CRES Archive: Religon and Terrorism

CORDOBA>PARK51 DISPUTE

The commission voted 9-0 in favor of American religious freedom 2010 Aug 3.
 

CORDOBA > PARK51 Below LINKS are ¶ Vern's comment ¶ Mayor Bloomberg's address ¶ KC Muslim son near GroundZero ¶ Greater KC Interfaith Council

Links -- info and various views
Links *starred especially worthy

Antidefamation League Statement
New York Times page 1
Cordoba House
Republican Opposition
The Debate
Refudiate Sarah Palin
WashPost Editorial
NYTimes Editorial
ADL's Sugerman to NYTimes
Thomas Friedman: Yes!
Interfaith Youth Core Etc
Rabbi Michael Learner
* Mayor BLOOMBERG's Speech
* Fareed Zakaria to ADL
* ZAKARIA on video
ADL to Fareed Zakaria
A National Issue
Burn a Qur'an Day
* Mary Sanchez (KC STAR)
Imam Bush Favorite
JewishBloombergBio
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer 2
President Obama
NAT'L INTERFAITH LEADERS
E Thomas McClanahan (KC STAR)
GOP piles on
Politics (NY Times)
Politics (Washington Post)
* MICHAEL GERSON
Ross Douthat
Foxman (ADL)
Carmelite Narrative (WSJ)
Obama Needs to Lead
Mosque Debate History
Grand Old Panderers
Ground Zero Strip Bars, Peep Shows
Jon Stewart
Mosque Needed There
Morning Joe via TP
*BILL TAMMEUS 8-19-2010
KC Muslims fearful
* RevThom: REZA ASLAN Aug 18, 2010
AP-ABC Fact Check
Calling George Bush
Kathleen Parker
New Yorkers' views
Keith Olbermann
Joan Chittister (NCR)
Michael Kinsley
Andrew Sullivan
Greg Sargent
* Most Faith Leaders (Time)
National Security
* KC Muslim native near GZ
Mosque and MLKing
Obama flinched
Pentagon Mosque
From Geo Washington to Gingrich
Ground Zero Wounds deep
* BETRAYING PETRAEUS
thru May 13
Imam: I am a Jew
GOP Jihadists
About Imam Rauf
Karen Hughes
National lunacy
* Greater KC Interfaith Council
Mamilla cemetery
Dr. S. Amjad Hussain
Sen Jeff Merkle
Ron Paul
* Mary Sanchez (2)
* Futher COMPROMISE IMPOSSIBLE
Imam's Good-Will Tour Abroad
Blind hysteria
Imam was Bush Partner
World debate
US Mosques since 1731
Slave grave near GZ
Protests=Taliban Recruiting Tool
Individuals or Culture?

Vern's KC Star columns Aug 18  Aug 25

VERN'S FULL COMMENT

Vern's summary

"The attacks of Sept. 11 were not a religious event. They were mass murder. The American response, as President Obama and President George W. Bush before him have said many times, was not a war against Islam." --NYTimes
 

I WRITE with reverence  for the American tradition of religious liberty which protects you and me and must also protect the Muslims in our very own community who feel threatened now, especially during this month of Ramadan. Unless we stand together, the precious gift of the First Amendment will be (already is) distorted by short-term political interests. Example. The growing hysteria about Islam will actually endanger our national security. When one church has announced its plans to burn Qur'ans on September 11 and other communities are protesting the building of mosques on otherwise indisputed land, Americans need to think carefully about the questions raised below.
 

THE NAME. Some say that the name proposed for the mosque/community center, Cordoba House, was a way of celebrating Islamic victory over others, incredibly insinuating a celebration of 9/11, condemned by Muslim leaders around the globe and Muslims before the press here in Kansas City the morning of 9/11. During much of the “Golden Age of Islam” in Adalusia, Christians and Jews were treated with toleration and respect, some elevated to high positions. I prize a photo taken of me with the statue of one of the great residents of Cordoba and one of the great figures of Judaism, “Rambam,”  Moses Maimonides, who was born there and honored today. More recently, Cordoba, named a UNESCO World Heritage City in 1984, has been the site of several interfaith conferences. 

