Exclusion and Embrace 2016: Disability, Justice and Spirituality - understanding sacred texts, and the experiences of people with disabilities and carers within the context of faith

Exclusion and Embrace 2016: Disability, Justice and Spirituality

From August 21, 2016 03:04 until August 23, 2016 05:04

•  At Jasper Hotel, 489 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, Australia

The Australian Catholic University, The Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, The Progressive Christian Network of Victoria Inc., would like to invite you to:

2016 Exclusion and Embrace Conference

Date: 21-23 August 2016

Venue: Jasper Hotel, 489 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, Australia.

This Conference is a rare opportunity to bring together people interested in understandings of sacred texts, and the experiences of people with disabilities and carers within the context of faith. This  multi-faith Australasian Conference  has the support of a wide number of organisations including the Jewish Christian Muslim Association (JCMA) and the Faith Communities Council of Victoria (FCCV). The Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania is providing the Conference Secretariat.

The Conference will draw on the wisdom of all faiths, and will deepen our understanding of the many aspects of disability and spirituality. We are interested in your experience, research, practice, and ideas and knowledge.

Among the themes explored will be ethics, care, inclusion in faith communities, friendship, discrimination, love, justice, liberation.

In Australia, and abroad, an increasing number of people are actively exploring the intersection of disability and spirituality. An excellent Conference program will present perspectives across the faith spectrum, with opportunities for dialogue and formation of new networks. It will have appeal to people who live with disability, families and carers, academics and practitioners (volunteers and staff).

Two esteemed speakers will be keynoters at our Conference: Prof Hans Reinders is Chair of Ethics at VU University, Holland, and editor of the journal Religion and Disability. Rev Bill Gaventa is Director of the Summer Institute of Theology and Disability and President-elect of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD). We are also delighted that an Australian cast of presenters is increasingly coming on board: Prof David Tacey an interdisciplinary scholar who is widely published for his knowledge of Australian spirituality. Other presenters include Lorna Hallahan, Sheik Isse Musse, Melinda Jones and Diana Cousens (see website Speakers tab for details).

There will also be an exhibition of artworks that reflect people’s experience of disability and spirituality, as it relates to the conference theme.

View and download the brochure (note: when printing remember to tick print on both sides and flip on short edge)

The Conference is also seeking Abstracts within these three streams, as they relate to disability and spirituality.

(i)         Supports in faith communities/service providers

(ii)        Sa­cred texts/theological understandings of disability

(iii)       Theological Educa­tion/Research.

Please go to Call for Presentations for details of Abstract Details and Guidelines. Abstracts need to be submitted by 10 April, 2016. Presentations may include formal papers, posters, personal stories, poetry, or other approaches.

We invite presentations which address aspects and experiences as they relate to spirituality and disability. Themes include liberation, education, bioethics, reconciliation, sexuality, pastoral care, inclusion, love, theological interpretations. All presenters must be registered for the event by 15 July, 2016.

Other sponsors and endorsers include Spiritual Health Victoria, Spiritual Care Australia, Christian Blind Mission, Victorian Council of Churches, Progressive Christian Network Victoria, Australian Catholic University and the University of Divinity.

As part of the Conference, we are also launching and displaying an  Art Exhibition, depicting the conference themes. Andy Calder, Conference Convenor

Further Information:  Ann Byrne  The Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania  Email: ann.byrne@victas.uca.org.au

Phone: (03) 9251 5404

Endorsed by: Faith Communities Council of Victoria, Jewish Christian Muslim Association of Australia, Victorian Council of Churches, Spiritual Care Australia, Spiritual Health Victoria and University of Divinity.

Ecological Aspects of War - religious perspectives from Australia

Crafting a spirit

 

Anna Quindlen’s Short Guide to a Happy Life, a soul-uplifting must-read in its entirety:

 http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/03/11/a-short-guide-to-a-happy-life-anna-quindlen/

Victorian Interfaith Networks Conference (VINC) - 24 November 2013 : select your workshops and register now

The 2013 Victorian Interfaith Networks Conference (VINC) 

Is being held on Sunday 24 November from 12:30pm to 5pm.

