1. The document summarizes an international conference that addressed ongoing crises challenging humanitarian values and international solidarity.
2. The conference included panels on values and crises, values and society, freedom and security, and values and religions. It was organized under the patronage of UNESCO.
3. The conference outcomes included identifying uniting themes to strengthen peace through 2020, recommendations to counter violent extremism, and expanding an international network to diffuse messages on religious tolerance and solidarity.
Countering Violent Extremism: Understandings and OpportunitiesJohn_Elliott
John Elliott led a task force as part of the State Department's U.S. Mission Saudi Arabia from 2014-16. This presentation summarized the task at hand and provided solutions based upon actual successes.
The Qur’anic View of Interreligious Dialogue and Harmonypaperpublications3
Abstract: The Qur’an, being the revealed text, preaches love, tolerance and sympathy for others. Peace, security, co-existence and human dignity are the central teachings of the Qur’an. The promotion of interreligious harmony and peace is one of the key aspects of the Qur’anic teachings. Today, the Qur’anic teachings have been misunderstood and misinterpreted in various ways. This is mainly because of the ignorance about the core teachings of the Qur’an and also because of some Muslim-named people, who are involved with terrorist activities, trying to gain their own interests. The purpose of the present study is to examine the basic teachings of the Qur’an regarding interreligious harmony through interreligious dialogue. It includes the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a burning example of interreligious peace and harmony.
#UnitedCVE: Countering Violent Extremism and Counter NarrativesOnnik James Krikorian
First draft of slides for my presentation on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) and Counter Narratives this coming Wednesday at the Caucasus Research Resource Centre (CRRC) in Tbilisi, Georgia. It will also look at the potential value of CVE practice in traditional conflict resolution settings.
Malory Nye Race and Religion: Postcolonial Formations of Power and Whiteness ...Malory Nye
This is a paper published in 2019 in the journal Method and Theory in the Study of Religion. I have two ambitions in this paper. The first is to explore a framework for talking about the intersections between the categories of race and religion, particularly with reference to critical race and critical religion approaches. The second is to discuss how discourses on religion are a particular type of racial formation, or racialization. The premise for this discussion is the historic, colonial-era development of the contemporary categories of race and religion, and related formations such as whiteness. Both religion and race share a common colonial genealogy, and both critical studies of race and religion also stress the politically discursive ways in which the terms create social realities of inequality. Although the intersections between these terms are often discussed as the ‘racialization of religion’, in this paper I follow Meer (2013) and others by concluding that the category of religion is in itself a form of racialization.
Undoubtedly, religion is one of the main factors that increasingly contribute to the shaping of international relations. As it was in the European middle ages, religion and geopolitics have always had ties of one sort or another. Imperialism and nationalist doctrines have found purpose and justification in religious differences and, religious zealotry was functioned to be both cause and consequence of the concentration of state power and the rivalries among existing competitors. The involvement of numerous religious groups and movements in the political scene led the situation to be extremely complicated. The purpose of this article is to see to what extent religion as a soft power has a role in forming international politics. Also, to discuss the role the superpowers and regional powers play in dealing with the question of religious issues. With an argument that these issues including religious conflicts are led by international and regional powers which function these groups in a proxy war to be part of their rivalry overpower, and to achieve their national interests through their foreign policies at the cost of considerable environmental degradation and a massive death toll of people.
Countering Violent Extremism: Understandings and OpportunitiesJohn_Elliott
John Elliott led a task force as part of the State Department's U.S. Mission Saudi Arabia from 2014-16. This presentation summarized the task at hand and provided solutions based upon actual successes.
The Qur’anic View of Interreligious Dialogue and Harmonypaperpublications3
Abstract: The Qur’an, being the revealed text, preaches love, tolerance and sympathy for others. Peace, security, co-existence and human dignity are the central teachings of the Qur’an. The promotion of interreligious harmony and peace is one of the key aspects of the Qur’anic teachings. Today, the Qur’anic teachings have been misunderstood and misinterpreted in various ways. This is mainly because of the ignorance about the core teachings of the Qur’an and also because of some Muslim-named people, who are involved with terrorist activities, trying to gain their own interests. The purpose of the present study is to examine the basic teachings of the Qur’an regarding interreligious harmony through interreligious dialogue. It includes the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a burning example of interreligious peace and harmony.
