JANUARY 2001 Richard Boeke, Chair of World Congress of
Faiths reports: "We declare the recognition of our status as fellow
voyagers on the spaceship
Mid-January 2001, the World Congress of Faiths (WCF) and
the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF), jointly sponsored a
conference at the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg, Florida.
For participants from England, New England, and Chicago, the warm sunny
days were a welcome change. Participants
were very thankful to the Unitarian Universalist Church on Mirror Lake which
served as the site for most of the conference.
Lois Cairl and the host committee arranged excellent meals, always with a
vegetarian option. At breaks, small
groups would walk out to the Lake and enjoy egrets, pelicans, gulls and parrots
soaring over the tropical scene. Sitting
by the lake, Jim Kenney, Alan Race and others prepared a proposal for the
Council for the Parliament of the World’s Religions to join with the WCF in
the publication of World Faiths Encounter.
This proposal will be on the agenda of both groups in May
2001. Jim Kenney gave the opening
speech with a vision from the December 1999 World Parliament in Capetown, South
Africa, attended by over 8,000. “Making a World of Difference,” a world that
is not a “melting pot” of uniformity, but a world which celebrates the
individual flavours of different faiths. Kenney’s words were followed by
Andrew Clark, General Secretary of the IARF, who challenged us to use logic in
preparing a programme to apply our spiritual principles.
It is not enough to have good intentions. How do we “make it so?”
Following each set of talks, there were circle groups
which allowed personal exchange. Friday
afternoon opened with a tour of the St. Petersburg Holocaust Museum, a short
walk from the church. In late
afternoon, a panel on Interfaith Dialogue featured Marcus Braybrooke, Jim
Kenney, Doris Hunter from the IARF, and local Bishop Preston Leonard.
An international dinner that evening was followed by a Shabbat Service
conducted by the Synagogue which regularly meets at the church on Friday
evenings.
Saturday morning opened with worship led by Kristen
Harper, a recent graduate of Meadville Seminary, and new minister in Ormond
Beach, Florida. With her was a
youth group which joined with a dozen teens from St. Petersburg for a day long
interfaith tour.
Alan Race introduced his co-editor of WORLD FAITHS
ENCOUNTER, Dr. Seshagiri Rao, who
is also editor of the “Encyclopaedia of Hinduism.” As this was Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday weekend,
Dr. Rao’s talk on Gandhi and King was fitting.
“Somehow the future of humanity is connected with religious dialogue.
Two persons have shown us examples of religious dialogue in action: Gandhi and
King. ...
In STRIVE TOWARD FREEDOM, King writes of his discovery of
Gandhi.” Rao’s talk was
followed by his colleague at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Hal French,
who talked of dialogue as “A Place of Meeting Rivers.” He started with
advising us to begin dialogue with a suspension of judgement (empathy)
This was a fitting introduction for half the participants
who joined a Native American Sweat Lodge after circle groups and lunch.
The other half were joined by a hundred members of the Mirror Lake Church
who came to open a “Time Capsule” which had been buried 25 years ago.
The most moving moment was a letter to a young girl from a lady now dead,
which closed, “You don’t need to answer this letter.”
Abhi Janamanchi, UU Minister in Clearwater, chaired a
panel discussion on “Religious Harmony” with Spencer Lavan of Meadville,
Sarada Sony of India, and Frank Tedesco, who came from South Korea.
We learned that we are far from harmony:
Buddhist Temples being burned by Christians, etc. Then we split into four
groups as Humanists, Hindus, Theosophists, and Scientologists presented their
programmes.
Scientology is a special challenge to interfaith groups
such as WCF and IARF. Are they a
religion? We were told the
average price of their “auditing” is $50,000.
They do not have “worship services” in any
traditional sense. Their presenters were very able.
After supper they continued with a dramatic presentation, “Freedom’s
Journey” in which Actors in costume recited the words of Abraham Lincoln,
Mahatma Gandhi, and M.L. King, Jr. The growth of Scientology and other new
movements has provoked Belgium to pass a law restricting over “100 cults” by
name, including the Quakers. In
France such a law is expected to pass this spring.
What is the response of the WCF and the IARF to such threats to religious
freedom? On Sunday morning in St.
Petersburg, Rev. Dee Graham hosted Richard Boeke and Johanna Boeke as they
returned to the UU Church where Richard was minister from 1968 to 1973. WCF President Marcus Braybrooke was hosted by Abhi
Janamanchi at the UU Church in Clearwater.
Alan Race was hosted by Deacon Wil Fisher at St. Matthew’s Episcopal
Church.
On Monday, many of us watched a mile long parade of
“African American Pride” as over 20 bands marched in the M.L. King Day
Parade. A group from the Holocaust
Museum also marched to show their unity with the spirit of King. As I watched, I reflected on the hundreds of minority
votes that seemed to be lost in the Florida election.
In America as in all our world, King still challenges us to Strive Toward
Freedom.
Richard Boeke, Chair, WCF
Papers from the WCF/IARF Conference will be published in the
Summer 2001
Issue of WORLD FAITHS ENCOUNTER. Similar conferences are planned for London 1 May, Leicester 5-7 August 2001, and Patiala,