Conferences Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

PFBC – Thanks

Well, the first Progressive Faith Blog Con is over. Unfortunately I couldn’t make the last day, but the reports are good. I want to thank the good organizers of the Con for making it a success. The group was a large enough size that it felt like we could do something real, but small enough to be intimate. It was diverse enough to avoid us sounding like an echo chamber, but respectful enough to always have something in common. I know in an event like this there are numerous people, named and nameless, faced and faceless, to make individual thanks…

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Conferences Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

PFBC – Muslim Worship

Introduction to adhān (call to prayer) and the Fatihah (The Opening; first surah/chapter of the Qur’an, used to begin prayers and activities). Zikr/dhikr explained. Remembrance of God. Phrases we used below: Bismillah ir-Raḥmān ir-Raḥīm – In the name of God the most Compassionate, the most Merciful lā illāh ilā allāh – there is not deity but God shukrun līllah wa al-ḥamdulīllāh – all thanks and praise are due to God yā raḥmān yā raḥīm – O Compassionate; O Merciful Walked through one cycle of prayer in English to demonstrate positions and structure. CDs used: Ocean of Remembrance (The CD is…

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Conferences Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

PFBC – Faith and Politics, A Path to Engagement

Thurman (Xpatriated Texan), Mik (JSpot), Bruce (Talk2Action) Thurman: we have a separation between church and state. not in constitution. [makes my favorite argument about the establishment clause and the free expression clause.] term comes from Thomas Jefferson. History of religion and the Founding Fathers of the US. Wedged between religious right and the secular left. Presidents used the idea of God frequently until JFK who had to renounce his religion. marks turning point in American Left. Really good historical introduction. Couldn’t capture it all, he had me enthralled. Mik: Referencing Obama speech. It was fantastic. Second look made him think…

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Conferences Inter-faith Intra-faith Web/Tech

PFBC – The Tech

Publishing TypePad MoveableType Drupal Joomla/Mambo WordPress Ecto Scoop Blogger Blogsome LibSyn (Podcasting) Odeo (Podcasting) Vox Aggregator Netvibes Bloglines Kinja NewsFire NetNewsWire (Lite) Findory Promotion Technorati AdWords Google Mashups FeedBurner Zookoda Democracy in Action Vertical Response Other Tools Flock del.icio.us flickr FreshTags PhotoBucket Hello Mandarin Design Technorati Tags: progfaithblogcon

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Conferences Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

PFBC – Breakout – Blogging Text

[can’t talk and type at the same time, so my comments are not here. see other blogs for a run down of what I said.] Moderated by Rabbi Jill (JSpot, Radical Torah) Judaism has a rich textual tradition, not all of it text. Jill: Blog about Torah with a social justice idea. Infuse Jewish perspective on other texts (NYT) Tim (Christian Alliance for Progress): Trying to bring Christian texts to bear on public policy. Mik (JSpot): Most of my blogging doesn’t involve posting on text. Try to balance posting. Rachel (Velveteen Rabbi, Radical Torah): Blogs Torah portion of the week.…

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Current Affairs Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

PFBC – Roots and Branches

[formatting is off. notes are incomplete. go read Rachel, she’s better.] Rabbi Arthur of the Shalom Center. Quoting friend and teacher: Different religions are like different organs in the body. Want them to do what they do, and nothing else, but also realize they have the same DNA. What is the DNA? and what unfolds for itself? Chris Walton, Philocrates: Do people interact with different perspectives within own faith tradition? (Good show of hands) Rachel: How do we connect across faith lines, and internally? easier to talk to other faiths than internally (Christian Alliance for Progress, Public Theologian) ep fracture…

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Conferences Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

PFBC – Beginnings

The Progressive Faith Blog Con started last night, and what a good beginning it was. Thurman Hart of Xpatriated Texan gave us some powerful opening remarks. Go read. We began with a Jewish prayer service, led by the Velveteen Rabbi herself, Rachel Barenblat. It was pleasure to finally get to meet her. The service was full of taqwa – God consciousness. It was not just about the prayer, but about praying to remember God outside of the liturgical setting, to know that God is, and always should be, with us. Download and read her prayer book. We sat down for…

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Conferences Inter-faith Intra-faith Religion

PFBC – Pluralism [updated]

In anticipation of a panel I’m on on diversity, here are two quotes from Diana Eck on the topic. (Thanks to one of the other panelists, Emily Ronald, for finding and supplying them.) “What then, is pluralism? The word has been used so widely and freely as a virtual synonym for such terms as relativism, subjectivism, multiculturalism, and globalism that we need to stop for a moment and think clearly about what it does and does not mean. Pluralism is but one of several responses to diversity and to modernity. It is an interpretation of plurality, an evaluation of religious…

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