Interfaith

For the past three years the World Evangelical Alliance has been working with the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches on a draft Code of Conduct to be followed by Christians working amongst Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and those of other faiths. The catalyst for this was allegations by Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists that Christians were seeking to evangelise by deceitful methods, such as inducement and bribery in the form of medical and educational work, social work, helping the poor, promises of jobs, etc. All three bodies, that is the RCC/WCC/WEA, are united that the work of conversion is that of the Holy Spirit, but that we as Christians are commanded by Jesus Christ to spread the good news of the Gospel to all people all over the world and we are also commanded the Lord to go about doing good, as His disciples. I enclose the links to two draft documents (in PDF). 1. http://www.worldevangelicals.org/WCC_WEA_Vat_Code_Draft.pdf The first is the result of two conferences held between the RCC/WCC/WEA. This document has been submitted to the constituencies of all three bodies for their comment in time for a further conference to be held some time this year. What all three bodies want is a code containing principles to which at least a majority of their constituents will adhere, a code which can demonstrate that Christians of all persuasions around the world adhere to the...

The Human Rights Commission has started another discussion on religion - this one about religion in the workplace. The discussion was launched at the recent Religious Diversity Forum in Wellington on 24 August, the same day that the final version of the Religion in Schools and the revised Statement on Religious Diversity documents were released. Discussions about how to accommodate other religious beliefs in New Zealand can be uncomfortable for some people, but are necessary and Christians should be leading the way. The Bible shows that we have a duty to welcome the stranger. Also, we advocate for justice in countries where Christians are marginalised, so we need to be careful that we are not guilty of the same conduct in our own country. The process for the religion in the workplace discussion was not explained at the forum, but visionnetwork is encouraging Christians to be proactive in their own churches and workplaces in talking about the sort of issues that could arise. Read more... Martien Kelderman, CEO of the Fountain Institute and leader of visionnetwork task force on faith in the workplace, has begun inviting Christian business leaders to consider what sort of issues may be involved. These could include such things as whether people from other religions should be able to take off different holy days rather than Easter and Christmas; whether special breaks should be permitted in the workday for prayers; whether employers ought to reserve special areas for prayer rooms...

The Human Rights Commission, which has almost completed the Guidelines for Religion in Schools, is moving on to religious diversity in the workplace. The University of Victoria Religious Studies Programme is hosting the annual Religious Diversity Forum on Monday 24 August. The forum continues the focus on different aspects of the Statement on Religious Diversity, and the topic for this year is religious diversity in the workplace. Professor Paul Morris of the University of Victoria Religious Studies Programmewill provide an overview of the issues, including reasonable accommodation of religious practices, such as clothing, prayer times and spaces, recognition of sacred days, and issues of health and safety, inclusion, and tolerance. He will also discuss complaints and enquiries made to the Human Rights Commission on the topic in recent years. Representatives of employers, unions and faith communities will provide further perspectives. Confirmed panellists are Paul Mackay, Business New Zealand; Andrew Little, Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union; Ann Pala, Islamic Women's Council and Waitakere Ethnic Board; and Associate Professor Edwina Pio, AUT Business School. The forum will also feature the launch of the Guidelines on Religion in Schools, produced by the Human Rights Commission (to be launched by Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres and the Human Rights Commission Executive Director Joanna Collinge), and the revised Statement on Religious Diversity (to be...

Christians in Southeast Asia are debating their right to refer to God as Allah, writes Christianity Today.
To Malaysian and Indonesian Christians, Allah is simply the word for God. However, state laws frequently ban Christians and other non-Muslims from using the term, on the grounds that it will cause confusion among Muslim believers and threaten the security of the nation.
So in Malaysia, teen singer Agnes Monica has had her song Allah Peduli ("God Cares") banned, and Malaysia's Ministry of Home Affairs has sent letters to the editor of the national Catholic newspaper, The Herald, asking him to cease using Allah in the paper's Malay edition or face the threat of banning.
Perhaps in anticipation of another unfavorable ruling, the Indonesian organization Yayasan Lentera Bangsa has published a new translation of the Bible in Indonesian. Allah does not appear in the Kitab Suci Indonesian Literal Translation (KS-ILT). Instead, the publishers transliterated Hebrew terms (such as Elohim) and substituted some less-common Indonesian names for God.
Mainstream churches, however, have been hostile to the KS-ILT. Neither the Bible Society of Indonesia nor that of Malaysia has approved the translation. The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) of Malaysia issued a statement "strongly opposing" the translation. "We continue to maintain the right to use Allah as it has been so used for over 300 years in Malaysia," the group said.
Evangelical observers...

"Will religious education guidelines be fair and accurate?"This is one of the questions asked by visionnetwork director Glyn Carpenter, as the Human Rights Commission works towards its final version of the Religion in Schools document. Submissions for the final draft closed on 30 June.

