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The Parliament staff is constantly having to find a balance in such a diverse interfaith organization in which everything is being accurately represented. They are stuck between the secular world, much of which is (rightly) suspicious of the ways religions have been cynically used to repress and oppress, and those in religious communities (particularly more extreme or fundamentalist) who are skeptical of different faiths trying to find points of commonality and collaboration. We saw a very literal illustration of this in-betweenness of the Parliament by interviewing the few protestors who showed up outside to decry the conference–a small group of Evangelical Christians and another of atheists.

So, as you can see in the behind-the-scenes footage in the previous post, Rev. Ficca struggles to make sure that the Parliament and the religions it includes are accurately represented: he suggests that the Bhuddist monk might go near the end, since his message is a little more universally understood to a potential predominantly secular audience of scientists and politicians at Copenhagen. The most important change he wanted made in the cut of the video above was to remove a “theologically problematic” statement by one of our spirited interview subjects: Rev. Ficca said it could cause trouble to include Sikh filmmaker Valarie Kaur’s assertion that “all religious faiths preach…oneness.” While I understood his concern (especially as the video was to “represent the views” of the Parliament itself), it was a shame to have to elide that small piece, because I couldn’t find a really elegant way to do that, so it breaks up the flow of her passionate speech somewhat:

You’ll also notice in this final version that a brief message from Dr. Stephen Perkins has been added near the end (right after Valarie Kaur). You can see Rev. Ficca introduce the video to Dr. Perkins at the end of the behind-the-scenes editing footage below. Upon watching the video, Dr. Perkins suggested that the message seemed a bit too wishful and needed to communicate the power that religious communities have — that they are ready to take action to help realize the political leaders’ goals, and that there will be consequences for the leaders if they do not accomplish what needs to be done at Copenhagen. The Parliament Council staffers suggested that Dr. Perkins himself would be a good person to deliver that particular sentiment, so we went out into the hall and shot him then and there.

It was definitely an enlightening experience to see the kind of decisions that Rev. Ficca decided had to make for political considerations rather than artistic ones, which was more the direction I was coming from. Seeing that on the ground made me have a little more empathy for the nation’s leaders gathering at Copenhagen, where this video was to be delivered to the media by Martin Frick, from the Global Humanitarian Forum. Those leaders are constantly having to manage perceptions, while speaking to so many different audiences at the same time — international, national, members of different political parties and different media outlets. Still, seems like right now they need to wake up and rise above all that to do the right thing.

– Eliot

Titled “Our Call to Copenhagen,” Eliot Fisher’s fabulous 4-minute documentary features a dozen of the most diverse representatives of the world’s most populous religions, and even – in the case of a pair of indigenous Swedish reindeer herders – perhaps the least populous. In gratitude to Eliot and YMP for heroic efforts, PWR has offered to post a story about Eliot’s work on their website. Thanks to Dirk Ficca and Jenny Douglas!

But before we get to the film itself, there is always the process. PWR’s Douglas worked the halls of Melbourne’s vast Convention Centre to corral subjects for short interviews. Two questions: “What would you like to see happen in Copenhagen?” and “How does your spiritual tradition inform your understanding of climate change?” On the trail of answers, Eliot and crew ascended to the heights of a presidential suite in one of Australia’s most posh hotels, then zipped around in a taxi for an impromptu rendezvous with an Aborigine elder. After about 15 interviews, one thing was certain: whether it is the esteemed Yale scholar or the dynamic Sikh filmmaker or the placid Zoroastrian elder, everyone expects some action in Copenhagen.

But before the film flies to Europe, it has to fly at home in Melbourne. See the clip below for a bird’s eye view of executive decision-making by Dirk Ficca, head of PWR, in the crucial final moments of editing.

Many gods, one world!

– John

On Saturday, I had the wonderful pleasure of interviewing Dr. Sakena Yacoobi of Afghanistan. She wore a black head covering and a dress covered with beautiful, colorful beaded embroidery.

Dr. Yacoobi founded the Afghan Institute of Learning, an Afghan women-led NGO that has helped provide teacher training to women to help support the education of young boys and girls. She wanted the outside world to know that the people of Afghanistan (especially children and women) are tired of war, which hasn’t let up for thirty years. She stressed that life is a struggle, continually returning to this point.

Her passion as she spoke was tremendous and moving. She strongly believes that “education is the key to real survival.” She went on: “When they [women] ask questions, there is power.” The access to this safe education is what her institute tries to provide. She is strongly rooted in her faith, which inspires her desire to help the people around her. In fact, she told me that it is her faith that gets her through each day. Every morning, she prays to God before leaving the safety of her home and goes into the streets, where many are killed daily.

Her strong voice got quiet when she told me what the lack of security does to the people of Afghanistan. As I asked her to expand on what she described, I realized that I was dreading the answer she would give. She told us about women in a constant state of fear: when they went to the market, to school, or anywhere. “A woman, when she leaves, has to say goodbye to her family because she doesn’t know if she is going to be killed.”

I remembered what had come to mind during Dr. Yacoobi’s powerful keynote speech at the conference’s opening ceremony on Thursday. At the time, I had wondered how many people were thinking about what I was: President Obama’s decision to send 30,000 more troops to her country.

– Dolna

– Carmen

As I walk the streets of downtown Melbourne, Australia, I ask myself what is it exactly that I am looking for at the Parliment of World Religions? I don’t know, at least not yet. I realize that I don’t know what the hell I am supposed to do. I didn’t know how much this conference would overwhelm me. I just find myself lost, confused in this tossed salad of religions (the jetlag doesn’t help the case either). You chismosos at home might be asking yourselves, why am I so confused? Well let me tell you.

 
The Parliament of the World’s Religions is basically what the name says it is…a place where people from different religions sit down and talk about world issues, and look at ways to solve them. This conference is held every five years and seeing people talking to each other like they did today seems pretty positive. However, has it changed anything in the world so far?

Today is December 4, 2009 and the first day of the conference has come and passed by. I guess I got some good material to create a radio piece that will share this experience with others, and I know for a fact I have met passionate world religious leaders. But, right now I don’t feel so accomplished. A least not yet. All I know is that I will be discovering something very powerful about my self in the next few days. I’ll keep you posted on that. For now, I will leave you with a thought. At one of the workshops I attended this morning, a white woman with sparkly blue eyes touched her chest and asked for forgiveness from the indigenous peoples at the panel. Joe, an elder from Cochiti Pueblo back home in New Mexico said that the only way to progress is to forget the past.

- Carmen