EME Region Conference 2012, Netherlands
IARF Europe and Middle East (EME) Conference held at the Mennorode Conference Centre, Elspeet, the Netherlands on 19-22 July 2012
– Dorle Gehrmann
THE CHAPEL AT MENNORODE
by Richard Boeke, UK
The worshippers face a wall
Which is a window
From floor to ceiling
Looking out to the garden
Of small pebbles..
To the left of centre
In the sea of pebbles
Is a wooden sculpture
Like the stump of a tree
With a tiny bubbling fountain.
The theme was Liberal Religion on ‘hold’, ‘play’, or ‘fast forward’? with a focus on leadership.
Some 70 plus people of 12 nationalities from 10 different countries, affiliated to 18 different groups, took part in what was a highly successful international gathering, hosted by our Dutch Chapter (NLG) and offering a mix of lectures, workshops, devotions, and social events.
At the bottom of the post you can see a slideshow of selected photos, here a Photo set (on Flickr) from the event, and here read a full Report (PDF, 6 pages illustrated; 3.5mb).
This is one of the reactions we received as follow-up. For Libref. – the Swiss Liberal Reformed Association – the following points were important:
- Our communication with IARF is more direct and personal now due to the very well- organized meeting.
- IARF has now gained the nature of a community for us. We feel well that IARF has and is a body.
- We are informed in the matters of positive and negative liberty, risks, and splits. We learnt the human being is a kind of “split” (Martin Heidegger), that presence is an attitude of attendance.
- We are informed in procedures of human rights (the Council in UN Geneva) by Morse Flores
- We will discuss further on the role of libref. and IARF as one of leadership in public opinion.
- The excursion to Schokland showed that nature has a fragile balance, that manipulations of procedures needs enormous efforts. We saw very directly that water is chance and risk as much in the Mountains (sources of fresh water and torrents) as in Nether-Lands. Learning from nature might signify that liberty is a voluntary enlightenment by nature?
- The new internet platform of IARF reminds us that worldwide the first religious freedom as a (personal) right was articulated in 1524/-26 in a constitution which is vigorous still today in Ilanz, Switzerland (source of the Rhine as an important European storm). This religious freedom was the outcome of a conference between a protestant reformer called Comander, the bishop of Chur and the political authority of the ‘Freistaat der Drei Bünde’.
- We are looking forward to working with IARF and its members in the future.
We thank the organizing team of IARF for all their efforts.
– Jean-Claude Cantieni, Andreas Peter – libref. Switzerland
Selected photos from the event:
Derek McAuley meets David Cameron
News from UK member group
Shortly after attending our EME region’s 2012 conference (19-22 July) in the Netherlands, Derek McAuley – Chief Officer of IARF member group the GAUFCC (UK Unitarians) – had a chance to raise current LGBT issues with the British prime minister at a Downing St. reception on 24 July.
…and more detail on campaigning for equal marriage, from Derek’s blog
London Conference on plight of Sabian Mandaeans of Iraq
26th April 2012
House of Lords, London
IARF was contacted on 20 March 2012 by Dr Layla Alroomi, the spokesperson of the Mandaean Human Rights Group (MHRG), with a request to attend a conference regarding:
The plight of the Sabian Mandaeans of Iraq as a Religious, Ethnic and Linguistic minority …getting more serious. Since 2003 this small community has been exposed to a hate campaign by extremists. These continued acts of violence have forced 85% of these indigenous people of Iraqto leave mainly to neighbouring countries. Moreover due to the recent critical developments in Syria, the situation of the Mandaean refugees is getting very worrying with regard to their safety and survival.
Pejman Khojasteh from our British Chapter represented IARF at this conference, giving a presentation on the assistance that IARF can provide in terms of our consultative status with the UN’s ECOSOC.
- Report on 2012 Conference on Sabian Mandaeans (PDF, 2 pages)
- Mandaeans tell their stories (8-minute video)
- Mandaean human rights in Iraq (website of Mandaean Associations Union)
- Mandaean Human Rights Group (MHRG) Annual Report 2011 (PDF, 58 pages)
EME 2012 conference – forms
EME region conference 2012 – Trifold flyer (PDF, 2 pages)
EME region conference 2012 – Updated Programme Information (4 July) (PDF, 2 pages)
EME region conference 2012 – Registration Form (PDF, 1 page)
British Chapter AGM 2012
British IARF AGM 2012 (PDF, 1 page)
Council member addresses Bektashi Sufi symposium, Albania
Council member & Chair of our Europe & Middle East region, Rev. Drs. Wytske Dijkstra, was invited to attend & address on behalf of IARF a symposium of the Bektashi Sufi Order in Tirana, Albania, in commemoration of their late leader Haji Reshat Bardhi Dedebaba (1935–2011).