"Will religious education guidelines be fair and accurate?" This is one of the questions asked by visionnetwork director Glyn Carpenter, as the Human Rights Commission works towards its final version of the Religion in Schools document. Submissions for the final draft closed on 30 June.

Religion in New Zealand Schools
Questions and Concerns 2009 (Draft Document) Submission from Visionnetwork of New Zealand
June 2009 Introduction We are thankful for this opportunity to respond to the Religion in Schools - Final Consultation Document. We affirm the purpose of this initiative, described in the document as being "to offer guidance and act as a resource for thinking about the issues and on how schools [sic] can give a place to religion that ensures the security and dignity of all". We acknowledge the huge amount of effort that has gone into developing the document to its present stage, and record our thanks to all those involved. We also record at the beginning of this submission our appreciation for the expert opinion offered on the specific questions covered in the document. If this can help people avoid the need to resolve issues through legal measures, it will be a worthwhile exercise indeed. However, we are disappointed that this latest draft continues to repeat a problem highlighted in our previous submission (September 2008), which was discussed at length, and which we thought was resolved at the time of the Statement on Religious Diversity discussions (2006-2007). We submit that in the interests of accuracy and fairness, this matter needs to be addressed both before this document is finalised and in the other statement when it is reviewed (scheduled for some time this year). If our education system is to develop qualities of truth and...

  2002
October The Bali bombings prompted the Australian and Indonesian governments to organise a dialogue involving faith community leaders and political representatives to reduce the risk of anything similar happening again. 2004 December The 1st Asia Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue in Yogykarta, Indonesia. 15 countries attended with delegations of 10 people each, including a representative of the government and leader(s) of the major faith communities. Three members of the NZ delegation (Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres, Dean of Auckland's Anglican Cathedral Richard Randerson, and Head of Religious Studies at Victoria University Paul Morris) began discussing the idea of national interfaith statement, intended to be an aspirational document. 2006 March The 2nd Asia Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue in Cebu, Philippines. 2006 August A draft document titled National Religious Diversity Statement was presented to a national interfaith meeting in Wellington. 2006 October A working group met to discuss the draft document, including the three people who originated the idea, one leader from the main minority faith groups, and two or three Christian leaders. Glyn Carpenter from visionnetwork was a member of the working group and attended the two meetings which took place. 2006
Oct-Dec Submissions received and processed. 2007
Jan The 2nd meeting of the...

Part 1 of a chapter by Glyn Carpenter
Printed in the book New Vision Vol III (Tabernacle Publishing, 2008)   Part 1 of this paper sets out to summarize recent activity in interfaith dialogue in New Zealand with special emphasis on the Religious Diversity Statement and the Third Asia-Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue, Waitangi, Bay of Islands, 29-31 May 2007. Part 2 of this paper explores some of the practical and theological issues involved in interfaith dialogue. Background and Introduction The existence of different faiths has been a feature of New Zealand society since the early 19th century when indigenous Maori spirituality encountered Christianity. The so-called fourth article of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, prompted by Catholic Bishop Pompallier, protected the "several faiths (beliefs) of England, of the Wesleyans, of Rome, and also Maori custom". A debate over prayer at the very first sitting of Parliament on 26 May 1854 led to a resolution which asserted "the privilege of a perfect political equality in all religious denominations, and that, whoever may be called upon to perform this duty for the House, it is not thereby intended to confer or admit any pre-eminence to that Church or religious body to which he may belong". It is worth noting that this "perfect political equality" was within a clear Christian context, even what Ahdar has called a "de facto establishment of a generic Christianity". 1 The arrival of Chinese immigrants in the 1860s...

Vision Network national director Glyn Carpenter says he is concerned at the way email is being used to spread inaccurate information, which usually reflects badly against a particular group, often Muslims.

He says several emails currently going the rounds illustrate the problem. In one case, an Anzac Day PowerPoint claims that the “UK government had removed the Holocaust from the British school curriculum because it offended ‘the Muslim population beliefs’ that the holocaust never took place”.

In response, the chief executive of the UK’s Holocaust Educational Trust re-affirmed that teaching on the Holocaust became part of the National Curriculum for History in 1991. It is statutory for all students in England and Wales to learn about the Holocaust at Key Stage 3 usually in Year 9 History (ages 13 -14).

Another example claims that Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recently told Muslims to get out of Australia if they were not prepared to adapt to the Australian way of life. This is in fact a bowdlerisation of a column originally written by a correspondent in a small Midwest American newspaper, which was subsequently taken up, changed and attributed to the leaders of many Western countries.

“The relative anonymity of the internet makes rants like these extremely popular,” says Mr Carpenter. “Since getting one of these emails from several different sources (which shows it’s travelled far and wide), I’ve started...