In response to misunderstandings about the name, the organizers have renamed the building simply Park51, the address of the building. From the street other tall buildings obscure any view of Ground Zero.

President George W Bush repeatedly called Islam a "religion of peace" during his presidency.
 

THE SITE. Would opponents of the mosque also ask for the removal of St Paul’s Chapel (Episcopal) one block away from Ground Zero? Prohibit the rebuilding of the destroyed St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church across the street from the former World Trade Center site? What about the sleaze shops nearer Ground Zero? Why are they permitted but a Muslim house of worship excluded? Should the Muslims be denied because Ground Zero was created by terrorists who hijacked their faith?

From the street other tall buildings obstruct a view of Ground Zero. 
 

SENSITIVITY. People used to be sensitive about Jews living in Leawood. A covenant prohibited them from living in the city. And people were sensitive about Jews in the Kansas City Country Club. Sensitivity kept Jim Crow in place. Do you want to drink from a fountain used by one of those? Or have lunch sitting next to one of those or work along side one? 

How does one distinguish sensitivity from prejudice? 

The ADL says we must bow to even irrational sensitivity.  Isn't that what the Germans did? Where does that end?

While politicians and others have twisted a project intended to build interfaith understanding into a statement of Islamic triumphalism, the most moderate objection is based on sensitivity to the (non-Muslim) victims.  The argument paralleling Auschwitz to 9/11 with the question of the Carmelite convent is astonishing in its reach. Material about the proposed convent from an outside group implied  the intention to convert. 

Understanding, not conversion, is the intent with Cordoba House. And how far do the Muslims living and working there have to go to please the objectors? Would one more block away from Ground Zero remove the “sensitivity”? Two blocks? Five? A mosque has been in the area for 20 years. Muslims have been worshipping on the disputed site for months. New York Christian and Jewish organizations endorsed the project. Almost 400 Muslims were murdered on 9/11 and one of the project leaders was himself injured in assisting first responders. 

The ADL statement, which really initiated this controversy, is especially astonishing because it says “regardless” if the questions, which I regard as smokescreens, about funding and ideology were answered satisfactorily, sensitivity must govern. It seems as if some people are entitled to be sensitive, but dehumanized Muslims are not. “Feelings” is a code for acceptable prejudice. Surely you see where this is leading.

As the Washington Post says the  the Muslims who want to build a community center are no more responsible for, or supportive of, the attacks of Sept. 11 than any other Americans, and asks, "how can their plans be 'insensitive'? The hurt feelings must reflect misunderstanding or prejudice on the part of the objectors, and the right response to misunderstanding and prejudice is education, not appeasement."

While many Americans now complain about "sensitivity," how often to we consider the world's Muslims who perceive a hegemonic designs on Muslim lands" and its  "supporting corrupt and autocratic regimes . . . ."  I presume the writer refers to countries like Saudi Arabia, but his solution, while ideal, is not presently realistic. Nonetheless, the perception is powerful and we show little awareness, much less sensivity to it, and thus endanger our own security.
 

HOLY GROUND.  The argument that Ground Zero is holy ground so Muslims should be kept out of it begs the question, who gets to control holy ground? Charles Krauthammer? The ADL? AIPAC or the Israeli government? And does holy ground reach two blocks beyond Ground Zero? Why not have a Muslim community center dedicated to interfaith understanding as an answer to terrorists who call themselves Muslim? And why are strip clubs allowed in the area but not this particular place of worship? No group was hurt more by 9/11 than American Muslims. For anyone to claim Muslims should be excluded from the vicinity of holy ground, two blocks away, is thoughtless at best. Intentional or not, it smells of rank and vicious prejudice.
 