#UnitedCVE: Countering Violent Extremism and Counter NarrativesOnnik James Krikorian
First draft of slides for my presentation on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) and Counter Narratives this coming Wednesday at the Caucasus Research Resource Centre (CRRC) in Tbilisi, Georgia. It will also look at the potential value of CVE practice in traditional conflict resolution settings.
Malory Nye Race and Religion: Postcolonial Formations of Power and Whiteness ...Malory Nye
This is a paper published in 2019 in the journal Method and Theory in the Study of Religion. I have two ambitions in this paper. The first is to explore a framework for talking about the intersections between the categories of race and religion, particularly with reference to critical race and critical religion approaches. The second is to discuss how discourses on religion are a particular type of racial formation, or racialization. The premise for this discussion is the historic, colonial-era development of the contemporary categories of race and religion, and related formations such as whiteness. Both religion and race share a common colonial genealogy, and both critical studies of race and religion also stress the politically discursive ways in which the terms create social realities of inequality. Although the intersections between these terms are often discussed as the ‘racialization of religion’, in this paper I follow Meer (2013) and others by concluding that the category of religion is in itself a form of racialization.
Undoubtedly, religion is one of the main factors that increasingly contribute to the shaping of international relations. As it was in the European middle ages, religion and geopolitics have always had ties of one sort or another. Imperialism and nationalist doctrines have found purpose and justification in religious differences and, religious zealotry was functioned to be both cause and consequence of the concentration of state power and the rivalries among existing competitors. The involvement of numerous religious groups and movements in the political scene led the situation to be extremely complicated. The purpose of this article is to see to what extent religion as a soft power has a role in forming international politics. Also, to discuss the role the superpowers and regional powers play in dealing with the question of religious issues. With an argument that these issues including religious conflicts are led by international and regional powers which function these groups in a proxy war to be part of their rivalry overpower, and to achieve their national interests through their foreign policies at the cost of considerable environmental degradation and a massive death toll of people.
MarketSmiths Content Strategists: Copywriting for HumansJean Tang
Does your written content bring your business—or your client’s business—to life? Does it delight, illuminate, persuade, entertain, seduce, surprise?
Maybe not. That’s where we come in.
We’re MarketSmiths, a Brooklyn-based creative copywriting agency. Devoted to words that work, MarketSmiths replaces generic content with the careful strategy of words.
Imagine an arsenal of weapons-grade writers in your back pocket, ready to obliterate boring content with razor-sharp strategy, impenetrable logic, and a devastating charm offensive. Yeah, that’s us.
MarketSmiths provides startups, enterprise companies, and digital agencies with kickass website content, shareable blog posts, compelling press releases, contagious case studies, delightfully readable brochures, snappy elevator pitches, and so much more.
➤ A place where you find art,
culture, and entertainment.
➤ Regular art galleries
➤ Regular culture events
➤ Regular exhibitions and
bazaars
➤ Musical shows and events
➤ Movie shows
➤ Football and sports shows
Chemistry Investigatory Project Class 12 - Green Chemistry - Bio Diesel And B...Dhananjay Dhiman
Chemistry investigatory project for class 12 CBSE on the topic Green chemistry - bio diesel and bio petrol. It includes all the necessary formats and the content is relevant for the CBSE practical examination.
Website personalization with Sitecore Experience PlatformRobert Senktas
My presentation from Sitecore meetup about simple personalization features. This presentation follow the idea "Take baby steps—crawl first, then walk, jog, and run". Video with demo will be available soon.
Overview on the United Nations Alliance of Civilication Summit and Youth Summit in Vienna Feb 2013 given at the UPF Youth Event in Vienna "A New Religious Pluralism?" on November 20th 2012
Interrogating how the media portrays contemporary religion- The viewpoints.pptxHENRY NEONDO
Religion and media are two strange bedfellows. While the media, particularly those that might be construed as ‘secular’ or commercially orientated appear to want to focus on all other things but religion in their bid to set people’s agenda and shape worldviews by the way they frame issues, it is apparent that this is not possible. Religion seems to permeate every sphere of human life as to qualify a designation of a dominant group within societies. Little ever happens in this world without religion having a hand in it and religion has rightly distinguished itself as a core moral compass of human society. Religion permeates itself in our quest for peace and security, education, economy, family, environment and by extension climate change to name but a few. Religion is firmly embedded in people and their culture that it is just not possible for media to ignore it. In equal measure, religion can hardly function as a moral compass without the technological advances so easily noticeable in the media industry. Thus, there is clearly a demonstratable symbiotic relationship between the two. This study will use a scoping review for a systematic and iterative approach to identify and synthesize an existing or emerging body of literature on media and religion to map out the evolving or emerging topics and identify gaps that could lead to major research undertaking.