The audience included the Prime Minister of Albania and other government ministers, civil servants, and representatives of religious denominations from several countries, also Babas and Dervishes of the Bektashi community.
Rev. Drs. Dijkstra spoke on the memory of Dede Reshad Bardi, religious freedom, human rights, and the guiding principles of IARF.
Dr. Dhalla in Munich, 2011
“Bound to Live Together: Faiths & Cultures in Dialogue”, Munich, Sept 11-13, 2011
IARF’s Dr. Dhalla lights the Lamp of Peace on behalf of the Zoroastrian community worldwide
On 11 September 2011, a commemoration ceremony was held in the open for the victims who perished in the tragedy of 9/11 in New York. This was held in Marshallplatz in the afternoon in the presence of His Excellency, Christian Wulff, President of the Federal Republic of Germany. IARF’s Dr. Homi Dhalla was invited as sole Zoroastrian representative, with religious leaders from various parts of the world representing various traditions participating. Besides this, there were prominent political personalities and a few Heads of State. Images of 9/11 were projected on a large screen and brief condolence messages were exchanged with New York. This was followed by the opening ceremony where the initial speech was delivered by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany. On this occasion, thematic remarks were made by Alpha Conde, President of the Republic of Guinea and Danilo Turk, President of the Republic of Slovenia.
On September 12, a Plenary Session was held when the keynote speech was delivered by Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. This was followed by brief remarks by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich.
A number of sessions were held on September 12-13, dealing with peace, religious freedom, human rights, globalization, immigration, Jewish-Christian dialogue etc. Dr. Dhalla participated in the panel focusing on “Religions in Asia: The Challenge of Modernity”. He presented a paper entitled “How religions in Asia are working towards social transformation”. This session was chaired by Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai. A question-answer session followed the presentation of these papers.
Panel: “How religions in Asia are working towards social transformation”.
On September 13, the delegates were taken to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial site where a brief prayer meeting was held. Thereafter, the representatives of the various religious traditions were provided separate locations to recite prayers and perform a simple ceremony. After playing a monajat, Dr. Dhalla recited a very brief talk on the Zoroastrian religion followed by the performance of the Kusti ritual. Thereafter, he recited certain prayers on ‘Peace’ from the Zoroastrian scriptures, also furnishing a simple translation. He also answered a number of questions from the audience.
This was followed by a peace procession leading to the Marienplatz where thousands had gathered for the closing ceremony. The representatives were seated on a podium. Being the concluding session, a few speeches were delivered. Dr. Dhalla was asked to light the Lamp of Peace on behalf of the Zoroastrian community worldwide.
TED talk by Council member Yehuda Stolov
Dr. Yehuda Stolov, IARF Council representative from our Israel member group the Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA), delivered a TED talk at TEDx Jaffa, 2011.
“Dialogue between religions: Future or past?”
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Amsterdam
(video, Dutch language)
A seminar about the how & why of a dialogue between the religions
(Does this dialogue have a future? How to do the dialogue of the future? )
Speakers included Manuela Kalsky & Bart Brandsma.
The seminar was organized by
- the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) Netherlands
- Core Rural Female Trialogue (KLVT)
- Inter Religious Reflection – Dutch Centre forInter-religious and philosophical dialogue (IB NSID)
- United Religions Initiative (URI) Netherlands
- World Conference on Religion & Peace (WCRP) Netherlands
…with the support of Church & World.
Ethics, Ecology & the Interdependent Web
19 February 2011 – A conference in Croydon, England, sponsored by the International Association for Religious Freedom and the World Congress of Faiths, and inspired by Datuk Leslie Davidson, who received the 2008 Meredeka Award for his service to the people of Malaysia.
Davidson may have done as much to feed the world as any other human being alive today. Where Jesus provided the loaves and the fishes, Leslie has helped provide cooking oil for billions, while conserving much of the Malaysian rainforest (Datuk is an honour similar to knighthood).
BBC presenter Rev. Peter Owen-Jones opened telling us that Christianity as it is practiced is ruthlessly earnest in being anthropocentric. Christian scripture and ritual is human-centred. Yet we are called to build not just a Habitat for Humanity, but a Habitat for all life: “If we have a loving ecological base for God, this changes the entire way we live.”