THE IMAM.  Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf was so vigorous in condemning the 9/11 terrorism that former President George W Bush repeatedly invited him to the White House for advice. Some of his statements are taken out of context (we’ve seen how easily this can be done) instead evaluating his decades of community building. The Dallas Thanks-Giving Square is a multi-faith center, but the stated intentions of these thoughtful Muslims in opening their center to the community seems similar in the mission to deepen interfaith comity. What a recruiting tool for Bin Laden to be able to say that mosques are treated differently than synagogues and churches in America! But if America is true to itself, the terrorists will see instead a model of the best of Islam fulfilling American ideals. He gave a moving eulogy for Daniel Pearl, the Jewish reporter killed by Muslims by Muslim terrorists in Pakistan.

Imam Rauf, "has spent years trying to offer a liberal interpretation of Islam" and "argues that America is actually what an ideal Islamic society would look like because is it peaceful, tolerant and pluralistic. His vision for Islam, in other words, is Osama Bin Laden's nightmare," says Fareed Zakaria, a widely respected Newsweek editor. 

Bill Tammeus  (8-19-2010) writes, "one of the complaints about Rauf is that, after 9/11, he was quoted as saying that in some way the U.S., while not responsible for the attacks (an outrageous claim made by some American conspiracy theorists who decided -- against all evidence -- that 9/11 was an inside job by the Bush administration), was in some way an accessory to the crime because of some of its policies and actions. It's necessary to be extremely careful about how one thinks and talks about this. The last thing you want to do is blame the victim -- and clearly on 9/11 the United States was the victim. That said, American foreign policy decisions in almost every administration starting with George Washington's have created some enemies or at least people who thought those policies were wrong (including some Americans). My reading of Rauf's comments then is that he was simply acknowledging the reality that some American policies and actions stirred up some anger in the world. If that's what he meant -- and I think it is -- he was right. That in no way justified the terrorists' actions, of course, nor did Rauf claim it did. But given Rauf's long record of thoughtful writing and speaking about public matters, it's a bit unfair to focus on one phrase uttered in the white-hot aftermath of 9/11 -- a phrase that was, in any case, well within the bounds of reasonable debate at the time."
 

STOKING. Stoking this controversy does not help to bring America of all faiths together, as we were after 9/11. Nor does it  model pluralism or neighborliness, Instead it gives precedent and permission for discrimination against Muslims when folks are making attacks and inventing excuses against Muslims indiscriminately. In this context, lending support to those who question a basic American liberty can be a slope on which we do not want to slip. Muslims, along with soldiers and sailors of every faith, are fighting and dying for freedoms for all Americans. 

Some of us who for years have worked against anti-semitism and other forms of religious bias (I chaired Jackson County’s 9/11 Diversity Task Force for the 5-county area) worry that opposition to the mosque is largely for political advantage. There should be no special consideration or impediment given to any religion institution regarding its buildings in the US so long as zoning and other regular requirements are addressed, which apparently has been done in this situation, indicated by the latest 9-0 affirming vote and the inspiring address of Mayor Bloomberg, below.

THREE SUMMARY POINTS

* SECURITY
   1. Local zoning and other requirements, including community consultation, have approved the project. To make a local issue national and international endangers our security these ways:
   1a. Muslim soldiers and sailors in nation-building roles are now subject to taunts from the very Muslim populations we seek to help. About 3,500 Muslims are in the services protecting our liberty and lives.
   1b. Domestic tranquility is threatened by encouraging other locales to raise religious objections to mosques in their communities and encourages plans such as the Sept 11 Burn a Qur'an Day.
   1c. It damages the image of the United States most with the very groups whose help we need to succeed in building security against terrorism.As Frank Rich put it, "So virulent is the Islamophobic hysteria of the neocon and Fox News right — abetted by the useful idiocy of the Anti-Defamation League, Harry Reid and other cowed Democrats — that it has also rendered Gen. David Petraeus’s last-ditch counterinsurgency strategy for fighting the war inoperative. How do you win Muslim hearts and minds in Kandahar when you are calling Muslims every filthy name in the book in New York?"