Katherine Marshall is a Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and Visiting Professor in the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. She is also Executive Director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD), an NGO that works to bridge the worlds of development and religion.
MarketSmiths Content Strategists: Copywriting for HumansJean Tang
Does your written content bring your business—or your client’s business—to life? Does it delight, illuminate, persuade, entertain, seduce, surprise?
Maybe not. That’s where we come in.
We’re MarketSmiths, a Brooklyn-based creative copywriting agency. Devoted to words that work, MarketSmiths replaces generic content with the careful strategy of words.
Imagine an arsenal of weapons-grade writers in your back pocket, ready to obliterate boring content with razor-sharp strategy, impenetrable logic, and a devastating charm offensive. Yeah, that’s us.
MarketSmiths provides startups, enterprise companies, and digital agencies with kickass website content, shareable blog posts, compelling press releases, contagious case studies, delightfully readable brochures, snappy elevator pitches, and so much more.
➤ A place where you find art,
culture, and entertainment.
➤ Regular art galleries
➤ Regular culture events
➤ Regular exhibitions and
bazaars
➤ Musical shows and events
➤ Movie shows
➤ Football and sports shows
Chemistry Investigatory Project Class 12 - Green Chemistry - Bio Diesel And B...Dhananjay Dhiman
Chemistry investigatory project for class 12 CBSE on the topic Green chemistry - bio diesel and bio petrol. It includes all the necessary formats and the content is relevant for the CBSE practical examination.
Website personalization with Sitecore Experience PlatformRobert Senktas
My presentation from Sitecore meetup about simple personalization features. This presentation follow the idea "Take baby steps—crawl first, then walk, jog, and run". Video with demo will be available soon.
Overview on the United Nations Alliance of Civilication Summit and Youth Summit in Vienna Feb 2013 given at the UPF Youth Event in Vienna "A New Religious Pluralism?" on November 20th 2012
Interrogating how the media portrays contemporary religion- The viewpoints.pptxHENRY NEONDO
Religion and media are two strange bedfellows. While the media, particularly those that might be construed as ‘secular’ or commercially orientated appear to want to focus on all other things but religion in their bid to set people’s agenda and shape worldviews by the way they frame issues, it is apparent that this is not possible. Religion seems to permeate every sphere of human life as to qualify a designation of a dominant group within societies. Little ever happens in this world without religion having a hand in it and religion has rightly distinguished itself as a core moral compass of human society. Religion permeates itself in our quest for peace and security, education, economy, family, environment and by extension climate change to name but a few. Religion is firmly embedded in people and their culture that it is just not possible for media to ignore it. In equal measure, religion can hardly function as a moral compass without the technological advances so easily noticeable in the media industry. Thus, there is clearly a demonstratable symbiotic relationship between the two. This study will use a scoping review for a systematic and iterative approach to identify and synthesize an existing or emerging body of literature on media and religion to map out the evolving or emerging topics and identify gaps that could lead to major research undertaking.
Katherine Marshall is a Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and Visiting Professor in the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. She is also Executive Director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD), an NGO that works to bridge the worlds of development and religion.
[Dr. Verma] Paper: Religious Ethics and Interfaith UnderstandingGlobalPeaceFoundation
Date: Dec. 5th 2013
Session: Creating Unity in Diversity in Asia: Including Others in Our Sphere of Moral Obligation
Speaker: Dr. M.M. Verma: President, Interfaith Foundation, India
En las sociedades multiculturales como Canadá, Estados Unidos de América o Europa, el problema de delitos de odio o por intolerancia racial han ganado interés dentro del sistema de justicia criminal, científicos sociales, defensores de los Derechos Humanos y los medios de comunicación. Para lograr prevenir estos tipos de delitos en una ciudad en donde las distintas posturas religiosas convergen, es importante tratar de conocer el diferente enfoque que cada uno le otorga a su religión para así crear puentes entre los diálogos y generar por consecuencia una mayor tolerancia a las otras formas de pensar.
