Swords into Plowshares

Forgive, don’t forget

Looking forward to Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate which features the Rev. Dr. Donald Shriver who has been a featured speaker at two recent seminars held at the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - News & Announcements - Forgive, don’t forget.

When one considers the current political climate, whether within the United States or around the world, ‘forgiveness’ might not be the first word that comes to mind. But forgiveness, said the Rev. Donald Shriver Jr., an ethicist and former president of Union Theological Seminary, is exactly what’s needed.

Shriver’s insights on forgiveness will be featured in a two-part PBS documentary called Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate, directed by Helen Whitney. The program airs April 17 (Palm Sunday) and 24 (Easter); check local listings for affiliates’ show times.

Our biggest seminar . . .

. . . at least since October 2010 . . . took place on April 11, 2011.

On the side of the bus, we read that it was from Passaic, New Jersey. The Rev. Vicky Ney, pastor of Springfield Presbyterian Church, had called a few minute earlier to say they were getting close to the United Nations. We sprang into action.

Ricky entered the United Nations to purchase the tickets for their tour. Ryan and I stationed ourselves on the sidewalk outside the building to wait. "This must be our group," we said when we saw the bus.

There were thirty-five in the group, mostly Presbyterians - several of their friends from the Jewis community joined them.

We escorted them through security and into the United Nations. The group was divided into three smaller groups for the tour. After the tour, the group came to the Church Center for the United Nations where they had lunch.

The Rev. Dr. Don Shriver, president emeritus of Union Theological Seminary, joined the group. He made a presentation on the role of forgiveness in public life. Dr. Shriver reminded the group that Romans 3:23 is empirically verifiable: "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

As individuals and as communities we sin. Because we sin, forgiveness is essential to allowing us to move forward - in our personal relationships and in our common life.

Recognizing the need to avoid cheap grace, Dr. Shriver said that what is needed is not "to forgive and to forget" but "to remember and to forgive." The process of forgiveness involves remembering and repenting of evil and misdeeds. True forgiveness - forgiveness which allows us to move forward - can only follow remembrance and repentance. True forgiveness often will involve repair and restoration and reparation for the wrong that has been inflicted.

Drawing on the work of his books An Ethic for Enemies and Honest Patriots, Dr. Shriver cited efforts by Germany to come to terms with evil of the Holocaust and efforts by South Africa to come to terms with the evil of apartheid as examples of countries engaged in the forgiveness process. In Germany and in South Africa, this takes place through monuments and  museums, conversations and public events, and in text books.

Dr. Shriver noted that the school curriculum in Germany explores the Holocaust on three occasions. He also recounted a conversation with a student who observed that even after that, there remained much to recall and explore and process.

As he had done with the seminar from the Boston University School of Theology, Dr. Shriver reminded the particpants the need of the United States to remember -- particularly in relation to the exploitation and violation of people of color.

Many of the participants had lived through the Second World War - at least as children - and were moved by Dr. Shriver's presentation. All of us went home with much to ponder.

At the end, Dr. Shriver presented a commercial: he will be featured in a new PBS film on forgiveness. Check your local listings for Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate.

View some additional photos of the seminar.

Contact the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations to schedule a seminar.

Your gifts make possible the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.

Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate

Check your local PBS listings for a new film on forgiveness.

Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate, by Helen Whitney, explores a range of stories from personal betrayal to global reconciliation after genocide.

Don Shriver, author of An Ethic for Enemies and Honest Patriots and speaker at two recent seminars at the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, appears in the film. Here's the description of the film from PBS:

Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate provides an intimate look into the spontaneous outpouring of forgiveness: from the Amish families for the 2006 shooting of their children in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania; the struggle of '60s radicals to cope with the serious consequences of their violent acts of protest; the shattering of a family after the mother abandons them, only to return seeking forgiveness; the legacy and divisiveness of apartheid and the aftermath of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in South Africa; the penitential journey of a modern-day Germany, confronting the horrific acts of the Holocaust; and the riveting stories of survivors of the unimaginably, brutal Rwandan genocide.