* DISCOURAGING TRUE ISLAM
   2. Criticism defames Muslim leaders who have worked for decades for interfaith understanding,  Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf himself has been used by both the Bush and Obama administrators to build understanding abroad and was a frequent guest in the Bush White House. He appears in such popular books as The Faith Club, one of the three writers of which is from the KC metro area. His own book, What's Right with Islam: a New Vision for Muslims and the West, has been widely praised. The criticism conflates Islam with terrorism.

* IGNORANT ARGUMENTS
   Specious arguments perpetuate ignorance and oppression.
   3a. Giving too much weight to "sensitivity" begs the question of "being sensitive to whom?" This is like saying to Jews (as was said) we have folks who are sensitive about Jews, so they can't buy in Leawood, or be members of the Kansas City Country Club. It is like saying We have white folks who are sensitive to riding the buses with black folks up front, so they have to sit in the back of the bus. No group has suffered more since 9/11 than Muslims. Muslim slaves are buried nearby. The demand that the mosque be moved is a geographic parallel to the "wait" temporal demand made on Martin Luther King, Jr, who said, "I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was 'well timed' in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word 'Wait!' It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity."
   3b. The "defiling Holy Ground" argument is weakened by strip clubs, porn shops, bars, gambling outlets, and other sleazy enterprises closer than the 51Park Place. Further, the Pentagon was also hit on 9/11 and the chapel 30 steps from the very place where the airplane nose cone demonished the building is regularly used by Muslims for prayer, with an imam each Friday. No complaints about violating that Holy Ground. 
   3c. The charge of Islamic triumphalism  belies ignorance of the nature of the building, both appearance and context, and the project mangers have already compromised by changing the name from "Cordoba House" (uses as a weapon be people ignorant of its meaning) to "Park51," its address.
   3d. Muslims, like folks of other faiths, work in the area. There are, within the immediate neighborhood, sites for several Christian Churches, several synagogues, a Buddhist Center. The Muslims have been praying on their private property for some time already; they need an expanded facility which would be open to the community, like the Y. 
   3e. Questions about financing for the project, raised as if there are no answers, exemplify McCarthyism and presumptive questions like "When did you stop beating your wife?"

NEW YORK MAYOR 
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG'S
INSPIRING ADDRESS

Mayor Bloomberg Stands Up For Mosque
BY ADAM LISBERG
   Mayor Bloomberg, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and 10 religious leaders of various faiths journeyed to Governors Island this afternoon to show their support for the proposed mosque and community center near the World Trade Center site. With the Statue of Liberty in the background, the mayor gave what sure sounded like one of his most heartfelt speeches ever. He's usually a technocrat, and often comes across that way, but today's speech was a stirring declaration of principle. He even got choked up at one point. Here it is.

