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HSUCF | Stories of Faith and Life | Sunday 18 October 2015 | 5-7pm

[Edited extract from public address]

Come and share the stories of 4 young women from the Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Hindu faiths.

Why: A space and time to hear and reflect on stories of different faith backgrounds and how they influence people's lives. There will be opportunities for questions and to gain insights into these different faiths.

Where: High Street Uniting Church, 16-18 High Street, Frankston

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The High Street Uniting Church
Rev Jay Robinson
Email: hsuc.youth@gmail.com for more details

PPLS | Pop Up Tea Pot Exhibition | Monday 5 October - 14 November 2015

[Edited extract from public address]

Port Phillip Local History and Heritage Program presents an exhibition celebrating all things related to tea drinking. 

Featuring a collection of historical, personal and eclectic tea pots, caddies, cosies, and other tea making accoutrements.

Why: Teapots tell a fascinating array of stories about family, travel, the conviviality and comfort of shared conversations over a cuppa, ceremony and ritual, special occasions and guests, connoisseurship and collecting

How:
Join us for this colourful celebration of tea drinking.
Monday 10am-6pm
Tuesday 2pm-8pm
Wednesday 10am-6pm
Thursday 12pm-6pm
Friday 10am
Saturday 10am-2pm

Where: Emerald Hill Library & Heritage Centre, 195 Bank Street, South Melbourne. 

MORE

Port Phillip Library Service
Tel 9209 6655 or library@portphillip.vic.gov.au
http://heritage.portphillip.vic.gov.au/Emerald_Hill_Heritage_Centre/Heritage_Program_October_-_December

FCCV | 2015 Victorian Interfaith Networks Conference | Sunday 22 November 2015 | 12-4pm

[Edited extract from public address]

Registration now open

What: A grass-roots conference which aims to help build the capacity and sustainability of existing multifaith/interfaith networks, bring people up-to-date with current multifaith/interfaith matters and provide networking opportunities.
Where: Kingston City Hall (City of Kingston)

 Schedule:
12:00pm-1:25pm: Registration and lunch
1:30pm-2:15pm: Honoured guests and keynote speech on:
The reality of living one's faith in today's Australian society
Helen Heath OAM, Interfaith Network Development Officer Interfaith Network of the City of Greater Dandenong
2:20pm-3:50pm: Workshops and plenary sessions (see topics below)
4:00pm-4:30pm: Summary & closing ceremony

 Workshops & Plenary Sessions:
Enrolment for workshops and plenary sessions to be made on the day of event so please arrive early to enrol in your preferred workshop or session. Workshop titles are:
Workshop 1: Mixed Identities, religious and civic - Can I be true to my religious identity and at the same time be a fair dinkum Australian?
Workshop 2: Refugee Stories - Celebrating the courage and achievements of refugees
Workshop 3: Understanding Head Coverings - Why women of faith wear scarves, wigs, hats and turbans
Workshop 4: Skills for Conflict Resolution - An introductory workshop

How: Register for this free event go to vinc.eventbrite.com.au. Please note, places are limited so register early.

MORE:
To view pdf flyer of the event click here.

For more information please contact: Sandy Kouroupidis, Faith Communities Council of Victoria - Mobile: 0412 670 369

 This event is proudly supported by the Faith Communities Council of Victoria, City of Kingston, Kingston Interfaith Network and the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

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PHAAA | Field Trip | William Rickett's and the National Rhodendron Garden | Saturday 31 October 2015 | 10am - 4pm

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Planetary Healing Artists are organising a special bus trip outing for volunteers to visit William Rickett's and the National Rhodendron Garden.

Inclusions: Picnic lunch provided.

 RSVP: Places limited so please let organisers know quickly. Full details including assembly point on organisers blog soon
Volunteers always win...  the more you get to act, the more opportunities you create. Raise your hand. Step forward. Step up. You'll be glad you did.  Jeff Haden

MORE:

Planetary Healing Artists Association of Australia Inc.
Nickname: Planetary Healing Artists
Email: planetaryhealingartists@gmail.com
Website: www.planetaryhealingartists.blogspot.com

PHAAA | AGM | Thursday 15 October 2015 | 7.30pm

[Edited extract from public address]

A celebration of achievements of the past year, make committee for next 12 months, and warm thankyou to supportive volunteers!