Once a uniquely religious word, forgiveness now is changing and there is no consensus about what it is and what it is becoming. However you define forgiveness, its power is real — and never more so when it struggles with the unforgivable. Inevitably, as Whitney reveals, its new role in the world raises serious and complex questions: why is forgiveness in the air today; what does that say about us and the times we live in; what are its power, its limitations and in some instances its dangers; has it been cheapened or deepened... or both?

 

Call for youth participation

PLURAL+ 2011 Youth Video Festival on Migration, Diversity & Social Inclusion
 
Calls for Youth Participation
 
Building on the successes of the past two year’s of PLURAL+, a youth video festival on migration, diversity and social inclusion, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) again invite the world’s youth to submit dynamic and forward-thinking videos focusing on these issues.
 
PLURAL+ has not only provided young people with an effective platform to express themselves on key migration and diversity issues, but also the opportunity to reinforce the belief of the UNAOC and IOM that youth are indeed powerful and creative agents of social change.
 
This year, young people between the ages of 9 and 25 are invited to submit short videos of one to five minutes in length. The videos should express participants’ thoughts, experiences, questions and suggestions on migration, diversity, integration and identity, highlighting their realities as well as ideas on developing a peaceful coexistence in diverse cultural and religious contexts.
 
The aim of PLURAL+ is to ensure youth engagement in these important issues both at local and global levels by mainstreaming their voices through a variety of media platforms and distribution networks (broadcast, video festivals, conferences, events, Internet, DVD) around the world.
 
“We were pleased to see that the PLURAL+ entrants shared their thoughts, struggles and fears about their identity as youth as well as migrants. The true voice of PLURAL+ is found by listening to a population which is not only entering a new society as a migrant, but entering adulthood as well,” said Michele Klein Solomon, IOM Permanent Observer to the United Nations.
 
A prestigious international jury will select three winners in three age categories (9-12, 13-17, 18-25). Each winner will be invited to New York, all travel expenses paid, to present  their work at PLURAL + 2011 Awards Ceremony at the Paley Center for Media on 10 November 2011.
 
PLURAL+ partner organizations will also award other exciting prizes and professional opportunities. Including co-productions and a chance for awardees to gain international exposure by presenting their work at film and video festivals, conferences and events around the world.
 
PLURAL + 2011 deadline for video submission is 1 July, 2011. Early submission are encouraged. Find guidelines, regulations, awards, and the entry form at PLURAL + 2011

For more information, please contact: Matthew Wade

Gaza updates

Frustrations for Gazans at Rafah crossing into Egypt

Gaza humanitarian timeline since 2005

One Family in Gaza, a short film made and distributed by Jen Marlowe that tells the true story of what happened to one family in Gaza, two years ago - Reviewed by James M. Wall

PC(USA)-backed domestic violence special begins airing Jan. 9 on ABC

PC(USA)-backed domestic violence special begins airing Jan. 9 on ABC

From an article by the Presbyterian News Service:

On Sunday, Jan. 9, an interfaith documentary that explores faith groups’ efforts to support the victims of domestic violence begins airing on ABC-affiliated stations around the country.

The documentary, I Believe You: Faiths’ Response to Intimate Partner Violence, was made possible with the support of an interfaith group that includes Presbyterian Women of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the New York Board of Rabbis, the Presbyterians Against Domestic Violence Network, United Methodist Women, the Evangelical Church in America, the National Council of Churches and a consortium of Muslim organizations.

Read the whole story.

Watch a two-minute intro to the documentary.

Check and see if your local ABC-affiliated station is showing the documentary. Spread the word to your friends if it is being aired; contact the station if it is not.

See 'The Changing Face of HIV/AIDS'

“The Changing Face of HIV/AIDS” is a new DVD/video by the Presbyterian AIDS Network (PAN).

In the United States, the face of HIV and AIDS has changed dramatically in the 30 years since the start of the pandemic.  Communities are living with increased rates of infection and more and more Americans are affected by HIV.

This video in six 3- minute segments explores “The Changing Face of HIV/AIDS,” telling the story of ministries of compassion, support and advocacy as the church and our communities respond. The segment, “What People of Faith Need to Know about HIV/AIDS” offers a basic primer for the church living in an HIV Positive world.  By discussing the facts about HIV and AIDS, the video empowers the viewer to make faithful decisions and the church to take faithful actions, as well as helping to reduce the stigma attached to this devastating illness.