   We've come here to Governors Island to stand where the earliest settlers first set foot in New Amsterdam, and where the seeds of religious tolerance were first planted. We come here to see the inspiring symbol of liberty that more than 250 years later would greet millions of immigrants in this harbor. And we come here to state as strongly as ever, this is the freest city in the world. That's what makes New York special and different and strong.
   Our doors are open to everyone. Everyone with a dream and a willingness to work hard and play by the rules. New York City was built by immigrants, and it's sustained by immigrants -- by people from more than 100 different countries speaking more than 200 different languages and professing every faith. And whether your parents were born here or you came here yesterday, you are a New Yorker.
   We may not always agree with every one of our neighbors. That's life. And it's part of living in such a diverse and dense city. But we also recognize that part of being a New Yorker is living with your neighbors in mutual respect and tolerance. It was exactly that spirit of openness and acceptance that was attacked on 9/11, 2001.
   On that day, 3,000 people were killed because some murderous fanatics didn't want us to enjoy the freedoms to profess our own faiths, to speak our own minds, to follow our own dreams, and to live our own lives. Of all our precious freedoms, the most important may be the freedom to worship as we wish. And it is a freedom that even here -- in a city that is rooted in Dutch tolerance -- was hard-won over many years.
   In the mid-1650s, the small Jewish community living in lower Manhattan petitioned Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant for the right to build a synagogue, and they were turned down. In 1657, when Stuyvesant also prohibited Quakers from holding meetings, a group of non-Quakers in Queens signed the Flushing Remonstrance, a petition in defense of the right of Quakers and others to freely practice their religion. It was perhaps the first formal political petition for religious freedom in the American colonies, and the organizer was thrown in jail and then banished from New Amsterdam.
   In the 1700s, even as religious freedom took hold in America, Catholics in New York were effectively prohibited from practicing their religion, and priests could be arrested. Largely as a result, the first Catholic parish in New York City was not established until the 1780s, St. Peter's on Barclay Street, which still stands just one block north of the World Trade Center site, and one block south of the proposed mosque and community center.
   This morning, the city's Landmark Preservation Commission unanimously voted to extend -- not to extend -- landmark status to the building on Park Place where the mosque and community center are planned. The decision was based solely on the fact that there was little architectural significance to the building. But with or without landmark designation, there is nothing in the law that would prevent the owners from opening a mosque within the existing building.
   The simple fact is, this building is private property, and the owners have a right to use the building as a house of worship, and the government has no right whatsoever to deny that right. And if it were tried, the courts would almost certainly strike it down as a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
   Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question: Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here.
  This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions or favor one over another. The World Trade Center site will forever hold a special place in our city, in our hearts. But we would be untrue to the best part of ourselves and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans if we said no to a mosque in lower Manhattan.
   Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11, and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values and play into our enemies' hands if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists, and we should not stand for that.
   For that reason, I believe that this is an important test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetimes, as important a test. And it is critically important that we get it right.
   On Sept. 11, 2001, thousands of first responders heroically rushed to the scene and saved tens of thousands of lives. More than 400 of those first responders did not make it out alive. In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of them asked, 'What God do you pray to?' (Bloomberg's voice cracks here a little as he gets choked up.) 'What    beliefs do you hold?'
  The attack was an act of war, and our first responders defended not only our city, but our country and our constitution. We do not honor their lives by denying the very constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights and the freedoms that the terrorists attacked.
   Of course, it is fair to ask the organizers of the mosque to show some special sensitivity to the situation, and in fact their plan envisions reaching beyond their walls and building an interfaith community. But doing so, it is my hope that the mosque will help to bring our city even closer together, and help repudiate the false and repugnant idea that the attacks of 9/11 were in any ways consistent with Islam.
   Muslims are as much a part of our city and our country as the people of any faith. And they are as welcome to worship in lower Manhattan as any other group. In fact, they have been worshipping at the site for better, the better part of a year, as is their right. The local community board in lower Manhattan voted overwhelmingly to support the proposal. And if it moves forward, I expect the community center and mosque will add to the life and vitality of the neighborhood and the entire city.
   Political controversies come and go, but our values and our traditions endure, and there is no neighborhood in this city that is off-limits to God's love and mercy, as the religious leaders here with us can attest.

2nd Wednesday of the month, 1-2:30 pm Mid-Continent Library, 6060 N Chestnut, Gladstone

Vital – that which creates life and hope. Conversations – intentional moments of listening and talking. A collaboration with the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, cosponsored by CRES. “The purpose of a vital conversation is not to win an argument, but to win a friend and advance civilization.” —Vern Barnet

Jan 7 Thu noon KC-UUMA
 

Jan 8 Fri 2-4 pm
The Kansas City Combined Charity Campaign Awards Ceremony
Kansas City Convention Center 
The Grand Ballroom (2501)
Vern gives Invocation and Benediction
 

Jan 13 Wed 1-2:30 pm
Vital Conversations
Topic:  Martin Luther King Jr.  Severals title available.  Read a book about or by MLKJr.  Guest:  Archie Williams, local friend from Eggs and Enlightenment, will share one of more of Kings famous speeches.
 