Planetary Healing Artists Association of Australia Inc. is a not for profit organization that creates a forum for artists including visual artists, performers, writers, healers, and other creatives in the community to share ideas for a sustainable future in a creative way. The main purpose is supporting an environmentally sustainable planet.

Enjoy an inspirational summary of reflections on the past 12 months and what's unfolding for the near future.

For the past 4 years the Planetary Healing Artists have had exhibitions and events inspired healing and transformation of the individual, with life's and the planets' wellbeing in mind. Together we can make a difference.

When:
7.30-8.00pm: AGM
8pm onwards: Food and Refreshments

Where:
St Kilda RSL, Board Room, upstairs
88 Acland Street, St Kilda 3182

RSVP:
Just turn up tonight. This is your opportunity to show support for PHAAA Inc., volunteer or get to know the outgoing and incoming committee and office bearers. These are important roles for ongoing activities of any organization. Please come along and have your say!
** Note that everyone is welcome to attend the AGM, however only current members of Planetary Healing Artists Association may vote or be nominated to the Committee.

Who: All interested in our purpose welcome to join us.

When: 
Annual General Meeting (AGM):
Regularly: 7.30pm, 1st Thursday bi-monthly upstairs at St Kilda RSL, 88 Acland Street, St Kilda.

MORE:

Planetary Healing Artists Association of Australia Inc.
Nickname: Planetary Healing Artists
Email: planetaryhealingartists@gmail.com
Website: www.planetaryhealingartists.blogspot.com

PPLS | Violin and Kora Duo | Emerald Hill Library | Tuesday 27 October, 6.30 – 7.30pm

[Edited extract in public address]

Join Roderick McLeod, Kora (African Harp) player, and Alex Burknoy, violinist and multi-instrumentalist at Emerald Hill Library for an hour of Kora and Violin duets. 

Alex studied classical violin in Crimea on the Black Sea Coast, has played around the world and is renowned for his improvisational and innovative playing style. Roderick trained in Africa and Europe with renowned Kora players such as Toumani Diabate and is a regular at festivals and community events around Australia.

Where: Emerald Hill Library and Heritage Centre

How: Please book online through Eventbrite.

MORE:

Port Phillip Library Service
Information: 9209 6655 or library@portphillip.vic.gov.au
A waiting list is available on Eventbrite if you are unable to secure a ticket. If you book and are unable to attend please let us know so that we can pass your ticket on to another patron.

MU | Scanlon Foundation Survey 2015

[Edited extract from public address]

The Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria wishes to let us know about the Scanlon Survey.

What: This is a national survey run by Monash University that will capture a snapshot of Australia's views. The results of the survey would assist with better advocacy and lobbying for better access and opportunities for people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

It is part of the social cohesion surveys which began in 2007 and are now recognised as a most important source of information on Australian society. The findings of earlier surveys have been reported on television and in newspapers and can be accessed on the survey website “Mapping Australia’s Population”

Who: Australian residents who are aged 18 and over.

Why: The objective of the project is to provide evidence to understand social cohesion in Australian society. The 2015 survey has also received funding from the Australian government, to make it possible to increase the number of people completing the survey.

Participation
Participation in the survey is entirely voluntary. By completing the survey you are contributing to the understanding of public opinion. There is no payment for completing the survey. However, by completing the survey you will be eligible to participate in a lottery. There will be three prizes in the lottery, each a shopping voucher to the value of $500. Details are provided on the final page of the survey.

Confidentiality
Your responses to the survey questions are entirely anonymous. The company hosting the survey does not provide any identifying material to Monash University.

Storage of data
Storage of the data is under Monash University regulations. The anonymous responses are kept on secure computers for a minimum of five years.

Thank you for your voluntary co-operation. Your views are valuable and important in helping us to understand Australian society and its future development.

When: circulating this survey around your friends let them know participants who wish to leave their details go into a draw to win $500 voucher.

How: Take the survey (allow about 10-20mins)

MORE:

The survey is conducted by university researchers under the direction of Professor Andrew Markus of Monash University. The main source of funding is from the Scanlon Foundation.

NGV | Richard Mosse: The Enclave | 10 Oct 15 – Feb 16

[Edited extract from public address]

The Enclave depicts a complicated, strife-ridden place in a way that reflects its complexity.