The Catholic Church in the Face of the Europeanization of Polish Policy of Eq...Piotr Burgonski
This article shall analyse the attitude of the Catholic Church towards the process of Europeanization of Polish policy of equality and non-discrimination. It shall be an analysis of a single case, i.e. the debate around Poland’s adoption ofthe CAHVIO Convention of the Council of Europe. These analyses shall seek the answer to the question of how the Catholic Church sees the process of Europeanization of equality and anti-discrimination policy in Poland. Whether it supports it or opposes it. What role does it want to play in this process? How is the Church and its attitude towards Europeanization perceived by other participants of the public debate and how does this affect the ability of the Church to control the process of Europeanization? The theoretical approach used in the research shall be the paradigm of the public sphere and Europeanization. Methods and techniques of discourse analysis shall be applied as well.
More Info: Burgoński P., The Catholic Church in the Face of Europeization of the Polish Policy of Equality and Non-discrimination. The Case of CAHVIO Convention, “Politics and Religion Journal (PRJ)” 2015 vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 249-267.
2. INTRODUCTION
Persisting economic, social, environmental, political, and other ongoing crises do
challenge basic humanitarian and governance principles, as well as international
solidarity and responsibility rules. The state of our planet reveals a striking vacuum
of unifying values to sustain and accelerate peaceful human development. Many
consider that this crisis of values is the actual cause of social, economic and
political disruptions which are threatening human security and dignity.
On March 10-12, 2016, distinguished scholars, business leaders, policy makers and
opinion shapers from various cultural, ideological, religious and philosophical
background addressed collectively these challenges in Sofia, Bulgaria, in the heart
of a region particularly sensitive with regard to multi-ethnic harmony and peace.
The international conference has been organized under the Patronage of UNESCO.
Conference website: www.unitingvalues.org
3. STRUCTURE OF THE CONFERENCE
Panel 1: Values and Crises Panel 2: Values and Society
Panel 3: Freedom and Security Panel 4: Values and Religions
Dr Olga Zinovieva, HIH Georg von Habsbourg,
Dr Mohammed Shahrour, Prof. Horst Mahr
Moderated by Dr Zdravko Popov.
Hermien Kleden, Prof. Antoni Todorov,
Dr Alain Dick, Prof. Nicolas Offenstadt
Moderated by Ventzeslav Sabev
Rabbi Dr Jeffrey Newmann, Prof. Hafid Abbas,
Prof. Michel Veuthey
Moderated by Dr Elena Moustakova
Round Table with keynote lectures by Dr
Mohammed Shahrour and Prof. Nicolas Offenstadt.
Moderated by Prof. Ivan J. Dimitrov
Keynote lecture by
HE Dr Anies Baswedan,
Minister of Education
and Culture of the
Republic of Indonesia
Welcome Address by
HE Dr Irina Bokova,
UNESCO Director-
General and Patron of
the Conference
4. CONFERENCE OUTCOMES
1. Developed uniting themes, critical for strengthening understanding, peace and stability
towards 2020, and on which further research should be encouraged
2. Provided recommendations and best practices on most successful vehicles to spread
peace-building values and counter-narratives to violent extremism and radicalization
3. Built a network of Think Tanks, governmental agencies and academic institutions through
which the Geneva Spiritual Appeal shall diffuse messages on the neutralization of violent
or discriminatory faith-based narratives and follow-up on the conference themes
4. Started a movement, involving prominent spiritual, political and civil society leaders,
towards a permanent dialogue on value-based policies, religious tolerance and solidarity
5. Raised visibility and recognition, through large media coverage and new presence in
social media, on the cause of the Geneva Spiritual Appeal and the leaders it works with
6. Expanded the number of supporters internationally and built credibility on the
importance of the Appeal and its work
5. 1. UNITING THEMES TOWARDS 2020
The authority of the Scriptures in today’s societies and international order
Spirituality, faith and the Fourth industrial revolution; values and free market
Globalization and uniformity vs individuality and specificity; Civilization = a Western concept?