Jan 14 Thu 10 am
Hate Crimes Task Force
 

Jan 20 Wed 5 pm
Gift of Life board
 

Jan 23 Sat 3 pm
Avila Peace Studies Group
interviews Vern
 

Jan 24 Sun 9:15 am
KC Religious Diversity, part 1
Immanuel Lutheran Church
 

Jan 31 Sun 9:15 am
KC Religious Diversity, part 2

Feb 2 Tue noon-1 pm
African American History 
Kick Off Celebration
Kansas City City Hall Rotunda
Arranged by CRES,
the Rev John Modest Miles of
Morning Star Baptist Church
offers the prayers

Feb 4 Thu noon KC-UUMA

Feb 7 Sun 2 pm
Tour of Sacred Art
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 
[wait list only]

Feb 10 Wed 1-2:30 pm
Vital Conversations
Uncle Tom's Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
David says, "This is one of the great American novels that assist in our journey to be a better nation. There are many helpful resources as we prepare for our vital conversation." Here is one.

Feb 20 Sat 7 pm
A God Atheists Can Believe In
Discussion led by Vern 
RESCHEDULED FOR MAR 27

Feb 11 Thu 6-8 pm
African American History 
Meet & Greet
Negro League Baseball
The Rev Dr David E Nelson,
CRES associate minister,
offers the prayers

Mar 4 Thu noon KC-UUMA

Mar 7 Sun 1 pm 
Vern gives invocation for program
Young Obama in Indonesia
Johnson County Commmunity College

March 10 Wed 1-2:30
Vital Conversations
This Common Secret:  My Journey as an Abortion Doctor by Susan Wicklund

Mar 27 Sat 7 pm
A God Atheists Can Believe In
Discussion led by Vern 
Black Dog Coffee House
12815 W 87th St
Lenexa, KS 66215
913-894-4024

The Rev Dr Vern Barnet is the Wednesday "Faiths and Beliefs" columnist for The Kansas City Star. He founded the Kansas City Interfaith Council and has supported including a "Freethinker" in interfaith programs. An extensive bio-sketch is available on his website at http://www.cres.org (click on "vern"). He was featured on national CBS in 2002 and video excerpts from the half-hour program, as well as videos setting forth his "research program" on world religions, can also be found on his website. 

Vern intends to recognize some of the many ways "God" has been used in our own and other cultures, including how stupid and even immoral many conceptions about God are. He'll suggest that a Sanskrit term sometimes used for "God," namely Sat (Truth, Reality), may give us some leverage in thinking afresh. He'll bring into the discussion recent brain research, chaos theory, Godel's proof, probability theory, and other scientific advances to demonstrate how little we can know about Reality while we must deal with questions like "How do I want to live my life?"  Expect some visuals to accompany the discussion. Vern says he is really looking forward to a vigorous exchange of views and says he expects to learn something from the conversation.

Apr 1 Thu noon KC-UUMA
 

April 14 Wed 1-2:30
Vital Conversations
Wisdom Walk: Nine Practices for Creating Peace and Balance from the World's Spiritual Traditions by Sage Bennet

You are invited to participate in the conversation if you have read the book or not.

The Nine Practices for Creating Peace and Balance from the World’s Spiritual Traditions are:
1. From Hinduism: Create a home altar.
2. From Buddhism: Meditate and find peace.
3. From Islam: Surrender to prayer.
4. From Christianity:  Forgive yourself and others.
5. From Judaism:  Make time for the Sabbath.
6. From Native American Spirituality:  Let nature be your teacher.
7. From Taoism:  God with the flow.
8. From New Thought:  Catch God’s vision of your life.
9. From All Traditions:  Offer yourself in service to others.

You can find material to read and share about any of these topics as well as in this book.  A possible releasing conversation might be:  “Share you name and something about your spiritual practices.”  (i.e. do you read, write a journal, spend time in prayer, volunteer, spend time alone, worship in a community etc.)

