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United Religions Initiative

Need-to-Know Resources for Nuclear Disarmament

Need-to-Know Resources for Nuclear Disarmament

by Megan Anderson

Nuclear disarmament is a nebulous concept for most of us. The threat of nuclear destruction is ever-present, but not something we think or talk about much. Part of the reason, perhaps, is that we feel helpless to do anything about it.

Hearing the Interfaith Voices Least Often Heard

Hearing the Interfaith Voices Least Often Heard

by Don Frew

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone in a group say “We even have a Witch” and point to me to emphasize how inclusive they are. So, in terms of diversity, I occupy a place at one extreme end of the interfaith spectrum.

The Power of a Poster in a Digital World

The Power of a Poster in a Digital World

by Paul McKenna

Scarboro Missions in Toronto, Canada first published the Golden Rule poster in 2000, and by the time we had an official ‘launch,’ there was already considerable excitement.

A Summer of Exciting Interfaith Events

A Summer of Exciting Interfaith Events

by Robyn Lebron, Megan Anderson, Tahil Sharma, and Johnny Martin

URI North America Regional Assembly - Reimagining Interfaith Cooperation - NAIN Connect 2018

Laughing, Learning, Listening

Laughing, Learning, Listening

by Sari Heidenreich

Laughter, listening and learning — these are the three things that come flooding back to me as I look at photos from the weekend I spent at Kashi with peacebuilders from half a dozen southern states.

Hearing the Interfaith Voices Least Often Heard

Hearing the Interfaith Voices Least Often Heard

by Don Frew

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone in a group say “We even have a Witch” and point to me to emphasize how inclusive they are. So, in terms of diversity, I occupy a place at one extreme end of the interfaith spectrum.

An Heroic Opening Gambit

An Heroic Opening Gambit

by William E. Swing

On Tuesday afternoon, April 2, 1996, I had just presented a paper in Oxford on “The Coming United Religions.” It would be mild to say I failed in gaining backers. Afterwards, a young doctoral student from Germany, Joseph Boehle, came up to me and asked, “Would you like to have a conversation with Dr. Hans Küng?”

Why Religious Diversity is the Pathway to Peace

Why Religious Diversity is the Pathway to Peace

by Victor Kazanjian

On Christmas Eve, people across the United States and around the world gathered to watch “May Peace Prevail on Earth: An Interfaith Christmas Special,” broadcast on CBS stations nationally and streamed online internationally by the United Religions Initiative who produced the program. At first glance, “an Interfaith Christmas” seems a strange contradiction.

Interfaith Activist Running for Congress

Interfaith Activist Running for Congress

by Audri Scott Williams

Recently I decided to run for political office in 2018 for the state of Alabama. I will be a progressive Democratic candidate in Alabama’s Congressional District 2, for the U.S. House of Representatives. Friends who know me well have asked me, “Why are you running for a political office?”

Finding Power in Ribbons

Finding Power in Ribbons

A TIO Report

The United Nations is perhaps the most diverse ‘community’ in the world, and yet in its early years it was adverse to anything ‘religious.’ Wasn’t their territory – until Robert Muller (1923-2010), Assistant Secretary-General of the UN for 40 years, slowly brought his interfaith-friendly influence to bear in this family. He is credited with helping the United Nations and its global representatives grow past their religious phobia.

The Unlikely Vegetarian

The Unlikely Vegetarian

by Charles P. Gibbs

It seems unlikely that someone who co-founded Tulsa Beef and Feed, a motorcycle “gang,” would become a vegetarian. And, yet, I did; and I did. Here’s the story of an unlikely vegetarian. I was born and raised in the great southwest of the United States – born in New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment; and mostly raised in Oklahoma, the Sooner State, puzzlingly named after...

REPORT: Youth Organize "Words Matter (Stop Hate)" Conference

REPORT: Youth Organize "Words Matter (Stop Hate)" Conference

from URI-Europe

The conference Words Matter (Stop Hate) was held on Friday, November 18, 2016, at City College in Coventry, UK. This conference was initiated for a reason; following the UK EU referendum to leave the EU, there has been an increase in hate speech and crime. Especially amongst young people, there has been an increase of online hate speech and an increase of tension in and between communities, thus harming the region’s harmony and prosperity.

Ruminations on Em-Powerment

Ruminations on Em-Powerment

by Frederica Helmiere

After my second child was born, I found myself yearning for a hearty dose of vocational discernment. Perhaps it was the presence of this new little life in our home that compelled me to reassess my own life’s calling, or perhaps it was a general growing dissatisfaction with my work that I could no longer ignore.

Praying our Way towards Justice at Standing Rock

Praying our Way towards Justice at Standing Rock

by Frederica Helmiere

Oceti Sakowin Camp is a place of juxtapositions and marvels. Tribal leaders ceremonially sing and drum near the sacred fire while helicopters chop and drones buzz overhead. Ten thousand peaceful and prayerful water protectors abut a militarized police force of extractive corporation-protectors. 

Beating a Message of Peace in Uganda

Beating a Message of Peace in Uganda

by Vicki Garlock

In a country often known for unspeakable violence and political strife, Buyondo Micheal offers a beacon of hope to those desperately seeking peace. As founder of Faiths Together Uganda (FTU), Micheal uses dance, music, and art to unify and delight. Inspired by global interfaith initiatives, he provides the funding and the energy for events that cross religious, cultural, and tribal divides.

Following the Path of Transformation

Following the Path of Transformation

by Weston Pew

On my path over this past year my work for The Sacred Door Trail has taken me to the melting glaciers of Greenland where gigantic ice walls fall into rivers every 20 minutes, shaking ground and bone as a warning call of the coming rising seas.

“Why Human Trafficking Matters to Me”

I have worked on initiatives in Rwanda after the 1994 Genocide, and have done humanitarian and mission work in different African countries engaged in war for eight years. More recently I was working in Nepal with children who had been orphaned by the civil war. The deep suffering of humanity in developing countries has always captured my heart and my attention, until now.

Scriptural Gathering Celebrates U.N. Interfaith Harmony Week

The 6th International Interfaith Conference on Holy Books was held the first week of February at the Sarvodaya Institute of Higher Learning in Sri Lanka. About 125 delegates from different parts of the world attended the four-day program, held in celebration of this year’s U.N. Interfaith Harmony Week.

Renouncing the Doctrine of Discovery/Reclaiming Mother Earth

Hidden Seeds of Natural Healing & Curing was held last July, a gathering of 33 indigenous representatives from six continents, including two youth, ages 13 and 14, a council of leaders gathered to reflect on the global situation they and their peoples face. Hosted by United Religions Initiative’s Global Indigenous Initiative, participants met for three days near Napa Valley in Northern California.

Greg Harder and Mastery of Interfaith Social Media

California-born Greg Harder invests three to five hours every day in front of his computer screen as a “cultural detective specializing in interfaith,” a phrase he coined to describe his internet social-media activities.