United Religions Initiative North American - Briefings

“The 11th International Forgiveness Day will be celebrated this year on August 5, 2007. Forgiveness Day Events will be held in California, Hawaii, Washington, England and elsewhere. We encourage others to start Forgiveness Day Events throughout the world. In addition, this year, anyone with internet access can participate in our “Send a Message” program. Visit our website, www.forgivenessday.org for details. International Forgiveness Day is sponsored by the Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance CC.”

URI Global Council Trustee Deborah Moldow recently wrote to tell me about a new “Campus Peace Centers” project sponsored by the UN NGO Committee for Spirituality, Values & Global Concerns. These centers are a “gathering place for students to share information, inspiration, ideas, and projects for creating a culture of peace.” As such, they can provide an additional framework for campus-oriented Cooperation Circles to develop activities that move beyond learning about other religions and into active peace-making. The following article includes a brief interview with Deborah about the program; interested readers can download a flyer describing the program in more detail.

Mussie Hailu from URI’s African region recently sent along the following press release, describing a creative outreach opportunity taken up by the Interfaith Peace-building Initiative (IPI) in Ethiopia. As a means of promoting the Golden Rule, which is shared by all religions, the IPI emphasizes the shared common ground for diverse religious people to come together in support of establishing a greater peace in the world. To do so, they have begun a program of appointing “Goodwill Ambassadors for the Golden Rule,” the latest of whom is renowned athelete Haile Gebreselassie.