Tuesday's conversation

Hi all,

Just thought I'd bring the remnants of Tuesday's conversation (at least from the time I left) into this forum.

First, I had asked about the impact of service upon one's personal faith experience. After everyone shared, the idea of "loving others to elevate one's faith experience" seemed to function as a common factor in each person's description. At the same time, our respective notions of "loving others" came across differently--for some the key attraction to faith-based service appears to be personal spiritual cleansing, whereas for others it seems that service is simply a necessary and unquestionably good thing to do.

I suppose I'd like to initiate a dialogue about everyone's notion of love, or loving others, and they way in which one's proprietary scripture, tradition, or culture, informs this notion. Or perhaps a brief discussion on Tuesday would be more effective.

Either way, look forward to seeing everyone next week.

Best,

Jake

Interfaith Alternative Spring Break - Tucson 2011

ASB Tucson: Conocimiento

All students, of any or no religious background, are invited to apply to be part of an unforgettable adventure next Spring Break. "Conocimiento" is an experience in service, advocacy, learning and spiritual reflection in Tucson, Arizona. The week will be both a service-learning experience and an interfaith spiritual retreat. In the Tucson area, we will work with faith-based groups focused on human rights and immigration reform. We’ll meet with undocumented migrants crossing the US-Mexico border, Border Patrol (“migra”) officers, local politicians, and rabbis and pastors working for immigration reform. We’ll volunteer at a meal program and a medical clinic that serve undocumented people. We’ll participate in the weekly vigil at a shrine in Tucson that memorializes those who have died crossing the border. We’ll visit the US side of the border fence at Nogales and visit sacred sites in the Tohono O’Odham Native American reservation. We will experience Native American, Catholic Christian, Jewish, Protestant Christian, and worship and spiritual practice of other faiths. We’ll meditate, pray, and reflect together on our experiences, in the midst of the natural beauty of the Sonoran Desert. We’ll have free time for enjoying the cultural richness of the area, as well. We’ll be living simply for the week, sleeping in sleeping bags on church floors and camping in the desert, sharing meals with local people.
Trip Dates: March 12-19, 2011
Cost: $412.00

Application Timeline:
October 22, 2010: Application deadline
October 22-29, 2010: Interview
November 5, 2010: Group selection/invitations sent
November 19, 2010: Accept/decline & security deadline

Payment Timeline:
November 19, 2010: Deposit due
January 14, 2011: First payment
January 21, 2011: Last day to withdraw with refund (less deposit)
January 28, 2011: Second payment
February 11, 2011: Third Payment
February 25, 2011: Final Payment

If you want more information on the situation near the border, No More Deaths (nomoredeaths.org) and Humane Borders (humaneborders.org) are two interfaith organizations in Southern Arizona to check out.

I'll post the application either tonight or tomorrow morning. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment. (And spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested in applying!)

Navratri celebrations, Please RSVP

Navaratri Mother Divine Festival – October 8-17

The Mythology of the Mother Divine Festival

Mother Divine Festival Ceremonies

What is Navaratri? Navaratri, literally meaning ‘nine nights’, is an ancient Indian festival celebrating Mother Divine in all her forms. Divinity has two aspects- manifest and unmanifest, feminine and masculine. During the ten days and nine nights of the Mother Divine Festival, we honor the strength, nurture, compassion, and other feminine divine qualities we experience in our lives.

What happens during Navaratri? On each evening, Swami Suryapada of the Art of Living Foundation together with the pundits will perform different pujas- ceremonies of prayer, gratitude and offering that decrease negativity and increase positivity in ourselves and our environment. View the program here.

The festival guests are invited to sit and meditate to the live vedic chants of the pundits and experience the full power the ancient rituals of Navaratri. The ceremonies are beautiful to look at and also serve a definite purpose scientifically. Various herbs and substances such as honey, water, and ghee, are used during the ceremony. All of these substances through smoke provide a healing effect on our system. The mantras are chanted in Sanskrit, one of the earliest languages of the Indo-European language family. Just like different types of music, the different sounds of the mantras have different subtle effects on the spirit. They enliven certain qualities within us such as love, connectivity and peace. The mantras also dissolve the negative qualities which cover the positivity which is at our core.

These pujas have been performed for thousands of years to bring peace, to bring prosperity, to dissolve negative karmas and to uplift the human spirit. When we are grateful and our mind is clear, when the prana, the subtle energy, of the environment is high, then any in intention we take will manifest. Navaratri is a time for setting the highest of intentions and we invite you to do so at this unprecedented event.

Please check more details and RSVP for this festival here.

