Interreligious Dialogue in Troubled Times

My fear is that much as the investment and institutional support offered to IRD processes can enter doom-loops, so too can community engagement with such spaces. As the messaging around participation gets increasingly negative and hostile, the harder it becomes for people to choose to engage. The result must therefore be fewer relationships being formed and less solidarity and understanding.

Dreidels and FoRB

As I read these stories of persecution on the grounds of religion or belief I could not help but think about the Hannukah dreidel.

On Dialogue: Talking about “The Conflict”

In my experience, the starting point must be an acknowledgement that what happens between Israelis and Palestinians over there, has a profound impact on individuals here.

Update from a friend

For me, the last week or so has been spent awash in a sea of emotions.

I shall write more about this time in due course. In particular, I want to write about the impact on community relations here in the UK. However, this morning I wanted to share an exchange which I had with my friend Walid earlier today.

Yom HaShoah

Candles in Judaism have a multitude of meanings. They are often lit to remind one of the someone who has died. Earlier this year, during the week of Shiva, the period of mourning which many Jewish people will mark on the death of a close relative, I lit a candle for Nat as I will

Yom Kippur Reflections on Freedom of Religion or Belief

Earlier this summer I attended the Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Ministerial held in London. In the days afterwards, I found myself wondering where I might find a Jewish response to FoRB violations. It is a thought that has been flitting in and out of my mind ever since. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, I found myself face-to-face with a way into that question.

Reflections on the FoRB Ministerial: 3 Education, The Missing Dimension of FoRB

The next step needs to focus on the framework around which those with experience of exploring questions of religion and belief in classrooms are drawn into FoRB discussions and to explore what approaches work best.

Reflections on the FoRB Ministerial: 2. And Interfaith?

For interfaith to be effectively utilised in the promotion and protection of FoRB will require the mobilisation of approaches which will necessitate a greater willingness for risk from those commissioning work.

Reflections on the FoRB Ministerial: 1. Where was religion?

If we are not as attentive to the ways in which communities and individuals live out their faiths and beliefs as we are to the way in which they might experience persecution, what opportunities and issues might we miss?

Intersections, Accommodations and Tensions in Interfaith and FoRB

This tension, between practices of FoRB which seek accommodation with other Rights and practices which work in the intersections, is reflective of the tension which I as an interfaith professional grapple with all the time.