A Grass Roots Conference organised by the Faith Communities Council of Victoria (FCCV) and hosted in 2013 by Moonee Valley Interfaith Network (MVIN) & Moonee Valley City Council (MVCC). 

The Conference aims to help build the capacity and sustainability of existing multifaith/interfaith networks, bring people up-to-date with current multifaith/interfaith matters, provide networking opportunities, and assist the hosting interfaith network/council to promote its work to the local community.

Location: 

Flemington Community Centre

25 Mt Alexander Road, Flemington (Melway ref: 2A D1)

Date: 

Sunday 24November 2013

Time: 

12:30pm - 5:00pm 

(arrival from 12:30pm for 1:30pm start)

Programme Schedule:

• 12:30pm: Arrival and seating. Faith stands open for viewing.
• 1:30pm: Talks and performances relating to Indigenous Spirituality
• 2:30pm: Workshops on Interfaith/Multifaith Matters*
• 3:30pm: BREAK
• 3:50pm: Repeat of Workshops on Interfaith/Multifaith Matters*
• 4:40pm: Group Activity
• 5pm: Summary and Close

* Attendees who register for the Conference will also have the opportunity to enrol into particular workshops (there will be six workshops to choose from, and people can enrol into a maximum of two). 

PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR DOWNLOADABLE - 

registration, workshop topics & complete programming schedule.

Contact Sandy Kouroupidis (FCCV Multifaith Officer): 

