tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152955814546861725.post7739473599658170633..comments2022-11-10T14:38:10.263+00:00Comments on Not Yet Out Of The Woods: World Parliament of Religions Opens In MelbourneOranjepanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08150901449640162740noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152955814546861725.post-62013919104776499652009-12-04T07:43:58.189+00:002009-12-04T07:43:58.189+00:00Sniffy? No. Cynical, yes.
I find religion a pecul...Sniffy? No. Cynical, yes.<br /><br />I find religion a peculiar thing. I've also been in the conference organising business and made a decent profit out of each one I've organised.<br /><br />So my jury is out on this event.<br /><br />Yes our job is to lead. Leading from the back is always harder, unless one was a Great War staff officer, than leading from the front.<br /><br />I hope, simply, that this event, timed as it is to coincide with the interest in climate change and lowering pollution (topics which may or may not be linked), does not skim over other issues.Tim Trenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00698536468287397610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152955814546861725.post-29013381498505638252009-12-04T01:15:38.431+00:002009-12-04T01:15:38.431+00:00Well, I can't say for certain, but some of the...Well, I can't say for certain, but some of the reports do indicate that plenty of gay people, as well as many Africans, will be represented. So I strongly doubt what is going on in Uganda will be completely ignored. <br /><br />However the security aspect is more of a directly political issue, so I promise I will focus on the emergence of regionally federated political blocs later in the series to do this side of things justice.<br /><br />I also think it is unfair to describe it as a 'godly jolly' when the organisers have gone out of their way to ensure the godless are involved in fair numbers too.<br /><br />Sometimes I really could throw my hands up in frustration - are you sure you're not really just being sniffy? <br /><br />Of course it won't be perfect, but serious effort does go into making the 4-yearly event worthwhile and the coincidence of Melbourne with Copenhagen is not by accident - they are talking about many similar issues and by the names of attendees I would fully expect many of them to be in regular contact with each other during the course of proceedings.<br /><br />There is a place to be confrontational, but I really don't think this blog is it. I'm actually more interested in how the 'parliament' is part of the growing integration of the world as an event which enables more people to communicate with each other across borders than the specific issues (of which there are far too many worthy ones to mention).<br /><br />So I challenge you that anyone is being silent on those issues which you care about, rather that there are so many voices and they are so underreported that it is difficult to pick them out amidst the din.<br /><br />Instead of asking where are the leaders, I prefer to answer that we each are capable of leading - so we should look to ourselves.Oranjepannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152955814546861725.post-40478894582131565242009-12-03T23:13:21.792+00:002009-12-03T23:13:21.792+00:00A complex agenda. A lot can hide in its pages or a...A complex agenda. A lot can hide in its pages or appear to be in there that is really absent.<br /><br />I hold out little hope for it to be included.Tim Trenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00698536468287397610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152955814546861725.post-89361233318573295662009-12-03T17:30:48.845+00:002009-12-03T17:30:48.845+00:00Having a look at the programme it could be covered...Having a look at the programme it could be covered in any number of sessions on Peace and Justice.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/_includes/files/program/schedule/2009%20PWR%20Programs%20by%20Category.pdf" rel="nofollow">Have a look at this</a> (the relevant bit are on p78-80 I think.<br /><br />The problem is that it is similar to the UN in that it has no directly enforcable powers to back up its resolutions, so it has to been seen in different light as part of a process which build political consensus by which influence can be exerted.<br /><br />IE force of argument over force of arms.<br /><br />I think your sense of outrage will be disappointed at the lack of concreteness in what it represents, but at the same time unsupportive language probably isn't helpful in making it a more effective forum over the longer term.<br /><br />Look beyond the specific and I think you have to understand it is part of a massive shift in global attitudes against authoritarian doctrine. As an entity therefore is is part of the global political architecture which will help prevent the adoption of atrocitious policies by future governments.Oranjepanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08150901449640162740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7152955814546861725.post-9577844598949535432009-12-03T16:33:13.424+00:002009-12-03T16:33:13.424+00:00Do you know if they will be discussing the Ugandan...Do you know if they will be discussing the <a href="http://timtrent.blogspot.com/2009/12/uganda-kill-gays-bill.html" rel="nofollow">Ugandan bill to kill homosexuals</a>, and have their friends and neighbours inform against them in order to round them up and slaughter them as judicial murder? Will it discuss the Ugandan church's support for this bill, together with the head of the Anglican church's careful silence on the matter?<br /><br />We have a new holocaust and the established church is wondrously silent. Where are the leaders of substance?<br /><br />Or is this just a godly jolly?Tim Trenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00698536468287397610noreply@blogger.com