Cool Day
So I got to do some exciting things today at work. A couple that has been in Iran for the past 3 years came in today and I got to interview them. They've been going around for the past couple of weeks since they got back talking to people and telling what they think people should know about Iran and Iranians. They were there on an exchange program through the Mennonite community to study Shi'a Islam.
They talked about their experiences as Americans and Christians in Iran. Mostly they wanted to stress that Americans need to realize that Muslims are not homogeneous. They also mentioned that many of the Iranians that they met were eager for more exchanges between the US and Iran, artistic and cultural. It was cool to talk with them. The interview was recorded and will eventually be on the Religions for Peace-USA website.
Then, Bud had a retreat for the rest of the day, so he asked Kat and I to listen in on a conference call that he couldn't be in on. It was a bunch of religious leaders planning a Season of Prayer for Peace in the Middle East as an interfaith effort. I don't remember exactly who was on the call, but I know that there were two Jewish leaders, a Sikh leader, two Muslims, and a couple of Christians. They were working an a baseline for the prayers and it was interesting the types of issue that came up.
Most people started off saying that we should pray for an immediate end to the violence. One of the Jewish leaders pointed out a tension with calling for a ceasefire. He said that although Jews would agree that they want the fighting to stop, they are worried about the political aspects of a ceasefire. While no one wants more people to die, they don't want a ceasefire that doesn't lead to just, lasting, and secure peace. The final wording isn't completely set, but pretty much the central prayer will be for an urgent end to the violence to save lives and to lead to a just, lasting, and secure peace.
In the next day or two it will be finalized and the baseline and prayers from many traditions will be put in a website encouraging people of all faith to take time to pray for peace. I'll put a link up here once it's done.
They talked about their experiences as Americans and Christians in Iran. Mostly they wanted to stress that Americans need to realize that Muslims are not homogeneous. They also mentioned that many of the Iranians that they met were eager for more exchanges between the US and Iran, artistic and cultural. It was cool to talk with them. The interview was recorded and will eventually be on the Religions for Peace-USA website.
Then, Bud had a retreat for the rest of the day, so he asked Kat and I to listen in on a conference call that he couldn't be in on. It was a bunch of religious leaders planning a Season of Prayer for Peace in the Middle East as an interfaith effort. I don't remember exactly who was on the call, but I know that there were two Jewish leaders, a Sikh leader, two Muslims, and a couple of Christians. They were working an a baseline for the prayers and it was interesting the types of issue that came up.
Most people started off saying that we should pray for an immediate end to the violence. One of the Jewish leaders pointed out a tension with calling for a ceasefire. He said that although Jews would agree that they want the fighting to stop, they are worried about the political aspects of a ceasefire. While no one wants more people to die, they don't want a ceasefire that doesn't lead to just, lasting, and secure peace. The final wording isn't completely set, but pretty much the central prayer will be for an urgent end to the violence to save lives and to lead to a just, lasting, and secure peace.
In the next day or two it will be finalized and the baseline and prayers from many traditions will be put in a website encouraging people of all faith to take time to pray for peace. I'll put a link up here once it's done.
posted by Anne @ 6:41 PM
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