Relevance of religious terminology and narratives in today’s realities
Dialogue-based and/or reforms-driven alternatives to religious ideologies
Abuse of religious or moral narratives to justify violence and discrimination
Spirituality and Humanity’s relationship to Nature and the environment
Has the State a role in forging identity and common values? Through which consultative processes?
Case study: the Indonesian model of peaceful coexistence: respect and preserve identities and differences while
uniting in the name of common principles and collective national interests
Reducing fear and building balance between human security, human rights and justice.
Youth radicalization and prevention of violent extremism at grass-root level; attitudes towards differences, towards
“The Other”
6. 2. VEHICLES for UNITING VALUES
Role of religious communities and spiritual leaders in bringing visions, forging and disseminating values (cf. correlation
between the weakening of religious life and the crisis of values).
Good governance, transparency and consultation to foster creativity and empowerment
Contemporary, objective and impartial reading of the Holy Scriptures in all main religions
Rehabilitation of traditional upraising in school, army, church. Should education teach values or only provide with
knowledge, intellectual tools and critical thinking needed to form own judgments? Free and critical thinking is also
needed in the efforts against radicalization.
Revisit the principle of subsidiarity in governance, namely by empowering and “re-legitimizing” the family as the
primary and fundamental social cell.
Culture, Arts and Sports as powerful messengers of shared Values
Independent media and pluralism of civil society organizations, including grass-root organizations, businesses, large
cities, think tanks and universities
7. 3 & 4. NETWORK and CONFERENCE FOLLOW-UP
During the conference, various partnerships and follow-up events were discussed with the Geneva
Spiritual Appeal, including with:
- Gadjah Mada University, Jogjakarta, Indonesia (conference on Inclusive Islam and political pluralism)
- Graduate Institute of International Studies and the Geneva Center for Security Policies, Geneva,
Switzerland (seminar on terminology and violent narratives in social media, November 2016)
- La Sorbonne, Paris, France (round table on security, Human Rights and laity)
- Lomonossov University, Moscow, Russian Federation (conference on values, identity and
nationalism)
- German Society of International Affairs, Munich, Germany (possible participation at the Munich
Security Conference in January 2017)
- Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem (part of an international competition of essays on the topic
“abuses of religious narratives to justify violence”)
- Swiss Federal Police, Bern, Switzerland (workshops for staff working on counter-terrorism)
- EBBF, Geneva, Switzerland (conference on capacity building, Bucharest, October 2016)
- United Nations Office in Geneva and the World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland (book
launches, conferences and round tables on faith-based violence and radicalization)
8. 5 & 6. VISIBILITY & RECOGNITION : Media – TV
The Conference was featured on:
Bulgarian National TV (BNT), Bloomberg TV, BG
OnAir, TV Europa, Army Channel, Tempo TV
Indonesia, Jakarta Post, Reuters, Russia Segodnya
The programme «Faith and Society» broadcasted 2x1hour on the event
9. 5 & 6. VISIBILITY & RECOGNITION : Media – Press & Radio
Special reports were published in Diplomacy Journal (Ministry
of Foreign Affairs) which is distributed also in the European
Commission and Parliament, the UN and other international
organizations in Geneva and New York.
In Indonesia, TEMPO English (over 2 Million readers in print and
online edidtions) published a few reports (over 10 pages in total) to
cover the conference and presented case studies of peaceful co-
existence of different ethnic and religious groups in theBalkans.
Other daiy newspapers also reported on the conference.
The Bulgarian National Radio was
also a media partner
10. 5 & 6. VISIBILITY & RECOGNITION: political endorsements
Irina Bokova, Director-
General of UNESCO and
Patron of the Conference
Boyko Borissov, Prime
Minister of Bulgaria
Rossen Plevneliev, President
of Bulgaria
Mrs Tsetska Tsacheva, President
of the Bulgarian Parliament
11. 5 & 6. VISIBILITY & RECOGNITION (endorsement from civil society)
Mrs Maya Manolova,
Ombudsman of Bulgaria
Board of the Bulgarian
Red Cross
Chairman of the Int’l Fund
for Cooperation between the
Black Sea and Caspian Sea
Rev Dr Olaf Fykse Tveit
General Secretary of the World
Council of Churches, Geneva