May 6 Thu noon KC-UUMA

May 12 Wed 1-2:30: Vital Conversations. Can't Get There from Here, by Todd Strasser. SEE BELOW

June 3 Thu noon KC-UUMA

June 9 Wed 1-2:30: Vital Conversations.
Conquering Fear:  Living Boldly in an Uncertain World by Harold S. Kushner.  Many of you remember his best seller several years ago, Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?  A possible releasing conversation might be, “Share your name and something you fear.”
   Rabbi Alan Cohen, from the Northland Interfaith Council, will be with us to share thoughts about the book and emerging ideas to celebrate the gifts of religious pluralism in the Northland.  I hope many of you can attend and invite your religious leaders to join you. SEE BELOW
 

June 15 Tue 6:30 Pre-forum reception

June 15 Tue 7-8 pm: Faith Forum:
Clean Energy Benefits - KC
Vern moderates the interfaith panel:
• Sr. Rose Therese Huelsman, IHM, Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph--Catholic representative Sr. Rose Therese Huelsman is a part of the Immaculate Heart of Mary religious community.  A sister in Kansas City since 1995, she serves as the part-time chaplain of St. Luke’s on the Plaza and leads their Hospital Green Team.   She also leads the green initiatives at her home parish, Guardian Angels Church in Westport. 
• MD Alam, Muslim community organizer -- Mr. Alam is Muslim community organizer in the Kansas City area.  A Bangladesh native, Alam is an Army veteran who also holds three Master’s degrees, as well as a bachelor’s degree in biology.  He is active in a number of community enrichment projects and Missouri political organizations.
• Sarah Siskind, Asst. Director, Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee — Jewish representative Ms. Siskind joined the Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee in May 2010 as Assistant Director.  Originally from New Jersey, she received a law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 2009. 
• Karta Purkh Khalsa, Midwest Sikh Association — Sikh representative Mr. Khalsa has been a Sikh for more than 30 years.  He is the director of the 3HO Kundalini Yoga Center of Missouri.  He is bio indicates that he is also an adjunct professor at UMKC, a published writer, award-winning photographer and member of the Greater Interfaith Council of Kansas City.
• Pat Williams, Assistant to Local Minister, Nation of Islam— Nation of Islam representative
Ms. Williams is the assistant to local Nation of Islam representative Minister Vincent Muhammad.  She became a follower in 1989 and achieved X status in 2004.  Pat is a certified substance abuse counselor with the State of Missouri.
• Jerry Rees, Chair of Environmental Action Committee, Village Presbyterian Church — resbyterian representative Mr. Rees is the chair of the Environmental Action Committee of Village Presbyterian Church.  He is active in the Sustainable Sanctuary Coalition of Greater Kansas City and Earthkeepers of Heartland Presbytery.  In October 2008, Jerry traveled to Nashville to attend The Climate Project's three-day Global Climate Change Training for Faith Communities with Al Gore.
Unity Temple/ Plaza,  707 W 47
INFO: Gretchen Wieland, (816) 305-0861, gretchen.wieland@climateprotect.org 
 

June 20 Sun 5:30 pm wedding 

June 23 Wed 10-11 am 
KCUR-FM Walt Bodine Show
   The Future of Diversity Training with 
Maggie Finefrock, chief learning officer of The Learning Project and of CRES, and 
CRES friend, Kirk Perucca, president, Kirk Perucca Associates
     In the 1990s, diversity training was all the rage. Businesses grappled with an increasingly diverse marketplace, and schools sought to create more sensitive and culturally aware citizens. But now that the nation has elected an African-American president, is there really a need for diversity training any more? And by the way, does it really work? Today, KCUR's Susan Wilson explores the content of diversity training and what makes it effective. And we ask diversity trainers in the Obama era about how the functions and perceptions of their work have changed--and how they haven't. 
 

June 27 Sun 11:15: "Is Nothing Sacred?"
   Exploring this question may help us see our own over-secularistic culture and help us enter the heart of every faith.
   Vern leads the service and preaches at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut