Information and commentary on interreligious issues and events in Silicon Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nationally, and worldwide.

The Barna Group, based in Ventura County, is an organization which does reputable work on trends in religious life in the US. Their perspective tends to the conservative Christian, and their responses to identifiable movements in the religious scene in America don’t often line up with my own, but I find their studies useful in assessing what’s going on in American religion.

They have released their end-of-year summary, and identified four basic trends in the past year:

1. Increasingly, Americans are more interested in faith and spirituality than in Christianity.
2. Faith in the American context is now individual and customized. Americans are comfortable with an altered spiritual experience as long as they can participate in the shaping of that faith experience.
3. Biblical literacy is neither a current reality nor a goal in the U.S.
4. Effective and periodic measurement of spirituality – conducted personally or through a church – is not common at this time and it is not likely to become common in the near future.

I think these are not far off the mark, but don’t share Barna’s distress, expressed in comments like:

Americans typically draw from a broad treasury of moral, spiritual and ethical sources of thought to concoct a uniquely personal brand of faith. Feeling freed from the boundaries established by the Christian faith, and immersed in a postmodern society which revels in participation, personal expression, satisfying relationships, and authentic experiences, we become our own unchallenged spiritual authorities, defining truth and reality as we see fit.

Consequently, more and more people are engaged in hybrid faiths, mixing elements from different historical eras and divergent theological perspectives,” Barna stated. “In some ways, we are creating the ultimate ecumenical movement, where nothing is deemed right or wrong, and all ideas, beliefs and practices are assigned equal validity. Everyone is invited to join the dialogue, enjoy the ride, and feel connected to a far-reaching community of believers. Screening or critiquing what that community believes is deemed rude and inappropriate. Pragmatism and relativism, rather than any sort of absolutism, has gained momentum.”

I suspect that to some extent, the move from “Christianity” to “faith and spirituality” is a reflection of the increasing religious diversity of our culture, and the recognition that there are, indeed, many different expressions of the religious impulse. As people become aware of other traditions, they find much that is admirable in those traditions, and may, in fact, adopt attitudes, rituals, or perspectives that are different from those they have previously been familiar with.

Every encounter we have changes us. Most of the time we are not aware of it, because sometimes the change simply reinforces our existing perspective or attitudes. But the more opportunity we have to encounter truly different ways of thinking and being, the more we are challenged to understand our own traditions more deeply, or else to critique or even change them.

A “pure” form of religious tradition can only be something that has been frozen in place- a tradition that is no longer living and engaged in the real world around. Religions change, because our experiences change, we change. Something is lost, and many may mourn its passing. But something is gained, as well, and that can be cause for rejoicing.

• Year in Review Perspective (The Barna Group)

A local group is planning a gathering of people from India and Pakistan who are now living in the Bay Area for conversation on issues of shared concern on December 25th. The meeting, “Vision 2047: First 100 Years Conference, Creating New Values and Principles for New World Powers,” will meet at the Chadni Restaurant in Newark. Universal News Broadcasting and WBT Television are the sponsors. Their focus will be on four pillars of the community: Religion and Culture; Science and Technology; Politics and Government; and Business and Commerce.

Details can be found on the conference blog.

• Vision 2047 blog
• Pakistani-, Indo-Americans to discuss shared values Dec. 25

( San Jose Mercury)

The Parliament of the World’s Religions came to an end today in Melbourne, after six days of dialogue, discussion, learning, and prayers of many traditions.

In his closing address to the assembly, the Dalai Lama challenged them to work to ensure that the Parliament would not simply be a social gathering, but that it would provide the impetus and inspiration to implement acts of love and compassion worldwide. The problems of this world are spiritual problems, he declared, and can never be solved by material means. Beliefs may differ, he said, but the core values of compassion, justice, and love are common to all.

As I prepare to return home from this gathering, I will be packing up many things- piles of notes from sessions I attended (which I will process and share in the weeks to come), books and pamphlets to read and ponder, and two special objects.

One is the plaque that was presented to the Silicon Valley Partner City Group on Saturday evening. It reads, “In recognition of your work in creating a just, peaceful, and sustainable city, we acknowledge the city of San Jose, USA as a Partner City and welcome you into The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions Partner Cities Network.” The members of the Partner City Group will be working on how we can respond to the Dalai Lama’s challenge and find ways to implement new ways of working together with others in our community.

