revised 04.01.30 Kansas City Interfaith Council
hosted by CRES: promoting understanding among peoples of all faiths

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THE THREE TASK FORCES (EPS)
ARTICULATING THE WISDOM FROM THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS
to address the three great crises of secularism:
Environmental destruction Personal misdirection Social fragmentation
Each task force has its own page. Navigate using the buttons below.

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  Research program overview Charter

Environment.....Personhood.....Society

    Personal misdirection: addiction (substances, consumerism, power), dependencies (handling others' feelings), prejudice ( sexism, racism, classism, homophobia), loss of a sense of
    vocation

    Social fragmentation: violence (in movies, video games, real life "solutions" to problems), exploitation (disparity between rich and poor), disengaged citizenry  (private over common
    weal), using religion for political or partisan purposes

The Kansas City Interfaith Council is moving forward from the unanimously adopted concluding Declaration at Kansas City's first interfaith conference to address the fragmentation of our society in an even more powerful way. A 2002 May 16 training session amplified what we learned at the conference. Thanks to David Nelson, who led the "appreciative inquiry" sessions at the Conference, for leading the training session, and whose continuing guidance we appreciate.

The Council has formed three task forces with a member of each faith tradition.  The assignment for the task forces is to expand upon the three areas identified in the Declaration (environmental, personal, social).  This might mean an enlarged paragraph or even an essay to amplify the original paragraph. It might be identifying scripture or statements from each tradition that illumines the wisdom we can bring to the larger community. Perhaps a bibliography would be helpful. The background materials which provide the context for this effort are listed below.

Since this has never been done before anywhere -- as far as I know, we are breaking new ground with this process -- we do not know how many times the task forces will need to meet. We are working to take the next step in addressing the three great crises with the wisdom of the world's faiths at the second Interfaith Conference, October 2004

Here are links for background material:
   The full Declaration text http://www.cres.org/oldifc/Declartn.htm
   The Three Crises of Secularism: http://www.cres.org/mission.htm#examples
   David Nelson's suggested process: http://www.cres.org/oldifc/ongoing.htm
   Interfaith Council membership: http://www.cres.org/oldifc/ifc.htm#members

There are at least three outcomes we can expect from this process:
   1. We will be able to speak from the wisdom of our many faith traditions to the problems we face -- toxic wastes, racism, violence, and the full range of issues our conference identified, and offer instead healing paths for the future. With our diverse voices united, we will be able to uplift sacred values as never before for the benefit of the entire community.
   2. We will become a model community where interfaith relationships are honored as a way of deepening one's own tradition and spirituality.
   3. We will be ready for an even more effective Interfaith Conference reaching more widely and deeply into the community.

Thanks for being a part of this movement toward understanding among peoples of all faiths!

Click on the CRES tree to return to the CRES home page.

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