November Newsletter: Interfaith Action SW Michigan |
In this Newsletter: - Giving - With Thanks
- Understanding the Realities of the Israel-Palestine Conflict
- Just Policy: Pope Francis issues update on landmark Laudato Si document on faith and environmental justice
- Speak Up: Religious Nationalism and Democracy:
- In the Spotlight: Celebration of the Harvest and Harvesters
- Interfaith Efforts Counter Antisemitism and Islamophobia
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In this season of Thanksgiving, consider making an annual gift to Interfaith Action to support its work in 2024. Our work, and our witness, depend on your generosity. You can give online by clicking the blue "Donate Today" button below.
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You can also send a check to Interfaith Action of SW Michigan, c/o St Augustine's Church, 1753 Union Ave, Benton Harbor, Mi 49022. |
Join Interfaith Action for a virtual series designed to provide a greater understanding of the historic and present day realities of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Each program will include a guest presenter, followed by respondents reflecting Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions. The next scheduled events are: - Media: Balanced or Biased on November 9 at 6:00pm (Eastern time).
The guest speaker is Rummana Hussain, Editorial Board member and columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times. Click here to register for the event.
- The Right to Live - a historical overview: Displacement, Settlements and Right of Return on November 16 at 6:00pm.
The guest speaker is Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). Click here to register for the event.
The remaining programs are: - Regional and Global Contexts: international resolutions and law, regional parties
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God in Conflict: is it faith or politics, understanding the lexicon (Zionism, terrorism, Anti-Semitism)
- Looking Forward: finding a solution
Note: Dates, times, and registration information for the remaining programs are pending. Continue to check the Interfaith Action website for details. |
Pope Francis issues update on landmark Laudato Si document on faith and environmental justice:
”Although “our own days seem to be showing signs of a certain regression… each new generation must take up the struggles and attainments of past generations, while setting its sights even higher. This is the path. Goodness, together with love, justice and solidarity, are not achieved once and for all; they have to be realized each day”. Pope Francis, October 2023 Exhortation: Laudate Deum. For the full document about faith-based responses to the environmental crisis, click here. |
Speak up: Religious Nationalism and Democracy
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Clark Gilpin, Dean Emeritus, University of Chicago Divinity School, presents a second reflection on the dangers of religious nationalism. The Interfaith Responsibility for Society October 18, 2023 In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the Yale theologian H. Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962), raised an “urgent” question: What is the responsibility of the church for society? His question remains urgent today, and the diverse faith communities of our contemporary world now require a sustained dialogue on the interfaith responsibility for society.
Writing for a national gathering of students preparing for Christian ministry, Niebuhr wrote that a “heavy cloud” of apprehension had become “the dominant mood and motive of action” across the nations of the world. He emphasized that Christian communities not only shared this sense of threat but also experienced a deep self-questioning because of their “sense of responsibility for the ruined and threatened societies” of which they were a part.
Niebuhr responded by identifying the Christian community’s distinctive responsibility to society. It must appraise its responsibility to human societies in terms of its “membership in the divine and universal society.” When it asks the scriptural question “who is my neighbor,” it must recognize that all persons, all societies, and “all the realms of being, belong to the neighborhood in which this community of Christians is required to perform its functions for the common welfare.” A “worldly church” that restricts its responsibility to its own religious community or the nation of which it is a part exemplifies, in Niebuhr’s view, “irresponsible religion.”
Instead, the ultimate responsibility to a “divine and universal society” creates a responsibility for religion to act as a “social pioneer” within human society. Niebuhr’s call to action in 1946 continues to ring true in 2023: “In our time, with its dramatic revelations of the evils of nationalism, of racialism and of economic imperialism it is the evident responsibility of the Church to repudiate these attitudes within itself and to act as the pioneer of society in doing so.”
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Celebration of the Harvest and Harvesters - A photographic report
The October 1st Celebration of the Harvest and Harvesters had a record attendance of more than 225 people, toasty under the tent on an amazingly warm October day. The following photos provide a brief overview of the event. |
On the following day, October 2nd, 26 volunteers gathered at Interfaith Action’s central storage at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Baroda to sort and organize the 4 truck and 2 carloads of donated items. “Many hands made for light work”. |
Interfaith Efforts Counter Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia |
In Dearborn, a social media post invited individuals to “hunt Palestinians”. Dearborn is home to the largest proportion of Arab Americans in the U.S.
In response, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said metro Detroit's "strong interfaith tapestry" is the result of decades of "fellowship among neighbors of Jewish, Islamic, Christian, and other faiths." "We will not allow the disheartening actions of one individual to break the bonds of our longstanding relationships with one another, Hammoud said.
Dawud Walid, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan chapter, urged prosecutors to charge the man who made the Facebook threat under Michigan's ethnic intimidation law, which carries penalties of up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine in addition to sentences for any underlying crimes. “Hate has no home in Michigan, and violence based on hate has no place in civil society," Walid said Friday. |
Be a Part of Interfaith Action Work -- Donate Today!
Consider giving a financial gift to Interfaith Action. To learn more about our mission and goals, visit www.swmichinterfaith.org. You can donate online now, or learn more about our other donation options on our website.
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