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Bishop Swing
Bishop William Swing is the President and Founder of the URI. Bishop Swing had the original vision of URI in 1993 in response to an invitation from the United Nations which asked him to host an interfaith service honoring the 50th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter. Bishop Swing served as the Episcopal Bishop of California from 1980 until his retirement in 2006. In that capacity, he was a national and international leader in response to the AIDS crisis, co-founded Episcopal Community Services to address San Francisco’s homeless problem, and co-founded Community Bank of the Bay to support local businesses and the economy.
March 20, 2012 3:48 PM
My One Hour with Pope Shenouda III
Sixteen years ago today, March 20, I met the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda, III, in Cairo. March 20, 1996 as an eventful day for me starting with the news of the death of the Sheikh of al-Azhar. Then I arrived early for another meeting, this one with the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Dr. Muhammed Tantawi. When we were talking, the telephone rang and it was President Hosni Mubarrak who summoned him for an immediate meeting. (Tantawi was soon after selected as the Sheikh of al-Azhar.) As we finished our chat, Tantawi said, "when the light of one religion burns, it is a great blessing. When the lights of many religions burn together, it will be radiant and bring abundant blessings." He counseled that the vision of a United Religions would be for the good of the world if it were "gently presented."
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October 28, 2011 11:47 AM
...for the benefit of the Earth community
Recently I wrote a Commentary on URI's Preamble, Purpose and Principles, and one sentence jumped out at me: "....we unite for the benefit of the Earth community." When you boil URI down to its... Read more...
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October 25, 2011 1:54 PM
Gay sex and AIDS; religion and terrorism
I have been told repeatedly by large foundations that even though they fund peacebuilding and security initiatives, they will not fund anything to do with religion. For these folks, religion is a taboo subject, no matter what its relationship to peace and security. Each time I hear this, a faint echo from my past arises.
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September 7, 2011 7:00 PM
9/11 at 10; URI at 11
As the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks nears, and I have been thinking a lot about the parallel history of the 11-year-old United Religions Initiative. URI and 9/11, then and now. There were many... Read more...
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July 27, 2011 2:55 PM
Stopping the Islamization of Europe?
In the 17th century, the logical conclusion to interreligious conflict was holy war. A handful of extremists would argue for that conclusion today. But for most of us, violence in the name of God, any God, is not an answer, it is a blasphemy. But if the point is not to take up arms in the cause of exclusive righteousness, then what can people do to cope with the very real changes happening in their communities?
Read more...June 9, 2011 12:53 PM
A Faith in Pakistan
In a land where, because of what you believe about God you might be blown to bits by a bomb or beaten to death by a mob, "peace, tolerance, harmony" are muscular, risky and dangerous words. This is the kind of life that URI's Father James Channan lives, and this is at the core of URI's agenda in Pakistan.
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April 27, 2011 11:27 AM
Lessons from Asia Minor
I couldn’t resist. URI’s newest Cooperation Circle resides in Siberia. And here are its members forming a circle. Striking, isn’t it? How did we ever go from a dream to Siberia? I... Read more...
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March 4, 2011 5:25 PM
Blessed are the merciful
I wrote about Pakistan’s blasphemy laws back in January, after Punjab governor Salman Taseer was killed for advocating their reform; but when Pakistan’s Minister of Minorities Shahbaz... Read more...
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February 24, 2011 9:28 AM
Unleashing the forces of change
We are living in a dramatic moment of history. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Jordan, Bahrain, Iran: hundreds of thousands of people in the streets demanding freedom; autocrats and royals... Read more...
February 2, 2011 8:35 AM
A new faith for Egypt
Egyptian protests this week are not about religion, but about faith -- faith in the most fundamental human rights.
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