Why is service important in your faith tradition?

Hi Ifaithers,

The Interfaith Council met tonight with 19 people gathering to eat some delicious veggie pizza. Over 9 different faith traditions were represented. We started by learning about a few holidays that recently passed, including Yom Kippur (the Jewish day of Atonement), Eid al Fitr (the Muslim festival after the end of the month of Ramadan), and Mabon, the Pagan holiday celebrating the harvest. We started the conversation by talking about Yom Kippur and the idea that simply atoning for our sins is not enough, we must put the atonement into action and serve the community. We learned that in the Qur'an there is a similar quote that tells us that those who pray without serving others are not true followers of Islam. In Paganism, the rule of three states that any action you do will come back to you (positive or negative) three times. And in the Sikh and Baha'i traditions, service is a central element of faith.

All faith and non-faith traditions teach us that service to others is very important. What do we get out of it? We posed the question that if service makes us feel good, is it selfish? Is that a bad thing? We also talked about building relationships through serving others, bonds that are incredibly strong. So what does service mean to you, both in your faith and personally? Comments are welcome and encouraged!

Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life releases "U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey"

Hey guys,

I can't make it to IFC today, but came across this new survey released by the Pew Research Center and I hope you guys check it out! It's pretty interesting and relates back to our Face to Faith discussions and the importance of learning about other religious traditions.

Here's the intro...

"Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

On average, Americans correctly answer 16 of the 32 religious knowledge questions on the survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Atheists and agnostics average 20.9 correct answers. Jews and Mormons do about as well, averaging 20.5 and 20.3 correct answers, respectively. Protestants as a whole average 16 correct answers; Catholics as a whole, 14.7. Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons perform better than other groups on the survey even after controlling for differing levels of education."

(follow this link to read more)

Best,

Vicki

President Obama Speaks to the Muslim World from Cairo, Egypt

I had to watch this speech for my IR class and I found it very interesting. Although it's very long, President Obama makes many good points that apply not only to Muslim-American relations but interfaith understanding in general.

Cairo, Egypt

June 5, 2009

Jon Stewart just wants an interfaith breakfast! :)

Following up on our discussion a couple of weeks ago about the controversy over the Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero, here are some Jon Stewart and Keith Olbermann segments:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Municipal Land-Use Hearing Update
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Cartoon

What do you guys think of this cartoon by Mike Luckovich?

Vicki

Burn holy books or read them?

Jim received this beautiful poem, written by Arvind, a graduate student at USC, after he heard of the proposed Quran burning on 9/11/10 (which, thankfully, did not end up happening). I thought it was particularly relevant to our discussion 2 weeks ago about the controversy surrounding the proposed Islamic cultural center in New York and the toxic environment that has ensued:

All I ask is that each Book be read!

The Word, to the pious, comes from God...
To others, it's just in Man's mind bred!
In sheer disbelief, though you may nod...
All I ask is that each Book be read!

Reduced to writing in earthly ink,
These are heavenly decrees it's said.
When it means the world to us, some think,
All I ask is that each Book be read!

“There is but one Divine Decree!”
By this call were countless armies led!
Before a preaching or killing spree,
All I ask is that each Book be read!

In dead silence under mystery's shroud,
By unread Scripture is hatred fed!
Before rousing rabbles in the crowd,
All I ask is that each Book be read!

What was wisdom in a bygone age,
Our modern mind may view with dread!
Viewing with Reason's eye every page,
All I ask is that each Book be read!

-Arvind Iyer
University of Southern California
September 8, 2010


Posted by Sarrah

Thank you!

Thanks for posting the interfaith service pics from yesterday, Vicki! SO much fun! I kind of want to go back and paint the yellow this time....perhaps next semester...
-Sarrah

Barn Painting at Taking the Reins!

(click on each photo for a higher resolution that can be downloaded to your computer)

Photos from Greekfest

Check out some photos from the Souljourn trip to "Greekfest" last weekend (Sep 12th). It was an amazing event with Greek food, dancing, and an interesting tour of the large Christian Orthodox chapel it was hosted at, Saint Sophia's Cathedral. The shots are posted on my website: http://nathanielgonzalez.smugmug.com/Religion/Greekfest/13750058_Lv4PA#1005797257_Hw85P.

Welcome to iFaith

Hi iFaith Community!
Welcome to the University of Southern California's Interfaith Council blog. This is meant to be a shared space to discuss anything about faith or religion, so please feel free to post! Remember, IFC meetings are every Tuesday from 6 to 7:30 pm in URC 103. See you there!
For more info or for a blog invitation, please email iFaith@usc.edu.

Peace!