officer@faithvictoria.org.au 

or 

ring 0413-347-055

This event is sponsored by 

the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

~~~~~~~~~~

Palestine and Israel - settlers and refugees. Yet there are prescient people who could see severe outcomes.

The post below comes from The Magnes Zionist 

and is republished with permission from the author.  

Thank you, Professor.

Friday, August 30, 2013

Rabbi Benjamin on the Palestinian Refugees

To the reader: At a time when the United States is pondering a strike against Syria, ostensibly to warn President Assad against further use of chemical weapons, it may seem odd to translate a piece that was written in October 1950 about the Palestinian refugees.  But it is not odd, for two reasons: first, the problem of the refugees will be with us well after the current crises in Syria and  Egypt have been resolved.  Second, and more importantly, “Rabbi Benjamin,” one of the pen names of the orthodox Jewish, Zionist, publicist , editor, and literary critic, Yehoshua Radler-Feldman (1880-1957), not only discusses the specific issue of the Palestinian refugees, but tells us how to go about addressing any issue of this sort.  Of course, he will be dismissed as a moral naif and visionary. Yet how many orthodox Jews do you know who would say that the three formative events in their moral development were the Dreyfus trial, the rise of Nazism, and the massacre at Deir Yassin?

Rabbi Benjamin in 1953

On the Question of Our Relation to the Arab Refugees – Part One

Ideological Foundations. Premises. Conclusions. Explanation and Commentary

A. Ideological Foundations

1. All men are brothers.

2. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

3. Jews and Arabs belong to one family, the Semitic family.

4. The sacred right of a man and a people to its homeland is not abrogated by departure, expulsion, or flight, whether voluntarily or through compulsion.

B. Premises.

1. The war between the Jews and the Arabs was the result of corrupt and distorted views that prevailed among the two peoples, and the corrupt political policies of their teachers and leaders.

2. The Arabs lost the battle because in their essence they are advocates of peace; they had no true desire for war, nor did they prepare for it.

3. They fled by the hundreds of thousands during wartime from their homes because they feared “Deir Yassinism,” and because they believed their exodus to be temporary.

4. The Arab refugees have the right to return to the land so as to be rehabillitated in the land as citizens with equal rights.

5. The cost of the rehabilitation has to be born by the State of Israel.

6. Their rehabilitation, like that of Jewish refugees, must come about through a general plan motivated by pure human good will.

7. Those Arab refugees who do not wish to return have the right to demand appropriate compensation.

C. Conclusions

1. The Arab-Jewish war was a war between brothers, an erroneous war, brought about by the fascist spirit that had become dominant in the world, and among Israel and the Arabs.

2. Israel’s [current] policy towards the Arab refugees is the direct continuation of the corrupt line of thinking that led to the war with all its negative consequences.

3. The continuation of this policy in the future means the militarization of Israel and the associated negative phenomena: moral corruption, fascist chauvinism, the fear of new wars and the renewal [of old ones], blood and tears, fraternal sacrifices, an economy of poverty, nakedness, and deprivation for generations.

4. The abandonment of this policy and a return to the policy of love and equality, justice and equity, will bring undoubtedly true peace between Jews and Arabs, will remove the negative consequences, and will contribute importantly to world peace

5. The return of the Arab refugees based on love and equality will revive the economy of the state, and will serve as the foundation of economic, cultural, and moral flourishing together: the messianic days.

6. Until that return has been arranged, any honest man who uses the “abandoned property” (houses, fields, movables, etc.) should know that this is essentially stolen property. If he has no choice, and he is forced to use it, he should set aside the appropriate “user fees” in order to remove them at the first opportunity to the rightful owners, as befits an honest man who is careful not to profit from highway robbery.

D. Explanation and Commentary

