Interfaith Network : Jan 2016 Bulletin

http://www.interfaith.org.uk/publications/all-publications/e-bulletin/148-ifn-e-bulletin-december-2015-january-2016/file

Interfaith Network : Jan 2016 Bulletin

Items Faith and public life updates
Refugees and migrants - responses
Faith and inter faith response to terrorist attacks in Paris
Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life - report
Government review of the Muslim Brotherhood
Law Commission Review of marriage law
Consultation on cremation
National Faith Community Representative Bodies meet
Collective Worship and Religious Observance in Schools
RE for Real report
House of Commons Briefing Paper on RE
etc

A new Settlement : religion and Belief in Schools

http://faithdebates.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/A-New-Settlement-for-Religion-and-Belief-in-schools.pdf

A new Settlement : religion and Belief in Schools

by Charles Clarke and Linda Woodhead 

Living with Difference: Community, Diversity and the Common Good

http://www.corab.org.uk/

Living with Difference: Community, Diversity and the Common Good

The report of the Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life, convened by the Woolf Institute and chaired by Baroness Butler-Sloss.
It is titled "Living with Difference: Community, Diversity and the Common Good".

RE for REal report and Recommendations

http://www.gold.ac.uk/faithsunit/reforreal/

In a context of deep religious illiteracy in the UK, RE for REal explores the role of schools in equipping young people with the knowledge and skills to engage effectively with religion and belief diversity, in schools, in their communities, in future workplaces and in wider social contexts.

The project analyses the views of pupils, parents and teachers in secondary education and of employers, on what school leavers need to know about religion and belief in relation to the current religion and belief landscape, as evidenced in research and current educational policy.

It builds on the Religious Education Council’s A Review of Religious Education in England (2013) by providing a new evidence-base to support and facilitate continuing national discussions. By engaging protagonists in the field in a cycle of reflective analysis, it will further stimulate and facilitate wider debate around the future role and shape of RE in schools.

Below, you will find supporting documents to accompany our recent study:

Full report (PDF download)

Executive summary (PDF download)

Recommendations (PDF download)

RE for REal brings together views on what children need to know and understand about religion with research evidence on the real religious landscape and explores the gaps between the two. It is unique in that it will bring together key groups of influence to create a forum in which to discuss how to align these two in future policy and planning for schools.

Event Report: Atheism research at the 2015 IAPR World Congress

http://blog.nsrn.net/2015/10/19/event-report-atheism-research-at-the-2015-iapr-world-congress/

← Event Report: American Psychological Association Annual Conference

Event Report: Atheism research at the 2015 IAPR World Congress

Posted on October 19, 2015 by katieaston

In this post, Thomas Coleman discusses the conference the International Association for the Psychology of Religion (IAPR) 2015 World Congress (17th-20th August 2015). Coleman takes us on a tour of the conference, through panels of interest to him on topics of atheism, disbelief and nonreligious mystical, or transcendent, experience.

REC August 2015 Bulletin

http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a742773f8f89e11e47d388c29&id=3d5b8364a6&e=a0f1d3deed

REC August 2015 Bulletin

Independent: Practice Mindfulness – says mental health charity

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/practice-mindfulness---says-mental-health-charity-10254799.html

Practice Mindfulness – says mental health charity

A mental health charity has suggested that mindfulness treatments should be more widely available on the NHS, after revealing the results of a new YouGov survey.

BBC Radio 4: The Buddha: Waking India Up

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05rptcs#auto

The Buddha: Waking India Up

Incarnations: India in 50 Lives

Over the course of 50 episodes, Sunil Khilnani, director of the King's India Institute in London, takes listeners on a whirlwind journey from ancient India to the 21st century through the prism of the life

Wakayama Tourism and Kukai: Koyasan, the Richness of Buddhism and Old Japan Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times

http://moderntokyotimes.com/?p=2847

Wakayama Tourism and Kukai: Koyasan, the Richness of Buddhism and Old Japan

Lee Jay Walker, Modern Tokyo Times

THE MONK Buddhism documentary 720p

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6KiwiwFijw

THE MONK Buddhism documentary 720p

Published on Feb 17, 2015

The film is about a holy camp holding in a temple in Fujian, China. More than 100 people around the world， who are at any ages，take part in this camp. Some of them are devout disciples, sincere teenagers， while some of them are lazy young monks. And there is also a German teenager who is curious about Chinese culture. Distinctively, by using peaceful lens language, it wants to tell us a special religious life in temple.

