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Faith Communities Council of Victoria (VINC) : 2017 Conference in Bendigo

The Faith Communities Council of Victoria is the peak interfaith body in Victoria, Australia.  Its website is a go-to place for all (or almost all) that is happening in faiths in Victoria.  Each year, on a Sunday afternoon in November, FCCV holds a wonderful interfaith conference: Victorian Interfaith Networks Conference (VINC).

The conference is a wonderful opportunity for meeting people.  There are speakers and performances and - most importantly - wonderful food and stalls.  The conference moves around.  It has always been held in a Melbourne local government area, going to a different area each year.

2017 breaks this Melbourne-focussed circuit.  For the very first time, the Victorian Interfaith Networks Conference leaves Melbourne and goes to regional Victoria as it travels to the historic gold mining city of  Bendigo.

The reason for the Bendigo conference is not merely to do something different from previous years. For those who are unaware, there has been a great battle (now quietened) in Bendigo over the building of a mosque. This blog won't go into all the details of this because it does not wish to give publicity to organisations, personalities, and events surrounding widespread community antagonism to the mosque. 

However, the anti-mosque forces were overcome by equally determined Bendigo citizens who refused to have their city become a place of bigotry and sectarianism.  Two significant things occurred more or less at the same time.  A Facebook site under the title of Believe in Bendigo appeared and a local business woman, Margot Spalding, emerged as a leader for the positive forces in an antagonistic community debate.  (A sidenote to this is that, through Margot's initiative, the author of this blog and Margot became friends.)  Once Margot went public with her views, it seemed that the temperature of community antagonism decreased by a few degrees.

Is there an active interfaith organisation in your community? They can be so interesting.  Variety can be the spice of life and mixing in interfaith circles can provide plenty of spice and opportunities for most interesting friendships abound.

Margot Spalding

Photo from the Bendigo Advertiser

Interfaith friendships are the way to get informed about other cultures and traditions ... and leads to community peace-building

Charlotte Dando Become a fan 

Interfaith Activist based in the UK, 
Assistant Director at William Temple Foundation

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Interfaith Friendship Is the Boldest Way to Defy Extremists

Posted: 01/09/2015 3:46 pm EST Updated: 01/09/2015 3:59 pm EST

Its Saturday night in Paris and a live band jams on stage, encouraging the audience to sing and dance along with their music. A quite ordinary scene, apart from tonight the lead singer is a Christian and his backing singers, two young men with their arms draped over each other's shoulders, one of them is Muslim, and the other is Jewish. As for me, I am a British Quaker dancing in the middle of an Orthodox Christian from Romania and a Pagan from the Basque country. And I'm grateful for the diverse globalized world which gives me nights like this one. But that Saturday night in Paris took place at the start of last November.

Since then, we have witnessed a very dark winter here in Europe. A steady rise in far-right nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiments has led to violent attacks on mosques in Sweden and anti-Islam marches across German cities, meanwhile reports suggest that Antisemitism in Europe is higher than it's been in years. And now, in Paris, a horrific act of terrorism. In response to the Paris attacks, reports of grenades thrown at the city's mosques demonstrate the level of anger some feel towards these events. And it is perfectly natural to feel angry when faced with a situation one cannot understand. Yet when in the history of human civilization has a violent response to violence, of hatred towards hatred, ever created a wholly positive result?

I'm certainly not the first, nor will I be the last, to point out that the angry, hate-filled actions of terrorists and those of the far-right perpetuate the same response: division and deep mistrust. In a bitter-sweet and ironic turn the opposing actions of these two extremes continually add fuel to each other's arguments. The good news is that these extremes remain very much in the minority. There are over 4.7 million Muslims in France but four men were involved in Wednesday's attacks. And whilst a handful of French people have retaliated with violence towards Muslims, hundreds and thousands took to the streets of Paris and other European cities in a show of defiance; in a display of unity, togetherness, solidarity. Those who believe in finding a way to live together, side-by-side with our diversity, remain the majority. But we need to be a vocal majority; an active majority. Although we must also ensure that we are an inclusive, respectful majority, ready to explore our differences with mutual open-mindedness.

My personal response to the rise of extremism -- of all types -- across Europe is to continue to try and build bridges of understanding between different religious and non-religious communities; to find a way for each person to recognize our shared humanity, as first and beyond the other labels we take on and are given. The evening of music I describe above was the finale to the last interfaith conference I was involved in, and it took place in central Paris. There I met and worked with an incredible group of young French activists from the organization Coexister which works to create dialogue and foster solidarity between young people from different faith backgrounds. They are truly an inspiring group, working in a hostile environment and achieving incredible results.

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Cross-posted with Advocacy @ St Paul's 

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A Christian shares in the practice of Ramadan ---------- Dave Andrews

Dave Andrews tells us about Ramadan
from the perspective of a Christian with Muslim friends. Many thx to Dave for his permission to publish his Facebook post below.

Dave Andrews

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My Reasons For Fasting As A Christian With Muslim Friends In Ramadan

I don’t know a lot, but let me tell you the little bit I have learnt about Ramadan over the last few years. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. It is a period of prayer, fasting, reflection, solidarity, accountability and charity.

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars (religious duties) of Islam. It is a time of self-examination and increased religious devotion Fasting occurs during daylight but meals can be eaten when the sun is down. It is common to have a pre-fast meal (suhoor) before sunrise and an evening meal (iftar) after sunset during Ramadan. Groups of people, including the chronically ill, mentally challenged, and the elderly who cannot participate due to health reasons, are exempt from fasting.

Muslims are encouraged to read the Qur'an often during Ramadan. Some Muslims recite the entire Qur'an by the end of Ramadan through special prayers known as Tarawih, which are held in the mosques every night of the month, during which a section of the Qur'an is recited. I have one Muslim friend, MK, who knows the whole of the Qur’an by heart and can recite it all by himself.

Muhammad Nazreen says ‘Ramadan has created a stream consciousness for us to rethink the system. For instance, consumerism becomes a major hindrance for the development of the marginalised poor. Ramadan gives us chances to sober up on how the poor are mistreated by the inequalities of the economic system. During this fasting month, we are encouraged to give more and get less. Perhaps, this might be an implicit message that we can learn from Ramadan.’

Ramadan is a time for Muslims to remember the hungry as they go hungry and many Muslims donate to charity by participating in food drives for the poor, organizing a collection or charity event, and other voluntary activities. During Ramadan our friends from AMARAH (Australian Muslim Advocates for the Rights of All Humanity) join us in our community meals with the ‘marginalised poor’.

The Oxford University Islamic academic, Tariq Ramadan, says: ‘Human beings must undertake the fast in a spirit of seeking nearness to the Unique, of equality and nobility among their fellows, women and men alike, and in solidarity with the downtrodden. The core of life thus rediscovered is this: to return to our hearts, to reform ourselves in the light of what is essential, and celebrate life in solidarity.’

I may not always fast during Ramadan, but I have wanted to fast and pray as a Christian with my Muslim friends during Ramadan in the last few years because it's a joy to fast and pray with friends, we remind ourselves once again of the priority of loving God and loving our neighbor, we demonstrate our solidarity as brothers and sisters in the Abrahamic families of faith, we reflect on the cruel limitations and contradictions of the consumerist capitalist system we inhabit and we remember the plight of the ‘marginalised poor’ being forced to go without food involuntarily whom we are called to serve.