1. The foundation of foundations and the root of roots -- the foundation of faith and the root of hope – are two first principles that are in essence one – [that of] Unity and Love. All the darkness, all the tragedies, all the failures that have come into world from ancient times until the present, throughout the entire world and its regions – can be traced to the abandonment of this principle. The return to it is the cornerstone of mending the world (tikun ha-olam). This is nothing new, nor does it require any explanation or commentary. Every honest man understands this as self-evident (the dishonest man will draw no benefit from explanation; he prefers to remain lawless.) If, in any event, darkness prevails throughout the world, it is not due to a lack of understanding the principle, but rather to a lack of commitment and dedication to it. Everybody admits the principle, but they neither immerse themselves in it, nor cleave unto it.. They don’t understand that from the moment they separate themselves from the principle, they separate themselves from the light, and from life. They think that the principle is good in theory but not in practice. They hold that in practice it is good keep the principle frozen until the end of days, the messianic days. They profess the principle externally with their lips; they even understand that until the principle prevails in the world, darkness will not cease to exist. But at the same time they do the opposite. They listen to erroneous teachers and deceptive leaders, who teach them the principle of Separation: racial, national, religious, class, color, sexual, factional, and party separation. So the darkness in the world increases. Great men of all generations have stumbled because of it: prophets, philosophers, scientists, sages, religious and political leaders, etc., as one of the great prophets of all generations said: “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13).

When we understand all this, we see no other way before us except that which has been shown to us by the human luminaries of every generation: Repentance (teshuvah), the return to the fountain of living waters, to the source of truth – to the first principle. All opposing principles are nothing but “broken cisterns that can hold no water.” The opposite principles, with all their beauty and glitter, are of no use. They are drugs of intoxication and slumber. Redemption and salvation with not come from them.

The Jewish-Arab problem is nothing but an instance of the general framework. For every honest man and advocate of truth, there is no other way but to return to the first principle – with all its inherent difficulty. For just as it is difficult for one who smokes and drinks to refrain from smoking and drinking, so too, it is difficult for people who have been raised from their youth on the principle of Separation to return to the sacred principle of Unity. It is easy to profess externally the principle of fraternity and equality as long as it is in the abstract. But it is difficult when it appears concretely in relation to fundamental facts in the form of man whose name is Mustafa or Ahmad, who demands equal rights with Yair or Yizhar, and when you have the power to thwart his demand and to deny his right. But it is in the overcoming of the difficulty that man, the people, and the generation are tested. On this overcoming depends redemption.

(From Ner: the Journal of the Ihud Association, vol. 2, Oct. 1950) 

From Miss Eagle

Further reading:

Deir Yassin Massacre

Deir Yassin Massacre - April 9, 1948

Deir Yassin Massacre Hoax, originated by Israel Leftists

RABBI BINYAMIN 

(pseudonym of Yehoshua Radler-Feldmann; 1880–1957)

Not all settlers and Palestinians want each other to disappear

International Peace Day event: The Wisdom of Marriage at East Melbourne Synagogue. Please come.

The above event - The Wisdom of Marriage - is free.
It will be held on International Peace day - 21 September - 6pm to 9pm
at the East Melbourne Synagogue, 488 Albert Street, East Melbourne
(Parliament Station is close by)
This event is organised by COMMON

PLEASE RSVP TO: 
Jessiee Kaur Singh
SMS, Call or email
Mobile: 0411 300 655  Homo: (03) 9547 8958
jessieeks@hotmail.com

Please note:
It is also Sukkot - The Feast of Tabernacles or The Feast of Booths

Miss Eagle is speaking at this event.
It would be good to meet Networkers there.
Please introduce yourselves to me.

Joe Camilleri of La Trobe University in conversation: Dialogue in diversity - a moral compass for troubled times

Dialogue in Diversity - 

A Moral Compass for Troubled Times

An Open Conversation

with Emeritus Professor Joseph Camilleri OAM,

La Trobe University.

Sunday 11 August

3.00 pm – 4.30 pm

Nunawading Uniting Church, 355 Whitehorse Road.

For over 40 years, Prof Camilleri has researched, written, lectured and actively engaged around issues of culture, religion and dialogue. As founding director of the La Trobe’s Centre for Dialogue, he conducted a number of dialogues in conflict situations both in Australia and internationally.

This conversation will be introduced by Rev John Cranmer. He will ask Prof Camilleri how Australians are grappling with the challenges of cultural, religious and ethnic diversity at home and abroad.  Does dialogue offer a way forward? If so, how?

Gold Coin for entry

Café discussion opportunity to follow.

Moira Raynor to speak at Christ Church Cathedral, Ballarat next Sunday. Stay on for the Ecumenical Service.

Moira Raynor  speaks at Christ Church Cathedral, Ballarat, 

next Sunday 28 July 2013.

Further enquiries can be made

by phoning
Catherine Zala on 0403 091 977
or email Catherine on
cathzala@hotmail.com

You are also welcome to stay for
the Ecumenical Prayer Service at 5pm

Dale Hess's Calendar - 2013-07-22

