be a major priority for people of faith? Why or why not?” and here are the responses of the panel members.

You can browse the archives and set up an RSS feed so that you are alerted to new topics as they are posted.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Earth Project is collating information to do
with our care of the earth. This page, JPC - Ecumenical Earth, links to the Climate Change section, but in a sidebar and at the top of the page are links to resources on

• water
• biotechnology
• economic globalization & ecology
• caring for life
• bibliography on creation concerns

This is what they say in the introduction to the climate change page:

The World Council of Churches has been working on climate change ever since 1990. when climate change was identified by the scientific community as one of the most threatening social and ecological issues of our times, affecting Creation as a whole.

At the UN Rio Earth Summit in 1992, a WCC working group on climate change was formed with participation of representatives from each region. This group has been the facilitator of the WCC’s climate change programme ever since.

In the ecumenical understanding, human-induced climate change is being precipitated primarily by the high consumption lifestyles of the richer industrialized nations and wealthy elites throughout the world while the consequences will be experienced disproportionately by impoverished nations, low-lying island states, and future generations. Climate change is thus a matter of international and inter-generational justice.

Despite the achievements of the international negotiation process (the Kyoto Protocol), we confront a situation where the process must prove its viability or face collapse. That is why the work on climate change continues to be of the utmost importance.

The latest edition of Solidarity, Sustainability, and Non-Violence ~ V3 N2 February 2007, edited by Luiz Gutierrez, is now available on line. The theme of this issue is Revisiting the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, with focus on MGD2: Universal Primary Education.

Gutierrez is a long-time member of the movement for gender equality in the Catholic church, so most editions of this newsletter contain something that relates to this.

This issue includes:

• Analysis of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals
• o Focus on Goal 2: Universal Primary Education
• Review of UNICEF’s “State of the World’s Children 2007″
• Web site review of “Facing the Future” (K-K16 educational materials)
• Knowledge organization model for our growing links directory
• Another view of the prayer-study-action model of human development
• Reflection on approaching the 40th anniversary of “Humanae vitae”
• Brief meditation (poem) on tolerance by John T. Baker

See also the “invited article” by John Wijngaards “Will women ever govern the Roman Catholic Church?”

The presentation of this  newsletter isn’t particularly reader-friendly, but the information is often interesting.

Women in Black is an international peace movement. It began in Israel in the late 1980s in response to the awareness of some Israeli citizens of the suffering of Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. If you are interested in the history of the movement, visit Gila Svirsky’s website where you can also find much other information about the peace movement in Israel. Women in Black now work for peace wherever there is war.

Women in Black Armidale conducts peace vigils on the last Saturday in each month from 10.30am to 11am outside the Armidale Courthouse. We stand outside the Courthouse for half an hour, preferably wearing black, in silence, in a circle. It has a powerful effect both on passers by and the participants. A sign reads: “Women In Black: Violence Begets Violence”.  This Saturday, 27 January, is the next vigil.

You are welcome to drop by for a few minutes or stay for the half hour. Those who are available often have coffee afterwards. Contact Judy for further information.