Shoulder to Shoulder - Standing With American Muslims; Upholding American Values

Christian-Muslim Consultative Group

The Christian-Muslim Consultative Group promotes learning, dialogue and advocacy among its representative members and our wider communities of faith through lectures, workshops, press releases, youth gatherings, and other activities.

In January 2006, a group of Christian and Muslim leadership in Los Angeles and Orange County, CA to discuss the need for a group of leaders in Souther California that could come together regularlary to address issues of common concern to Christians and Muslims in this post 9/11 context. The members represent leadership in the mainline Christian denominations and several of he largest and most influential Muslim organizations in Southern California. All representatives are actively committed to interfaith ans social justice issues within their judicatories.

Daughters of Abraham: Women's Interfaith Book Group

The goal of our gatherings is the slow, thoughtful work of getting to know each other over a good book.

We are a group of Jewish, Christian and Muslim women who want to deepen our knowledge of our own and one another’s faiths. By reading books that teach us about each other’s faith traditions and learning about the practice of our respective faiths, we hope to increase our respect for all the Abrahamic religions. We are committed to building relationships among us.

Our name emphasizes the common elements that unite us. In all three of our traditions, Abraham is revered as the first monotheist. In a sense, he is the “father” and we can be thought of as his “daughters”. Even though we are “daughters” of different “mothers” , Sarah and Hagar, Abraham is the father of us all. By naming ourselves Daughters of Abraham, we are recognizing that there is more holding us together than separating us.

Faith Shared

This is a project of Interfaith Alliance and Human Rights First that will create opportunities across the United States for faith communities to strengthen ties with each other. We will counter the misperception, including in the Arab and Muslim worlds, that the United States is a nation defined by the widely covered images of the marginal few who would burn a Qur’an, rather than by a proud and longstanding tradition of religious freedom, tolerance and pluralism. In communities across the United States, this project will not only serve as a model for tolerance and cooperation and promote local faith leaders as champions of such, but it will also create a concrete opportunity to build and strengthen working ties between faith communities moving forward. Faith Shared asks houses of worship across the country to organize events involving clergy reading from each other’s sacred texts. An example would be a Christian Minister, Jewish Rabbi and Muslim Imam participating in a worship service or other event. Suggested readings will be provided from the Torah, the Gospels, and the Qur’an, but communities are encouraged to choose readings that will resonate with their congregations. Involvement of members from the Muslim community is key. We will also provide suggestions on how to incorporate this program into your regular worship services. And we will assist local congregations in their media and communications efforts.

First Annual NEP Online Film Festival

The New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good announces our first online film festival! The theme of this year’s contest: “This Land Was Made For You and Me!” The festival will be part of our extensive program to fight Islamophobia in our country.

We have seen a steady rise in incidents of Islamophobia, or fear of Muslims, over the past decade. Hardly a week passes without a reported incident of harrassment of an individual Muslim or intimidation of a community. Most infamous were the controversies of September 2010: the uproar over the Park51 Islamic Center in lower Manhattan, and the threat to burn copies of the Qur’an by pastor Terry Jones. But even more threatening are current initiatives in several states to ban “Sharia Law,” making it impossible for peace-loving Muslims to practice their religion – tragically, in a nation that prides itself on offering freedom of religion to all.

Contest submissions will be judged on their ability to communicate a positive, Christian, loving message that embodies Jesus’s commandment to love God and neighbor, even enemies. Each entry should include the festival’s sub-theme, “Muslims are welcome in my town,” by replacing the word “town” with another word such as “nation,” “world,” “home,” or even “heart.”

NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change

NewGround began in 2006 as a response to the climate of tension and mistrust between Jews and Muslims in Los Angeles. But more importantly, NewGround was founded to create a national model for healthy relations, productive engagement and social change between American Muslims and Jews.

NewGround equips Muslims and Jews in America with the skills, resources, and relationships needed to improve Muslim-Jewish relations and cooperation on issues of shared concern. Through a young professionals fellowship, public programming and consulting, NewGround impacts a wide range of Muslims and Jews - from organizational leaders to the unaffiliated and from liberals to conservatives

Odyssey Networks: 2012 Hours Against Hate young adult story submissions

If you are between the ages of 15 and 24, here's how you can have your story of a great experience made into a video...

Volunteer one hour where you spend time

with someone different from you.

find someone who doesn't look like you,

or who does not live like you

AND who doesn't pray like you.

Spend an hour engaged in some activity with this person. This activity could be eating together, visiting a special place, etc. The 'doing it together' part is more important than exactly what you are doing. For as many ways as you find that you are different, talk with that person about how many ways you are the same. How many things do you have in common? Can you make the ration 5 to1?

Two winning stories will be chosen by Odyssey Networks and they will send a professional video crew to film your story! The winning video will be shown on Odyssey Network's website!

Our Better Angels

The Jewish Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary cosponsored three evenings of learning and music at St. Paul’s Chapel (right next to Ground Zero) in New York City. Each evening explored Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions on Tragedy, Mourning, and Healing, respectively. Each event was concluded by a live musical performance.

Pittsburgh Area Jewish Committee

The Pittsburgh Area Jewish Committee (PAJC) seeks a pluralistic society wherein the rights and dignity of the Jewish people as well as all othe religious, cultural, and racial groups are respected and secure. Towards this purpose, PAJC will promote knowledge, understanding, and dialogue amoung the many organizations that comprise our Pittsburgh community.