The other object is a stone, on which is painted a pathway, outlined in white dots in the Australian Aboriginal style. It is a gift, given to all the participants, from the Aboriginal community, along with a blessing for the Journey written by Vicki Clark of the Mutthi Mutthi:

As you journey on Our ancient land,
travel gently on Our Mother Earth,
with respect and care.
Hold the Spirit of the Sacred campfire
always in your heart and
may the Spirits of Our Ancestors
always watch over you and keep you safe.

I have always enjoyed visiting aquariums (aquaria?). I am fascinated by the unbelievable diversity of sea life- the different colors, shapes, tricks, and defenses that these creatures manifest. How is it possible that all these things are alive? No matter how many arms or fins or other appendages they may have (or lack), no matter how big or small or non-existent their eyes may be, whether they dart, glide, hunker down, or attach to a rock- “the Lord God made them all.” In them all is that indefinable spark we call “life.” Life that has evolved, adapted, defied or accomodated to the environs in which it finds itself. And always interdependent- linked inextricably to the environment and to each other. Take one away, and the whole suffers.

I was thinking of the aquarium today as I watched people pass by on their way to and from the afternoon workshops. So many colors, variations, rituals, art- some of it familiar, or merely odd, some of it exotic and alien. How is it possible that human beings can find so many ways to honor the sacred?

And how are we, like the life in the sea, inescapably tied to one another? I don’t want to press the image too far- there are creatures like sharks which function as predators on other species- but what is the web of interrelationship that we disregard at our peril? How is respecting another’s faith tradition essential to preserving our own? Crusades, inquisitions, and pogroms have never strengthened faith; they have only diminished the world in which faith dwells. What new way of relating will enable us to live together in ways that benefit us all?

The Parliament has posted a brief video of the opening plenary session on Thursday evening. Other videos will be added.

• Parliament of the World’s Religions (Vimeo)

I was deeply moved twice during the opening program for the Parliament of the World’s Religions. I have already mentioned the sense of being a part of a movement through history.

The other moment came near the end. The choir was singing “Better is Peace,”  which included the phrase “Praise the Lord.” And I became aware that we had been praising the Lord all evening long, praising with the many names by which we call, praising in the many languages of the human family, praising the Lord in names that we have not yet even learned.

What brings these people together? What force can gather such a diverse and varied people from around the world? A shared sense of the world’s aching need for compassion, for justice, for acts of care and and commitment to human beings.

The years of history meet the horizon of future visions. And this is where we gather.

Tomorrow is the day that the Silicon Valley Partner City Group will present its workshop at the Parliament of the World’s Religions: Developing an Interreligious Community: How Silicon Valley Used the Partner City Process. Members of the team include Rev. Ellen Grace O’Brian (Center for Spiritual Enlightenment), Prof. Boo Riley (Santa Clara University), Dave Cortese (Santa Clara County Supervisor), Joy-Ellen Lipsky (First Unitarian), Girish Shah (Jain Community) and yours truly.

During the evening plenary session, we will be recognized as the Inaugural Partner City of the Parliament Partner City Network. There are lots of people here who are interested in having their own communities become Partner Cities, and are looking to us for a model.

If you’d like to see what we’ve been up to, I’ve set up a page on the Interfaith Space website where you can download our presentation, a video of the Circle of Palms event in 2006, our report to the Parliament and some additional supporting materials.

Send your thoughts and prayers our way!

• Silicon Valley Partner City Project

Bearded sunyasis, men in turbans or clothed in white. Women wrapped in saffron robes with shaved heads, in nuns’ habits, or wearing hajib. It’s clear that something unusual is happening here in Melbourne.

For days now, people have been arriving from around the world for the Parliament of the World’s Religions, meeting December 3-9. So many folks turned up to register early that the line stretched the whole length of the Melbourne Exhibition hall- I’d say it was a quarter mile long. The clothing alone signaled the diversity of those gathered, and we had not yet even begun.

The official opening of the Parliament took place last night, with a stunning program featuring the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, and Aboriginal performers with dance and didgeridu.

