A Buddhist cop’s approach to justice

http://www.lionsroar.com/a-buddhist-cops-approach-to-justice/

A Buddhist cop’s approach to justice

BY CHERI MAPLES| SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

NATRE: New RS Exams: more information for teachers

http://www.natre.org.uk/news/latest-news/examination-reform-2015-your-one-stop-shop-for-all-the-materials-published-so-far-1/

NATRE: New RS Exams: more information for teachers

Lots of new materials from the different awarding bodies about their new examination specifications have been released today. This material is all still in draft, because it will only become final and official when OFQUAL say so, but it is helpful that the Awarding Bodies have released their final draft versions, as sent to OFQUAL.

Click on the links below to read the NATRE overview of all the specifications for GCSE and A Level:

• Compare the different GCSE specifications

• Compare the different A level specifications

The Role of Faith in British Schools/Education

http://se-faithforum.net/national-events/conference-2015

The Role of Faith in British Schools/Education

South East England Faiths Forum, in conjunction with the National Association of SACREs and the University of Winchester, is holding a day conference on Thursday 3 September on ‘The Role of Faith in British Schools/Education’.
The event will be held from 10am to 4pm at the Stripe Building, University of Winchester SO22 4NR. The keynote speaker will be Alan Brine, former RE lead at OFSTED and the day will end with the SEEFF AGM at 4pm. There is a charge to attend, which includes a vegetarian lunch.

For further information, contact elizabeth.jenkerson@btopenworld.com or visit http://se-faithforum.net/national-events/conference-2015
.

Religion and belief in school – a Westminster Faith Debates report

Religion and belief in school – a Westminster Faith Debates report 

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

A Westminster Faith Debates report ‘A New Settlement: Religion and Belief in Schools’ by former Minister Charles Clarke and Professor Linda Woodhead was published in June.

18 policy recommendations are made by them, covering the act of collective worship, the content and formation of the legally required RE curriculum and the operation of faith schools.
Among these there are proposals that:

1. the requirement for schools to have an Act of Collective Worship should be abolished; 
2. consideration be given to using the phrase ‘Religious and Moral Education’ rather than ‘Religious Education’ in describing this part of the statutory curriculum; 
3. and the Religious Education syllabus in county and voluntary controlled schools should no longer be set by a system of locally agreed syllabuses, but be an agreed national syllabus which would have a similar legal status to the requirements of other subjects in the National Curriculum. 

The full report can be downloaded at: http://faithdebates.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2015/06/A-New-Settlement-for-Religion-and-Belief-in-schools.pdf.

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.

New academically rigorous RS GCSE backed by faith groups

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-academically-rigorous-rs-gcse-backed-by-faith-groups

New academically rigorous RS GCSE backed by faith groups

From:

Department for Education and The Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP

First published:

7 November 2014

Last updated:

7 November 2014 , see all updates

Part of:

Reforming qualifications and the curriculum to better prepare pupils for life after school and Schools

Pupils to study 2 religions to develop broader and deeper understanding of religious beliefs.

Charity Commission consults on new guidance for trustees

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-essential-trustee-cc3-new-version

From: Mark A Hall <Mark1.Hall@communities.gsi.gov.uk>
Date: 3 February 2015 at 10:46
Subject: DCLG Bulletin (February 2015)

                                                                                            

3^rd February 2015                                                                                                                                                                                   

Charity Commission consults on new guidance for trustees

The Charity Commission has launched a consultation on its new guidance for trustees, the closing date for which is 17 February.

The Commission has rewritten guidance note CC3, entitled 'The Essential Trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do'. The new guidance clearly explains what the Commission expects of trustees and the potential consequences if the minimum good practice standards are not met.

The current guidance distinguishes between what trustees must do (i.e. what are legal requirements) and what trustees should do (i.e. what is good practice), but it is unclear whether the good practice standards are optional. The new draft guidance clarifies this position and warns that those who do not meet the minimum standards are at risk of breaching their legal duties as trustees. The new draft follows recent commission guidance on decision making and conflicts of interest. It also reflects other changes such as the introduction of Charitable Incorporated Organisations. In addition to this, we ask you to consider whether the guidance is suitable for charities within the faith/interfaith sector, including places of worship.

Information about how to respond to the consultation on the draft guidance, including the consultation questions, can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-essential-trustee-cc3-new-version.

RE Council Newsletter : Feb 2015

http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a742773f8f89e11e47d388c29&id=30a5802258&e=a0f1d3deed

RE Council Newsletter : Feb 2015

In This Issue

• Introduction
• Young Ambassadors for RE
• RE PD Portal
• RE Quality Mark
• New on the REC website
• RE Regional Strategy
• Holocaust Memorial Day
• Carter Report on Initial Teacher Training published
• Teach:RE course
• 3forRE
• Free RE conference: 'Energising RE 2015'
• NATRE conference: 'RE: Reviving and Thriving'
• 2015 Spirited Arts competition
• Job opportunity: 3FF Director
• RE Today professional development webinars
• Book: 'The Islamic Belief System'
• 'Getting to Good in Primary RE': opportunities for regional RE improvement consultants
• Hockerill Educational Foundation / NATRE Prize opens
• Hockerill Educational Foundation grants open
• News from the Hindu Council UK
• Exhibition: Maps of Persia

Tricycle: The Economy of Salvation

http://www.tricycle.com/blog/economy-salvation

January 20, 2015

The Economy of Salvation

To achieve the Buddhist goal of release from karmic debt, we must annul economic debt.Alex Caring-Lobel

Stand up to hatred

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/458257/stand-up-to-hatred

Stand up to hatred 

Published: 20 Jan 2015 at 06.00 

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/458257/stand-up-to-hatred. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Post Publishing PCL. All rights reserved.