PAJC will be a progressive, active voice. Its policies and opinions will be based on Jewish religious and cultural values while being cognizant of the perspective of other affected groups. Its work will be founded in knowledge that dispels prejudice and gives light to truth.

The mission of the PAJC is to educate and advocate for the equal rights for all. Through our many programs and special events, we strive to recognize and nurture individuals and organizations in the Pittsburgh region who share this common goal.

Prepare NY

Prepare New York is a coalition of New York based interfaith organizations who have joined together to help create a city-wide climate that promotes healing and reconciliation in anticipation of the tenth anniversary of 9/11. September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows and 9/11 Community for Common Ground Initiative are serving as advisers to the multifaith organizations. The coalition was formed in part as a response to the national and international headlines surrounding last summer's proposed Muslim Community Center in lower Manhattan. The purpose of the coalition is to shift the discussion from one of fear and mistrust targeting any belief or group to one that celebrates New York's extraordinary diversity of religious freedom and expression.

Project Interfaith

Project Interfaith is a non-profit organization based in Omaha, Nebraska (no, your eyes aren't deceiving you - there are Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Bahais, and, of course, plenty of Christians in Omaha as well as people of many other faiths and beliefs). We've only been around since December 2005, but we've wasted no time developing creative programs, trainings and workshops that build and sustain understanding, respect, and relationships among people of all faiths and beliefs and that promote a deeper understanding of and respect for religious diversity. Our aim with all this: to create a world where people of all faiths and beliefs are valued, included, and protected - won't you join us?

RavelUnravel Community Mosaic Video Project

RavelUnravel is a multimedia exploration of the tapestry of spiritual and religious identities that make up our communities and world. Througth this and many other efforts at Project Interfaith, we are hoping to ignite a movement for people to openly and respectfully learn, talk and share about topics which are typically taboo but often define our interactions and experiences as humans: identity, religion, spirituality and culture.

SWIFT: South West Interfaith Team

The mission of SWIFT is to promote dialogue among the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious communities and to work together on common community projects. The hope is that the efforts of SWIFT will promote mutual respect and will build understanding among those religious communities.

Membership of SWIFT is made up of Christian Churches, Jewish synagogues and Muslim mosques. SWIFT is made up of groups centered around but not restricted to the South-West suburbs of Chicago, IL.

SWIFT provides a forum for the Christian, Muslim and Jewish people in the area to educate, interact with and learn from each other.

The Safe Nation Collaborative

The Safe Nation Collaborative is a ground breaking initiative developed to bridge the gap between law enforcement and American Muslim communities.

As part of its commitment to fostering understanding between American Muslims and other communities, the Safe Nation Collaborative offers talks on Islam and Muslims free of charge to any nonprofit organization. Talks will be tailored to the request of the nonprofit organization and may cover any areas of interest of the requesting party.

Torture Awareness Month

June 26th is United Nations International Day in Support of Torture Victims. Several years ago, religious and human rights organizations in the United States declared the month of June to be Torture Awareness Month as a way to provide greater visibility to this issue and provide an opportunity for coordinated efforts across the country.

This will be a pivotal year in NRCAT's work to end the use of torture, as we recognize the degree to which torture has taken root in American culture and consciousness.

We have become a people:

• who applaud when high-ranking government officials openly advocate for the use of torture or admit to having authorized it;
• of whom roughly half believe that torture is often or sometimes justified to gain information from terrorists (see this poll and p. 27 of this one);
• who accept the long-term solitary confinement of tens of thousands of men and women in our domestic prisons;
• who exhibit increasingly hostile attitudes toward our Muslim brothers and sisters, fostering an environment that denies our common humanity and lays the foundation for violence and even torture; who accept our politicians' calls to "look forward, not backward" and avoid the deeply spiritual work of repentance, redemption and national healing.

Under the theme "2012 - Confronting the Culture of Torture," NRCAT is highlighting the following aspects of our work as opportunities for congregations, religious organizations and people of faith to mark Torture Awareness Month:

• Push back against the public advocacy of torture with a faith-based response
• Repeal indefinite detention
• End prolonged solitary confinement
• Combat anti-Muslim bigotry
• Pursue accountability for U.S.-sponsored torture

Tri Faith Initiative

To foster and build understanding, respect and trust is a challenging and urgent task in our increasingly complex and global society. Promoting peaceful co-existence is a global priority in a world where the focus is often on fear. Accepting each other's religious expression brings us together as a community and creates a voice for a hopeful future.

United in Peace, Healing with Hope

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Organizations: United Church of Christ, Hartford Seminary

WMATA: Refuse to profit from hateful ads

Click here to sign the petition today!

Weekend of Twinning

Organized annually by The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) in cooperation with the World Jewish Congress and the Islamic Society of North America, the Weekend of Twinning is an annual initiative based on synagogues, mosques and Muslim and Jewish student and young leadership groups forming partnerships and holding joint programs together with the goal of building ties of communication, reconciliation and cooperation between Muslims and Jews.

This year's Weekend of Twinning will take place November 16-18.

Since 2008, The Weekend of Twinning has grown into the world's largest Muslim-Jewish conversation. Last year's twinning included bringing together members of over 100 mosques and 100 synagogues with the participation of 250 Muslim and Jewish organizations in 26 countries on 4 continents.