What: Commissioned for the Irish representation at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013 and recently acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria, The Enclave is an immersive, six-screen video art installation by Irish contemporary artist Richard Mosse uses a strategy of beauty and transfixion to combat the wider invisibility of a conflict that has claimed so many. Partly inspired by Joseph Conrad’s modernist literary masterpiece Heart of Darkness, the visceral and moving work was filmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo using 16mm colour infra-red film, which captures otherwise invisible parts of the spectrum. The resulting imagery in Mosse’s work is hallucinatory and dream-like with the usual greens of jungle and forest replaced by shimmering violet.

When: 10 Oct 15 – Feb 16 | Open 10am–5pm daily

Where: NGV International, Level 3, Contemporary Art & Design, St Kilda Road

Cost: Free

MORE:

NGV International, Cnr St Kilda Road and Southbank Boulevard, Melbourne
Website: https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/richard-mosse/

PWR | History Repeating, Inconvenient Truths and Humanising the Other


[Edited extract from public address]

The calculated and systemic dehumanization of Jews in Germany mid-20th Century facilitated the silence of so many as the Holocaust was taking place. 

The 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions will feature a booth from the Holocaust Museum examining that phenomenon in the Exhibit Hall.

Were the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki militarily necessary? 

By any rational yardstick, they were not. Japan already had been defeated militarily by June 1945. However, dehumanizing the Japanese people not only allowed the detention of Japanese Americans, but also the use of the atomic bomb. We will have an installation from Hiroshima about the impact of that bombing in the Parliament Cultural Hall.

The interfaith movement focuses on humanizing the other. 

This is the reason we will also have an original hand cart at the Parliament which Mormons used when they fled religious persecution from Illinois to Utah.


MORE: 

Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
70 East Lake Street, Suite 205
Chicago, IL 60601 USA
Tel: 312-629-2990
Fax: 312-629-2991
Email: 2015@parliamentofreligions.org

SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE NEWSLETTER: Check out the latest edition here and indicate subscription options.

CAN'T ATTEND BUT WISH TO SUPPORT THIS GLOBAL INTERFAITH INITIATIVE BY MAKING SECURE ONLINE DONATION: 

PWR | Statement of the Indigenous Peoples

[Edited extract from public address]

Who is Indigenous?

Those ethnic groups that were indigenous to a territory prior to being incorporated into a national state, and who are politically and culturally separate from the majority ethnic identity of the state that they are a part of more than 100 tribes around the world choose to reject contact with outsiders.

Native American and Alaska Natives 

Numbering 3.08 million of a total US population of 304 million. Though now only accounting for 1.01 percent of the nation's entire population, Native Americans lost more than 97.7 percent of land over the course of the American conquest. The signing of treaties, relocation, and epidemics accelerated the decrease of Native American population as well as land. (US Census)

This land grab continues. As recently as early this year, Oak Flat, a centuries-old sacred site for Native Americans in Arizona, was handed over to an international mining conglomerate by Congress earlier this year. Among all American Indians and Alaska Natives, about one-in-five (22%) live on reservations or tribal lands. (PEW)

Indigenous peoples have higher rates of disease, higher death rates, and a lack of medical coverage. (The Office of Minority Health)

At the present time there are 566 federally-recognized tribes in the USA.

104 Million Aboriginals in India 

India probably has the largest concentration of indigenous people. There are 104 million aboriginal people in India called the Adivasi.

Indigenous Peoples at the Parliament 

The 2009 Melbourne Parliament organized the first global interfaith assembly of indigenous peoples. Many of the global indigenous leaders said it was the first time for their coming together. At the 2015 Parliament, an array of Indigenous Peoples will open and close the Parliament with a traditional welcoming procession and prayers.

MORE: 

Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
70 East Lake Street, Suite 205
Chicago, IL 60601 USA
Tel: 312-629-2990
Fax: 312-629-2991
Email: 2015@parliamentofreligions.org

SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE NEWSLETTER: Check out the latest edition here and indicate subscription options.

CAN'T ATTEND BUT WISH TO SUPPORT THIS GLOBAL INTERFAITH INITIATIVE BY MAKING SECURE ONLINE DONATION: 

GOVV | Review of Multi-Purpose Taxi Program Call for Responses from Mobility-Limited Users, Carers, Service Providers

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Improving transport for Victorians with limited mobility - have your say

What: The Multi-purpose Taxi Program assists with travel needs of Victorians with limited mobility by offering subsidized taxi fares. The program is now under consideration for improving transport for Victorians with limited mobility

Who: Anyone with an interest in the Multi Purpose Taxi Program or improving transport for mobility limited Victorians is encouraged to participate in this consultation. This includes MPTP program users, carers, disability advocacy groups, and the taxi and hire car industry.

