Most Muslims ‘desire democracy’.
The largest survey to date of Muslims worldwide suggests the vast majority want Western democracy and freedoms, but do not want them to be imposed.
The poll by Gallup of more than 50,000 Muslims in 35 nations found most wanted the West to instead focus on changing its negative view of Muslims and Islam.
The huge survey began following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.
The overwhelming majority of those asked condemned them and subsequent attacks, citing religious reasons.
The poll, which claims to represent the views of 90% the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims, is to be published next month as part of a book entitled Who Speaks For Islam? What A Billion Muslims Really Think.
The United Nations observes that half of all countries that emerge from violent conflict relapse within five years. Violent conflict doesn’t arise without a history. In countries where conflict has engaged the average citizen along religious or ethnic lines, it is a history of prejudice that has been ignited. While long-term peace strategies must involve a range of government and non-government players, the role of civil society in overcoming prejudice cannot be ignored.
Bishops in London and Liverpool are championing a new kind of 40-day fast calling on Britons to cut back on carbon, rather than chocolate or alcohol, for the Christian period of Lent this year.
by Sandy Yule
If four letter words are traditionally rude, let’s start a rumour that five letter words are gracious. Sorry is easy to say if we are ready to be truthful about how we have hurt other people. Sorry is hard to say when we want to hang onto being always in the right, or when we don’t want to repair the damage that we have caused. When we say sorry, we reach out to people whom we have alienated through our thoughtless or mean actions. What matters here is what we want to protect.
President of the UCA, Rev. Gregor Henderson, has congratulated the Federal Government on its long-awaited apology to the Stolen Generations. The Uniting Church made an apology to Aboriginal Australians in 1996 along with other churches and organisations and welcomes ‘Sorry Day’. Rev. Henderson urges real action so that the apology truly does make a difference.
video of Rev. Henderson’s speech
Yesterday candles on the lawn of Parliament house in Canberra spelled out the message Sorry the first step as the Rudd government prepares its final wording of the long awaited apology to indigenous people over the Stolen Generation, where children were forcibly removed from Aboriginal parents as part of government policy.
The formal apology is a watershed moment in Australian history. The Uniting Church expressed its deep regret at damage done by the policy and gave a formal apology around ten years ago.
Reverend Shayne Blackman, National Administrator of the Aboriginal arm of the Uniting Church, the Uniting Aborigianl and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC), said the Church and the UAICC have had a longstanding view about the need for the Australian Government to say sorry.
“The proposed formal apology from the Government is greatly welcomed by UAICC members,†Rev. Blackman said.
“However, we believe that true repentance involves both an apology and a change of attitude and we hope the Government takes further action to clearly demonstrate its commitment to the apology, such as tailored Indigenous programs and opportunities for socio-economic equality.
The apology will be telecast on ABC TV live tomorrow morning at 8:55 am Easter Summer Time.Â
As mediation to solve the disputed Kenyan presidential election enters a critical phase, top-level figures from the two parties have met an international ecumenical delegation, which asked them to move on from the electoral dispute and seek a compromise solution.
The seven-member group of church representatives sent by the World Council of Churches as part of its “Living Letters” initiative in solidarity with churches facing situations of violence, visited Kenya from 30 January to 3 February.
The Uniting Church in Australia and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) have congratulated the Federal Government on its planned formal apology to members of the Stolen Generations. A formal apology was made to Australia’s Indigenous people by the Uniting Church more than a decade ago.
The President of the Uniting Church, Reverend Gregor Henderson, said the Christian view of confession was a recognition of wrongdoing.
“We take confession to mean that what has been done is not in accordance with the hopes and possibilities that God has for us,†Rev. Henderson said.
“Confession is both an acknowledgement of this and an expression of resolve to live, by the grace of God, differently in the future.
“Our partnership and covenanting agreement with the UAICC is one way in which we have demonstrated our resolve to walk alongside our Aboriginal and Islander brothers and sisters; to seek forgiveness and reparations.
“The Government’s apology to the Stolen Generations marks the beginning of a sense of renewal and we hope it will be backed up with practical measures for better outcomes for Indigenous Australians.â€
Read more from the UCA assembly web site>>
Plan Australia, in partnership with the Youth Research Centre, at the University of Melbourne, and RMIT University, has been awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project grant, valued at $283,000 over three years, to generate a new model of sustainable partnership across NGOs and learning institutions with the aim to provide youth-led, global education programs for school-aged youth.
Known as the Global Connections Program, the project will facilitate the development of effective processes toward young people’s greater participation in social life and will focus on social connections across racial and religious boundaries.
The following is text that appeared recently in the religion column of the ‘Advocate’ newspaper, a periodical from Tasmania. It is re-printed here with permission.
I have been reading a book called “The Spirituality Revolution†by David Tacey, one of Australia’s leading thinkers on spirituality. David calls on the church to recognise that “if God is alive and active in the world, then God will be creative in the world, beckoning us to new transformationsâ€.