The Centre for Dialogue (CfD) is pleased to announce that applications are now open for the Muslim Leadership Program. This is the seventh year of the course, coordinated by the CfD in conjunction with the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV). We would be pleased if you could forward this information to your networks so that we may attract the most talented future Muslim leaders; people who are ‘ready to face the challenges of tomorrow’. Full details and the online application form are available at www.latrobe.edu.au/dialogue

Picture from here

Monday 22 July, 12 noon: 

International Day Against Multinational Corporations. We invite the social and human rights organizations and all those affected by the policies of the transnational corporations, to join the International Day to be held in different countries on July 20th & 22nd, as an expression of protest against exploitation, poverty, hunger, war, so that we do not become the ones who pay for the economic crisis and environment devastation”. Bring your flags,demands and ideas, open mic. Meet at Monsanto Office, 600 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne. More Info: Call 0425 539 149 or 0414 970 418. 

Write to: lasnet@latinlasnet.org. 

Website:http://www.latinamericansolidaritynetwork.org

Monday 22 July, 6.30 pm: 

Denouncing Meeting. We will have a denouncing meeting on Monday July 22 (the international day) at Trades Hall in Carlton. More Info: Call 0425 539 149 or 0414 970 418. 

Write to: lasnet@latinlasnet.org. Picture from here

Website: http://www.latinamericansolidaritynetwork.org

Wednesday 24 July, 7 pm – 8.30 pm: 

Women in Afghanistan. Nuclear physicist and human rights activist Dr Nouria Salehi will talk about projects for women in Afghanistan. 

Venue: St Kilda Sports Club, 66 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda. 

RSVP: email: innersouthamnesty@hotmail.com by 17th July. 

Cost:entry by gold coin donation.

Thursday 25 July, 6.30 pm: 

Public Meeting: US Militarisation of the Pacific. MAPW with the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network is organising this meeting with visiting activists Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero from Guam, and Bruce Gagnon, US campaigner against the militarisation of space. Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero will speak about the US military build-up in Guam, and Bruce Gagnon will discuss Pacific implications of changing US strategy and the "pivot" to Asia and the Pacific. Venue: Meeting Room 1, Trades Hall, corner of Victoria and Lygon Streets, Carlton.

Picture from here

Thursday 25 July, 7 pm: 

Film screening: Frontrunner. Bayside Group of Amnesty International film night with coffee and dessert. The film is Frontrunner, which is a documentary on Afghanistan’s first democratic election. Venue: All Souls Church Hall, 48 Bay Road, Sandringham (Mel Ref 76 G10). RSVP by 22 July to Tom Rehn Tel: 9521 9086; Email: rad4@bigpond.com.  

Friday 26 July & Saturday 27 July: 

Celebrate Australian Indigenous Culture and Literature at the 2013 Past Matters Festival. Join a stellar line up of Australian writers, historians, filmmakers, scholars and thinkers as they delve into Australia’s Indigenous past and spotlight its present.

 For a detailed program:http://home.vicnet.net.au/~nrgp/index_files/events.html  orhttp://www.montsalvat.com.au/WhatsOn/FESTIVALthePastMatters.aspx

Tuesday 30 July, 8 pm: 

Asylum Seekers – Fact v. Retoric! Genuine facts and figures from 
Prof. Andrew Markus, Monash University and
Faris Mallouhi, La Trobe University. 
ALL WELCOME! 
Venue: High Street Road Uniting Church. Enquiries: Jim 0400 789 543 or Dennis 0488 198 461
Sponsored by the Uniting Churches in Chadstone & Mount Waverley.

Tuesday 6 August, 7.30am - 8.30am 

Hiroshima Day! Every year MAPW, along with other peace organisations, holds a vigil to mark the dropping of an atomic weapon on Hiroshima at 8.15 am on 6 August 1945 and to remember those killed in the attack.
Venue: Steps of St Pauls Cathedral,Swanston St., Melbourne.

Wednesday 7 August, 7:30 pm. 

What now for asylum seekers?

Caz Coleman will review efforts by church and community groups to improve outcomes for refugees and asylum seekers in Australia, while recognising the difficult political constraints. 

Misha Coleman will speak on how local church and community groups can help shape humane policies, including by questioning candidates for the forthcoming federal government elections, and helping to bust the myths perpetrated in this debate, within congregations and with parishioners. She will identify successes so far and challenges everyone can help overcome. 

At the Study Centre, Yarra Theological Union, 34 Bedford Street, Box Hill (best entry via 34 Bedford Street). Tea/coffee and snacks provided afterwards. Your donations welcome.
For the flyer for this event, click HERE.

Thursday 8 August, 7 pm: 

Public Forum: Truth-Telling: Criminalised by Our Government & Suppressed by our Media. 

Hear Julian Assange via live video link from London. Speaking together with a candidate for the WikiLeaks Party (TBA) and Bill Deller, host of 3CR Radio’s Solidarity Breakfast Show. Fitzroy Town Hall, 201 Napier Street, Fitzroy. Entry: $10 conc / $20 full. SPECIAL $5 entry for 3CR subscribers http://www.3cr.org.au/subscribe. All proceeds go to 3CR Radio. Presented by WikiLeaks http://waca.net.au/ & 3CR Radio’s Solidarity Breakfast Show http://www.3cr.org.au/. For more info contact Bill Deller: 