How: Attend nearest workshop in October and November 2015 or provide feedback online, mail or calling.

When: Submissions now open, close Friday 4 December 2015

MORE:
Victoria State Government
Tel 1800 064 887
Website economicdevelopment.vic.gov.au/mptp-review

FCCV | Statement on Syrian and Iraqi Humanitarian Crisis


[Edited extract from public address]

The Faith Communities Council of Victoria (FCCV) issued the following statement in response to the Syrian and Iraqi Humanitarian Crisis: 

As faith community leaders, we add our collective voice to that of many people in our Australian community who are appalled at the ongoing humanitarian crisis unfolding before the world and call on all countries to act quickly and concisely in addressing the plight of fleeing people.

The Faith Communities Council of Victoria welcomes the Australian Government’s announcement to resettle an additional 12,000 refugees who are fleeing the conflict in Syria and Iraq, and to provide an extra $44 million in financial aid for humanitarian support to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

We agree with the Government’s decision to give priority to those most in need of protection, including women, children and families of persecuted minorities, and urge the Government accepts the UNHCR’s recommendations on those most at risk.

The Faith Communities Council of Victoria would like to thank the thousands of people who gathered across the country earlier this month for Light the Dark vigils in support of the global refugee crisis.

MORE

Website http://faithvictoria.org.au/

 General & Media Enquiries:
Murray Davies
Chairperson of Faith Communities Council of Victoria
Email: officer@faithvictoria.org.au

Promotion of Multifaith/Interfaith Events:
Sandy Kouroupidis
Multifaith Officer of Victoria
Email: officer@faithvictoria.org.au

Faith Communities Council of Victoria is comprised of the following peak bodies: Baha'i Community of Victoria, Brahma Kumaris Australia, Buddhist Council of Victoria, Hindu Community Council of Victoria, Islamic Council of Victoria, Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Sikh Interfaith Council of Victoria and Victorian Council of Churches. 

PWR | Women, Equality and the Parliament of Worlds' Religions

[Edited extract from public address]

7 Fast Facts

  1. 1893's historic first Parliament had 19 women speakers
  2. This year more than 50 percent of speakers are women
  3. 60 percent of all emcees of plenaries are women 
  4. This year launches the first women's plenary 
  5. October 15th will be the first women assembly
  6. More than 60 percent of all registered Parliament attendees are women
  7. In 2015, the Parliament has issued a declaration on women’s rights

Global Sisters Fund

If you cannot attend the Parliament but would still like to support the women of the global interfaith movement, please consider donating to the Global Sisters Fund! This fund is to provide an opportunity for women to attend the Parliament who would not otherwise be able too. This is a unique chance to bless others who are committed to interfaith, and your gifts are greatly appreciated.

Donate Here Today >

Declare Faith in Women

Join us in supporting the Declaration for the Dignity and Human Rights of Women, to be issued at the Women’s Plenary, by adding your signature and making a personal commitment, along with thousands of others.

"Being treated justly and with respect should not depend on whether one is male or female. .. the teachings of the world’s religions universally call for compassionate and equitable treatment of all—both men and women."

"There is no religion that despises women, for hatred and oppression cannot come from the heart of God, or Goddess, or Holy Mother/Father, nor flow from that which is Divine, the Creator, the One, the Source, the All."

"We commit ourselves to this collective undertaking to heal the heart of our humanity by releasing women, girls, men, and boys from the bondage of gender-based discrimination and violence. We do so with hope and with faith in our future."
Sign Here >

Sign and read all the Parliament's declarations:





Declaration of Indigenous Communities

MORE: 

Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
70 East Lake Street, Suite 205
Chicago, IL 60601 USA
Tel: 312-629-2990
Fax: 312-629-2991
Email: 2015@parliamentofreligions.org

SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE NEWSLETTER: Check out the latest edition here and, if you would like to receive, scroll down to the bottom for subscription options.

ONLINE REGISTRATION: 

JCMA | Friendship Walk | Melbourne | Sunday 11 October 2015 | 2-4.30pm

[Edited extract from public address]

Come along on Sunday 11th October and spend an afternoon walking together in friendship and goodwill between a church, synagogue and a mosque. 

