All-Religions Conference, Manujoti Ashram
Manujothi Ashram, Sathianagaram, Tiruneliveli, Tamilnadu (India)
19th July 2012
IARF leaders were invited to join the 43rd Kalki Jayanthi Celebrations of Manujothi Ashram, as a fellowship day of world religions to promote universal brotherhood and unity of India.
Manujothi Ashram was founded by Lord Lahari Krishna as a place for worship, living and meditating together.
Rest of report: All-Religions Conference, Manujothi Ashram (PDF, 4 pages, illustrated)
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
Pakistan Chapter – Hiroshima & Nagasaki Peace Exhibition 2012
For Hiroshima Day 2012 (6 August)
Sargodha, Pakistan
As a contribution to awareness-raising on nuclear issues in the 2012 approach to the annual international remembrance day for the atomic holocaust, our Pakistan chapter launched an awareness-raising exhibition in its home city of Sargodha, titled ‘Never again Hiroshima, Nagasaki never again‘.
Guests at the opening, which took place during Ramadan, included Muslims as well as Christians & Bahais. For brief comments from guests (in Urdu), see these videos (YouTube link).
Exhibition opening photos (Facebook)
This event was made possible by support from our member group the Hiyoshi Shrine, Nagoya, Japan.
Rakhi festival at Tirunelveli branch
HRET Program, Erode, TamilNadu
Human Rights Education & Training (HRET)
@Infant Jesus School, Budapadi, Erode, TamilNadu, India
21 – 22 June 2012
Facilitators: Bro. Albert Xaviour and Bro. Britto
Report (PDF 2 pages, illustrated)
British Chapter AGM: talks
2012 Annual General Meeting of the IARF British Chapter
19 May 2012, Unitarian Church Croydon, London
“Challenges to Civil & Religious Liberty Today”
(350th Anniversary of the Great Ejection of 1662)
Rev. Andrew Hill spoke on The Great Ejection in 1662, of two thousand Puritan clergymen from Church of England, which eventually led to the foundation of religious communities dissenting from the established church.
Sheikh Muhammad Amin-Evans spoke on The Mihnah, an inquisition instituted by the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun in 218 AH/833 AD against religious scholars who opposed the doctrine of the created nature of the Qur’an. Like the 1662 Great Ejection, the Mihnah occurred after a period of revolution, at a time of counter-revolution when people were trying to establish or re-establish states, authority and the identity of the ‘good’ citizen.
Rev Andrew Hill, ‘2012 – 350 = 1662’ (PDF, 6 pages)
Sheikh Muhammad Amin Evans, ‘The Mihnah (833 to 848) & encouraging inclusive Islam in Birmingham today’ (PDF, 8 pages)
Note: A Service of Reconciliation was held at Westminster Abbey on 7 February 2012 to mark the 350th anniversary of the Great Ejection. Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, preached at the service which was attended by clergy and laity of the Church of England and the United Reformed Church.
Pakistan Chapter: Interfaith in Youth IARF Cricket Gala 2012
Interfaith Cricket Match
Eid-Ghah grounds, Sargodha
8 June 2012
This was a floodlit night match with young Muslim, Baha’i and Christians participants, reported in the Daily Aftab and its Sunday magazine. As a boundary wall, banners were hung that carried texts about peace and harmony between religions.
Please see photos here (link to Picasa)
Interfaith in Youth is a program of IARF Pakistan that promotes peace and harmony between youth of different faith traditions.
IARF-SACC interfaith activities 2011-12
Please download this presentation on the non-project activities in our South Asia region from 2011 to date (May 2012).
IARF-SACC interfaith activities 2011-12 (presentation, .ppsx format)
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)
US Chapter Conference 2012
This year’s IARF-US conference was held February 3-5, 2012 at Hilton Head, South Carolina, at the Hilton Oceanfront Resort, in connection with the UN-sponsored World Interfaith Harmony Week (theme: “Faith, Interfaith, and Freedom”).
For reportback, see the relevant Chapter Newsletter (PDF).
Photos (link to US chapter site)
Opening Ceremony performance by college group Cocktails