Phone: 0429 792 274

Email: billdeller49@gmail.com

 Saturday 10 August, 3 pm – 5 pm: 

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Peace Concert. 

This year Japanese for Peace will be holding their Peace Concert at Deakin Edge, Federation Square. It will feature Tim Costello, Hiroshima Junior Marimba Ensemble,Australian Percussion Academy, Jenny Biddle, Bart Willoughby, Orchestra 21, and Wadaiko Rindo. 

Bookings at Trybookings or at the door. Tickets: $20 (full), $15 (conc.). Website: www.jfp.org.au ...

10 August, 12 October, 10 & 11 November: 

Community Development. 

A 4-day short course from one of the world's leading community development practitioners. Working with Dr Jacques Boulet, students will explore concepts, strategies and practices associated with community development. This course looks at ways to empower community not just for survival but with the aim that they will thrive in a way that is sustainable and life enhancing. 

For more info & to register, click here. Venue: Oases Graduate School, Community Learning and Research Centre, 2 Minona Street, Hawthorn.

11 August, 8 & 9 September, 13 October:

Sustainable Relationships in a Technological Age. A 4-day short course at the heart of what it means to live well. How are your relationships with others and the rest of the living world being affected by this age of extraordinary technological progress? Under the guidance of one of Australia’s leading experts in social development, Dr Jacques Boulet, you will reflect on the last 600 years of human history and understand how to create better relationships and communities. For more info & to register, click here. Venue: Oases Graduate School, Community Learning and Research Centre, 2 Minona Street, Hawthorn.

Sunday 18 August to Wednesday 21 August: 

JCMA’s 10^th Winter Conference: Sorry is the Hardest Word: Forgiveness and Repentance. JCMA conferences are intended for anyone from one of the three Abrahamic faiths. Participants include men and women, academics, those working in support or welfare roles, tertiary students, and members and leaders of faith communities. 

Sunday TasterOpportunity:1 pm - 9.45 pm. Cost: $55. 

Sunday, the first day of the conference, will provide an overview of the main themes. People who are unable to attend for the whole conference welcome to come to this Sunday Taster.

Applications closing date: Friday 19 July 2013. 

Conference Centre, Pallotti College, Millgrove Melways 289 A2. 

An application form for registration is available www.trybooking.com/CFGA.

  

Friday 23 August – Sunday 25 August: 

Pax Christi Australia National conference:

Peacemaking, an Alternative Narrative! 

Venue: Edmund Rice Centre, Homebush, Sydney. 

More details soon.

Tuesday 17 September, 7 pm refreshments, 7.30 pm start: 

International Day of Peace Community Program. 

To celebrate what is commonly known as 'Peace Day' around the world, the Boroondara Interfaith Network, in partnership with Burwood and District Inter-Church Council, invites you to a forum bringing together people of all faith backgrounds to discuss how we bring peace in today's society. The forum panellists are established and well known in their communities including a Director of the Islamic Museum. School Principal, Victoria police inspector, Multicultural Program coordinator at Wesley Mission and a University Law/Arts student who recently played Fraanz in ‘The Producers’.

 Venue: Church of Christ Hartwell, 246 Highfield Road (close to Toorak Road) Camberwell, (75Tram. Burwood station, MEL 60E5). 

This event is free, however bookings are essential. 

Phone 9278 4753 or register online: www.eventbrite/idp.com.au

Thursday 19 September (time & location TBA): 

Satish Kumar to visit OASES & present a talk in the evening. 

A former monk and long-term peace and environment activist, Satish Kumar has been quietly setting the Global Agenda for change for over 50 years. He was just nine when he left his family home to join the wandering Jains and 18 when he decided he could achieve more back in the world. Satish is Editor of Resurgence Magazine & a Visiting Fellow at the Schumacher College, a close affiliate of the OASES Graduate School. We hope you can join us for an evening with this warm, creative and highly respected man.

  

Saturday 12 October: 

March Against Monsanto. 

Please organise or join the next March Against Monsanto in your town. The movement for GM-free is now grass roots and global! Find the cities already participating at: http://bit.ly/ZTDsk8.

  

Saturday & Sunday 19 & 20 October, 16 & 17 November:  

Creating Connections & Opening Up Creativity. 

A 4-day short course learning deeply about our inherent creativity. An aesthetic experience can spark an enlightening moment where things become clearer and make more sense. This course will guide participants to create your own bridges towards clarity. For more info & to register, click here. Venue: Oases Graduate School, Community Learning and Research Centre, 2 Minona Street, Hawthorn.