I found myself profoundly moved at the opening slideshow, which traced the history of the Parliament from the original gathering in Chicago in 1893, through the subsequent Parliaments in Chicago (1993), Cape Town (1999), Barcelona (2004), to Melbourne in 2009. I felt that I was part of something that had been moving for over a century, bringing people together not only to build understanding, but to show that religious people offer a distinct creativity and power for the healing of the world, and not just for conflict.

More later, but in the meantime, be sure to check the website at the Interfaith Center at the Presidio for webcasts from Melbourne. There is also an option for online chat on the page. We’ll send along schedules as soon as we know them.

• Interfaith Center at the Presidio

The atrocity that took place on November 5 at Fort Hood, Texas, is a tragedy that has undoubtedly brought sadness, anger and grief to many of our brothers and sisters. We mourn along with the families, friends, military personnel and other loved ones who have been deeply hurt by the loss of so many innocent lives. We offer our prayers and support for the victims of this violent act and their families.

We fully support our Muslim brothers and sisters in our community who fear that these actions will make them vulnerable to discrimination and prejudice as the details of this incident unfold. We acknowledge with appreciation the public statements of many Muslim organizations condemning the atrocity at Fort Hood. This is a time when our faith communities need to come together so that all can be treated with respect without discrimination. Our faith traditions remind us to lovingly reach out to those most in need, and we want to make sure no one is excluded in the much needed embrace of communal prayer at this time.

Please join us in offering our prayers and good thoughts for all those affected by the recent killings in Fort Hood.

San Francisco:

• San Francisco Interfaith Council: Rev. James DeLange, Chair
  Rita R. Semel, Executive Vice Chair
  Michael G. Pappas, M.Div., Executive Director
• Rev. Paul Chaffee, Director, Interfaith Center at the Presidio
• Most Rev. George Niederauer, Archbishop of San Francisco
• Right Reverend Marc Handley Andrus, Episcopal Bishop of California
• His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco
• Rabbi Douglas Kahn, Executive Director, Jewish Community Relations Council
• The Reverend Canon Charles Gibbs, Executive Director, United Religions Initiative

South Bay:

• Rev. Bruce R. Bramlett, Silicon Valley FACES
• Diane Fisher, Jewish Community Relations Council of Silicon Valley
• Reshma Inamdar, SEMAH
• Rev. Nancy Palmer Jones, First Unitarian Church, San Jose
• Rev. D. Andrew Kille, Interfaith Space, San Jose
• Rabbi Dana Magat, Temple Emanu-El, San Jose
• Rev. Ellen Grace O’Brian, Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, San Jose
• Philip Boo Riley, Religious Studies Department, Santa Clara University
• Rev. Eduardo Samaniego, S.J. Chair, Interfaith Council on Economics and Justice, San Jose
• Karen Stiller, Peninsula Director, Jewish Community Relations Council
• Rev. Margo Tenold, Chair, United Methodist Board of Church and Society

If you or your organization would like to be listed as signers of this statement, send your name and organizational affiliation to southbayinterfaith@yahoo.com

An updated version of this statement is available at www.southbayinterfaith.org.

The news about San Jose/Santa Clara County’s new status as a Partner City of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions is beginning to spread.

On Thursday, November 12, 2009, beginning at 8:00 am, there will be a special reception at the Santa Clara County Government Center, 70 West Hedding, San Jose, in the auditorium. Co-sponsored by Supervisor Dave Cortese, the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, and the Silicon Valley Partner City Group, it will be an opportunity to learn more about the Partner City network, commission the delegation that will be going to Melbourne on behalf of Silicon Valley, and to consider how this new status opens possibilities for richer collaboration among religious communities, governmental programs and local agencies to meet the needs of people in our region.

If you would like to attend the reception, RSVP by 11/09/09 to Rabia Chaudhry at 408-299-5030.

The Partner City Network is a program of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions to create a global network of communities dedicated to building strong and creative relationships among diverse religious traditions.

• San Jose, the First Partner City (Parliament of the World’s Religions website)
• Santa Clara County Receives Global Recognition (Tri-City Voice, Milpitas)
• Parliament of the World’s Religions
• Partner City Network