Starting at St Peters Eastern Hill Anglican Church we will walk across the road to the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Synagogue and then onto to the Albanian Mosque in Carlton North. We will start with a prayer of peace and reflections and then learn about some of the history and traditions of each of the places we visit.

Meeting Place: St Peters Eastern Hill - 15 Gisborne Street (corner of Albert Street) East Melbourne. Please arrive at 1.45pm and meet in the car park beside the church at St Peters Eastern Hill.

Planned Walking Route:
2.00pm               St Peters Eastern Hill - Father Hugh Kempster
                           15 Gisborne Street (corner of Albert Street) East Melbourne,
                           google maps: http://bit.ly/1O4w0xE
2.30pm               East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Synagogue – Rabbi Dovid Gutnick
                           488 Albert street, East Melbourne
                           google maps: http://bit.ly/1KHKRgW
3.50pm               Albanian Mosque – Imam Dr Bekim Hasani
                           765 Drummond St., Carlton North
                           google maps http://bit.ly/1KbPHwz

RSVP and register, click here.

MORE:

For further details and a map of the planned walking route go to ‘Walking Maps” webpage: http://walkingmaps.com.au/walk/2194. 

Jewish Christian Muslim Association of Australia
Ginette Everest Tel: (03) 9287 5590 or 0400 211 221 or email: executiveofficer@jcma.org.au.

GECCG | Open Country: The Murrumbeena Boyds | 30 September-6 December 2015


[Edited extract from public address]

An exhibition to provide a fascinating insight into influences, creativity and significance of the Boyds, one of Australia’s most celebrated artistic families.

A selection of major paintings, watercolours, drawings, sculpture, pottery and photography by Arthur Merric Boyd; Emma Minnie-Boyd; Merric Boyd; Doris Boyd; Arthur Boyd; Yvonne Boyd; Guy Boyd; David Boyd; Hermia Boyd, Mary Boyd; Lucy Boyd Beck; Hatton Beck; John Perceval, Yosl Bergner and Albert Tucker will be on display.

Curated by Diane Soumilas, this exhibition will celebrate the Boyds important contribution to 20th century Australian art and the exceptional creative achievements of the Murrumbeena Boyds and their extended family through a fascinating selection of artworks produced prior to, during and after the Second World War. These artworks include Merric Boyd’s distinctive pottery and drawings; ceramics created at the Arthur Merric Boyd (AMB) Pottery, Murrumbeena between 1944 and 1958; and Arthur Boyd’s luminous glazed earthenware tiles, hand modelled sculptures and iconic paintings, addressing biblical and mythological themes. .

Open Country — located at eight Wahroongaa Crescent, Murrumbeena from 1913–1964 — was the centre of family life, creativity and an extraordinary artistic milieu for many generations of the talented Boyd family and their circle of friends. Many creative individuals gathered in the Brown Room at Open Country during the mid-20th century for discussions about art; poetry; philosophy; and music, resulting in major artistic collaborations and connections.

The artworks have been sourced from public galleries and museums including the National Gallery of Australia; the National Gallery of Victoria; the Art Gallery of New South Wales; Heide Museum of Modern Art; the Bundanon Trust; Glen Eira City Council’s art collection; the Art Gallery of Ballarat; Shepparton Art Museum; Geelong Gallery and diverse private collections.

Where:
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
Corner Glen Eira and Hawthorn Roads, Caulfield (Enter via Glen Eira Road)

When:
Monday-Friday 10am-5pm
Saturday-Sunday 1-5pm
Closed public holidays

Cost: Free

MORE:
Tel: 9524 3333
Website: www.gleneria.vic.gov.au

PWR | A Heart of Humanity: Address to the World at the Parliament of World's Religions

[Edited extract from public addresses]

The Parliament is elated to announce that Dr. Jane Goodall will be delivering a keynote address on the damage of war to the natural world at the 2015 Parliament. 

Jane Goodall is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, is a United Nations Messenger of Peace, and is celebrated around the world for her groundbreaking studies on the behavior of wild chimpanzees.

In 1960, Jane Goodall began her landmark study of chimpanzee behavior in what is now Tanzania. Her work at Gombe Stream would become the foundation of future primatological research and redefine the relationship between humans and animals. In 1977, Dr. Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute, which continues the Gombe research and is a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. The Institute is widely recognized for innovative, community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa, and Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, the global environmental and humanitarian youth program.