Credit a top US diplomat for raising the issue of fast-growing religious intolerance in our region. Tom Malinowski, an official of the human rights office of the US State Department, made his comments... 

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/458257/stand-up-to-hatred. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Post Publishing PCL. All rights reserved.

A Sangha by Another Name

http://www.tricycle.com/feature/sangha-another-name

A Sangha by Another Name

A Buddhist and one of America’s preeminent African-American writers applies the suffering of the First Noble Truth to the suffering of blacks in white America, and traces the history of Dharma among black artists.

Charles Johnson

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

RE Regional Strategy

RE Regional Strategy

Based on Recommendation 4 of the 2013 Review of RE, the REC, NATRE and Culham St Gabriel’s have launched the RE Regional Strategy Pilot to ensure that there are more robust arrangements for training and supporting teachers of RE across the country. There are now 13 RE hubs supported by CSTG and several operating independently or in partnerships with universities and NATRE, which are developing their own regional strategies, adapted and suited to their own professional development priorities; we hope that this exciting initiative will lead to real, grass-roots improvements in the quality of RE. CSTG is also supporting primary schools that are working towards an Ofsted ‘Good’, to encourage them to develop their RE, and is aiming to work with 100 primary schools in the north-east and north-west – further details of this will be published on the CSTG and RE Online websites in early 2015.

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

A wonderful 25 minutes interview with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39g2OJkLvy8

A wonderful 25 minutes interview with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. 

Published on Dec 19, 2014

Chinese people are in need of the “peace, compassion and non-violence” advocated by Tibetan Buddhist culture, the Himalayan region’s exiled spiritual leader has said in a wide-ranging interview with FRANCE 24.

The 79-year-old Nobel Peace Prize-winner stressed the importance of preserving Tibetan culture, pointing to the “gap between rich and poor in China” and the country’s “immense corruption”.

China's Communist regime invaded Tibet in 1950. Today, many Tibetans feel their Buddhist culture risks being wiped out by Chinese rule and an influx of settlers from the majority Han ethnic group.

The Dalai Lama fled to neighbouring India in 1959 after Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet. He has never been allowed back.

Chinese officials view him as a “separatist”, though he says he only wants autonomy for the region.

In the interview aired on Wednesday, the exiled spiritual leader suggested hardliners in Beijing were holding President Xi Jinping back from granting genuine autonomy to the Himalayan region.

The Dalai Lama said he had been encouraged by Xi's recent comments on the importance of Buddhism in Chinese culture. "This is something very unusual," he said. "A communist, usually, we consider atheist."

Asked if the remarks led him to believe Xi was ready to discuss calls for genuine autonomy, the spiritual leader said he thought there were "some indications".

"But at the same time, among the establishment, there is a lot of hardliner thinking still there. So he himself sometimes finds it's a difficult situation," the Dalai Lama said.

 

Religious Education in State-Funded Schools: An Academic Subject Like Any Other – and Some!

http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/2014/02/05/religious-education-in-state-funded-schools-an-academic-subject-like-any-other-and-some-by-denise-cush/

Religious Education in State-Funded Schools: An Academic Subject Like Any Other –and Some!, By Denise Cush

In many ways I am in agreement with Professor Jensen, and see myself as a partner in the campaign to establish a ‘Religious Studies based’ Religious Education in state funded schools throughout Europe and indeed the world. Since experiencing a ‘road to Damascus’ conversion from Theology to Religious Studies on my teacher training year and Lancaster University MA in the mid-1970s (see Cush 2009), I have spent nearly forty years passionate about the ‘Religious Studies Approach’ and applying it in a variety of educational settings. I have also concerned myself throughout that time with the relationship between Religious Studies as understood at university level, and religious education in schools, both in academic publications (see for example Cush, 1999) and on various professional and policy committees on religious education. I currently represent the university Theology and Religious Studies sector (TRS-UK) on the Religious Education Council of England and Wales and its subcommittees, and was on the Steering Group for the new National Curriculum Framework for Religious Education, part of the recent Review of Religious Education in England (REC, 2013) – full report available at http://resubjectreview.recouncil.org.uk/re-review-report. So I am perhaps an example of the ‘publically engaged academic’ Tim seeks, at least in relation to education policy.

full article

Addressing Cultural, Ethnic & Religious Diversity Challenges in Europe

http://ec.europa.eu/research/social-sciences/pdf/accept-pluralism-addressing-cultural-ethnic-religious-diversity-challenges-in-eu_en.pdf

Addressing Cultural, Ethnic & Religious Diversity Challenges in Europe

A Comparative Overview of 15 European Countries

Anna Triandafyllidou, European University Institute, 2012

newstatesman: What should happen to churches as religion recedes?

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2014/07/what-should-happen-churches-religion-recedes

What should happen to churches as religion recedes?

As church-going diminishes, church buildings are repurposed, many retaining vital functions.