The Presbyterian AIDS Network (PAN), a Network of the Presbyterian Health, Education & Welfare Association (PHEWA), is available to assist a congregation in becoming an HIV and AIDS Competent Church.

View or download “The Changing Face of HIV/AIDS.”

The DVD will very soon be available to be ordered through the Presbyterian Distribution Service at no cost (phone (800) 524-2612).

Just in time for World AIDS Day (December 1), and far beyond!

Find worship resources for World AIDS Day.

Read a World AIDS Day reflection by Amanda Craft, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workter in Guatemala.

United Nations Webcast

Want to know what is happening at the United Nations?

Check out the United Nations Webcast. Streaming video is available as are previous Webcasts.

Posted by the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.

'Coming home' five years after Katrina struck

NBC special on August 29

Watch a preview

For many Americans, August 29 marks an anniversary that has scarred both bodies and souls.

That was the day, five years ago, when Hurricane Katrina made a direct assault on New Orleans, Mississippi and the American gulf coast. The worst natural disaster in U.S. history left thousands of families homeless and displaced.

Five years later, many of those families are still struggling to return home. "Coming Home: Hurricane Katrina 5 Years Later," is their story.

The documentary — alternately heart wrenching and deeply inspiring — was produced by the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and is presented by the National Council of Churches on many NBC stations through the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission beginning August 29. If your local station isn't carrying this important show, call the station management and tell them how much you'd like to see it.

"You have to remember one thing when you drive through my city," says Wanda, "behind every broken window...behind every boarded up empty house...There is a family trying to come home.” Wanda was one of the thousands of families left homeless or displaced following Hurricane Katrina. Five years later, some of these families are still trying to return home. The most destructive hurricane in U.S. history inspired a movement that brought thousands of volunteers from all over the world —taking leave from their jobs, their families— to work alongside families and communities desperately trying to return home. Thousands of persons of faith have been deeply involved in the recovery of the gulf since the hurricane hit five years ago.

The new documentary, "Coming Home: Hurricane Katrina 5 Years Later," gives insight into the relationships between volunteers and hurricane survivors and includes stories of how they have touched each other’s lives. DVDs are available from 800-524-2612.

Reduce, eliminate, count down to zero

Countdown to Zero

A review by Nancy Eng MacNeill

I have always loved the phrase, “time goes by so fast.”  Countdown to Zero, has reminded me that I have lived my whole life under the threat that all living things (except for cockroaches, but we will not go there), could be destroyed with the push of a button. Quoting John F. Kennedy, "Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident, or miscalculation, or by madness."

Countdown to Zero recalls specific moments in history telling the story of the unfolding evolution of splitting the atom. Marveled at as a scientific feat, the application created the most powerful weapon for any government or country. Just as global society began the race to get into space, country after country began put together the pieces to make nuclear warheads in order to claim and be acknowledged as being a nuclear power with nuclear capabilities. The recounting of a historic time line of events fills in the back story of history, things known and unknown, but never undersells the fact that world’s leaders knew the magnitude of a nuclear threat.

Countdown to Zero relays to the viewer that it is only a matter of time before an accident occurs and shifts the focus for the 20th century that nuclear capabilities have moved from its inception as a defensive weapon to a weapon of terror for the probable use to of annihilating a total culture of a people.  The film cites the ease in obtaining highly enriched uranium throughout the global and although tougher restrictions could be put in place, the most secure way to address the threat is for the global community to reduce and eliminate the stockpile of warheads and delivery vehicles as is called for by the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The Senate is expected to vote on ratification of START in September 2010. Countdown to Zero provides an opportunity to sign the new START Petition and the Global Zero Declaration.

As with any film there is criticism and critics focused on which countries were highlighted and which ones were not, what was said and what was left unsaid. Nonetheless, the bottom line is clear: it is only a matter of time when our youth and young adults, who have only seen the power and destruction of a mushroom cloud through cartoons, news reels or brief video clips, will feel the fear and terror of nuclear weapons in their lifetime. This is a film to remind those of us who remember, share the story to those who do not know and call upon the worlds governments and leaders to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons, to Countdown to Zero.     

Check out where the film is showing.