Islam And Buddhism: Preserving Harmonious Relations – Analysis

http://www.eurasiareview.com/08012015-islam-buddhism-preserving-harmonious-relations-analysis/

Islam And Buddhism: Preserving Harmonious Relations – Analysis

The creeping Muslim-Buddhist tension and the recent alliance forged among hard-line Buddhist nationalist movements in the “saffron crescent” countries of South and South-east Asia will undermine inter-religious relations in the world today. Islam and Buddhism have always co-existed throughout history and enjoyed a special relationship.

Buddhist Women As Agents of Change: Case Studies from Thailand and Indonesia

http://kyotoreview.org/yav/buddhist-women-as-agents-of-change/

Buddhist Women As Agents of Change: Case Studies from Thailand and Indonesia

by Lai Suat Yan

GCSE and A Level reform: Religious Studies

GCSE and A Level reform: Religious Studies

The RE Council of England and Wales welcomes the consultation on the criteria for GCSE and A Level examinations in Religious Studies (closed 29 December 2014) and is pleased that its officers and member organisations have contributed to the process which has been led by the Department for Education. We have encouraged our member organisations to join us in responding to the consultation document, and the RE Council Board’s response is available to view on the REC website. Ofqual is consulting in parallel on the assessment arrangements for all subjects, with their consultation closing on 5 January 2015. The Ofqual consultation can be viewed here.

CityLab: The Link Between Religious Diversity and Economic Development

http://www.citylab.com/politics/2014/12/the-link-between-religious-diversity-and-economic-development/372585/

The Link Between Religious Diversity and Economic Development

Economic success may be tied to the fact that not all of your neighbors are celebrating the same winter holiday as you.

Richard Florida  Dec 19, 2014

What is happening in Myanmar Buddhist circles ?

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/12/18/myanmar-women-object-proposed-restrictions-interfaith-marriage/

What is happening in Myanmar Buddhist circles ?

China's mountain hermits seek a highway to heaven

http://www.mysinchew.com/node/104226

China's mountain hermits seek a highway to heaven

by Tom HANCOCK

Zhongnan Mountains (AFP) -- His unheated hut is half way up a mountain with no electricity, and his diet consists mostly of cabbage. But Master Hou says he has found a recipe for joy.
"There is no happier way for a person to live on this earth," he declared, balancing on a hard wooden stool outside his primitive mud brick dwelling.

Hundreds of millions have moved to China's urban areas during a decades-long economic boom, but some are turning their backs on the bright lights and big cities to live as isolated hermits.

Their choice puts them in touch with an ancient tradition undergoing a surprising modern-day revival.

 

IEET: Review of Michio Kaku’s, Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century

IEET Link: http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/messerly20141215

Review of Michio Kaku’s, Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century

Instititute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
John G. Messerly

reasonandmeaning.com

http://reasonandmeaning.com/2014/12/14/kakus-visions/

December 15, 2014

Summary of Michio Kaku’s Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century (1997) “There are three great themes in science in the 20^th century—the atom, the computer, and the gene.” – Harold Varmus, NIH Director. Three centuries ago Newton said that he was a boy, playing on the seashore while a “great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Life in Newton’s time was, as Hobbes said, “nasty, brutish, and short.” But Newton unleashed a revolution that he could never have imagined. Within a few generations “the basic laws of matter, life, and computation were … solved.” [3-4]

Full article

Mindfulness’ “truthiness” problem: Sam Harris, science and the truth about Buddhist tradition

http://www.salon.com/2014/12/06/mindfulness_truthiness_problem_sam_harris_science_and_the_truth_about_buddhist_tradition/

Mindfulness’ “truthiness” problem: Sam Harris, science and the truth about Buddhist tradition

  Saturday, Dec 6, 2014 03:45 PM UTC

Sam Harris wants practitioners out of religion business. But the supposed science behind it is its own mythology
Ronald Purser and Andrew Cooper

Mindfulness: Stealth Buddhist Strategy for Mainstreaming Meditation?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/candy-gunther-brown-phd/mindfulness-stealth-buddh_b_6243036.html

Mindfulness: Stealth Buddhist Strategy for Mainstreaming Meditation?

by Candy Gunther Brown, Ph.D.  02/12/2014

WildFoxZen: Top Ten Issues for Zen Today

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildfoxzen/2014/11/top-ten-issues-for-zen-today.html

Top Ten Issues for Zen Today

We’ve been settling into Portland, ME, since our move here in July. For one thing, Bodhi sure looks comfortable on my zafu, no?
For another, people don’t sound as “different” as they did when we moved. Heck, the other day I called my old health insurance company in Minneapolis and talked to a nice lady there about an issue that I was having. OMG, did she have a Fargo accent! We don’t talk like that around here, that’s for gall darn sure!