Nov
17
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 52 comments

Interfaith Conference 2: Answers… Some to Questions I Hadn’t Thought to Ask

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series interfaith conference

Today’s morning session of the conference was something of a revelation.

One of the highlights of this conference was meeting a young woman who is part of the Muslim roof body.

Did you know the Muslim community has been having many similar debates to us regarding roof bodies and representation?

Did you know that they had their own political youth-quake (awful term, apologies) 8 years ago? That many of their leaders are now under 40, and at least two are women?

Did you know that they perceive our community as standing 100% united on all Jewish issues, and that they believe we are master media practitioners?

Did you know that our community’s beef with The Age is almost identical to the  Muslim community perceptions of Herald Sun coverage of their faith and people?

I didn’t….

Many of us are aware of how much we can learn from how Christian pastoral care deals with youth issues. Many of us may not know just how much we might have to learn from the Muslim Australian experience of fracture, representation, and generational change in leadership. Continue reading Interfaith Conference 2: Answers… Some to Questions I Hadn’t Thought to Ask →

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Nov
16
2009
Current Events, Life By Alex Fein | 8 comments

Interfaith: Time To Keep an Open Mind… Perhaps

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series interfaith conference

I hear the word, “Interfaith,” and I shudder a bit.

So do many of you from the various comments, emails, and Facebook messages I received after the last post.

Here is the general consensus from that correspondence: Interfaith is a pointless exercise that involves well-meaning types pretending their differences don’t exist, and basically doing not a whole lot beyond smiling and being a bit disingenuous.

Of course, things start to sound a bit more exciting when activities are referred to as “guerrilla interfaith adventures,” – but still, the organised form seems so dreary and ultimately a waste of time.

The thing is, the very organised interfaith adventure I attended today – a youth oriented joint event with Monash Political Science and UNESCO – was exactly the opposite of the nauseating glad-handing we’ve all  read about in the Jewish News. Continue reading Interfaith: Time To Keep an Open Mind… Perhaps →

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