Dr. Goodall founded Roots & Shoots with a group of Tanzanian students in 1991. Today, Roots & Shoots connects hundreds of thousands of youth in more than 130 countries who take action to make the world a better place for people, animals and the environment. Dr. Goodall travels an average 300 days per year, speaking about the threats facing chimpanzees, other environmental crises, and her reasons for hope that humankind will solve the problems it has imposed on the earth.

At the 2015 Parliament, Goodall’s address will explore how society can overcome the cyclical relationship between two of the Parliament’s critical issues, War, Violence and Hate Speech and Climate Change.

Read more ->

MORE: 

Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
70 East Lake Street, Suite 205
Chicago, IL 60601 USA
Tel: 312-629-2990
Fax: 312-629-2991
Email: 2015@parliamentofreligions.org

SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE NEWSLETTER: Check out the latest edition here and, if you would like to receive, scroll down to the bottom for subscription options.

ONLINE REGISTRATION: 

AGDE | Green Army | Local People, Local Projects

[Edited extract from public address]

The Green Army is a hands-on, practical environmental action programme that supports local environment and heritage conservation projects across Australia.


What: The Australian Government has allocated more than $700 million for the programme over four years from 1 July 2015. The programme will support 250 projects in 2014-15, 500 projects in 2015-16, 750 projects in 2016-17, and build to 1,500 by 2018-19. http://www.environment.gov.au/land/green-army


Who: Applicants 17-24 years of age and interested in gaining practical training and experience while being paid to work in your local environment.

 How: 
Register your interest here
Submit a Green Army Project idea here

When: Subject to application rounds and place availability.

 Where: The Australian Government has engaged five Service Providers to help deliver the programme on the ground.
Find your state or territory's Service provider here

MORE:
Australian Government, Department of the Environment
Website: http://www.environment.gov.au/
Green Army hotline: 1800 780 730

PWR | Vivekananda’s Speech to the World at the 1893 Parliament

[Republished from Parliament of World's Religions website]

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA's opening address to the World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago, USA, 11 September, 1893

Sisters and Brothers of America, it fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions; and I thank you in the name of the millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects. My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration.

I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to the southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation.

I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings:

As the different streams having there sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to thee.

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world, of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita:

Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me.

Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.

MORE:

 Website: http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/content/vivekananda’s-speech-1893-parliament?mc_cid=08fc09d76a&mc_eid=432c1b1ac4#sthash.apCxuOT8.oyGscJr9.dpuf

Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
70 East Lake Street, Suite 205
Chicago, IL 60601 USA
Tel: 312-629-2990
Fax: 312-629-2991
Email: 2015@parliamentofreligions.org

SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE NEWSLETTER: Check out the latest edition here and, if you would like to receive, scroll down to the bottom for subscription options.

ONLINE REGISTRATION: 

FCCV | 2015 Victorian Interfaith Networks Conference

[Edited extract from public address]

Registration now open

What: A grass-roots conference which aims to help build the capacity and sustainability of existing multifaith/interfaith networks, bring people up-to-date with current multifaith/interfaith matters and provide networking opportunities.
Where: Kingston City Hall (City of Kingston)
When: Sunday, 22 November 2015.

Schedule:
12:00pm-1:25pm: Registration and lunch
1:30pm-2:15pm: Honoured guests and keynote speech on:
The reality of living one's faith in today's Australian society
Helen Heath OAM, Interfaith Network Development Officer Interfaith Network of the City of Greater Dandenong
2:20pm-3:50pm: Workshops and plenary sessions (see topics below)
4:00pm-4:30pm: Summary & closing ceremony

Workshops & Plenary Sessions:
Enrolment for workshops and plenary sessions to be made on the day of event so please arrive early to enrol in your preferred workshop or session. Workshop titles are:
Workshop 1: Mixed Identities, religious and civic - Can I be true to my religious identity and at the same time be a fair dinkum Australian?
Workshop 2: Refugee Stories - Celebrating the courage and achievements of refugees
Workshop 3: Understanding Head Coverings - Why women of faith wear scarves, wigs, hats and turbans
Workshop 4: Skills for Conflict Resolution - An introductory workshop

 How: Register for this free event go to vinc.eventbrite.com.au. Please note, places are limited so register early.

MORE:

To view pdf flyer of the event click here.

For more information please contact: Sandy Kouroupidis, Faith Communities Council of Victoria - Mobile: 0412 670 369

This event is proudly supported by the Faith Communities Council of Victoria, City of Kingston, Kingston Interfaith Network and the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

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