Groundviews, a ground-breaking project for citizen journalism in Sri Lanka, has begun a campaign called “Not In Our Name” to denounce religious violence.
The links to the “Not In Our Name” sites are:
Groundviews – Not In Our Names
and
Not In Our Names
(One may leave a comment at the second link.)
This statement is my addition.
It might seem strange that someone in the U.S., who has not, unfortunately, even visited Sri Lanka would have a comment about the religious-based violence that gave rise to “Not In Our Name.” But I’m just old fashioned enough, if that’s the right way to describe it, to think that the good and bad done for and to our brothers and sisters all over the world reflects on each of us, no matter where we happen to be geographically.
Most major religions have at their base a core of values that suggest kindness and tolerance. History has given us all the examples we could ever want of instances in which zeal and fervor have overshadowed tolerance, leading to some of the most ghastly human-on-human violence imaginable. To quote a religious figure who happened to have been Roman Catholic: “Though sometimes we have the feeling that what we do just means a drop in the vast sea, the sea would be less without such a drop.”
So, as my drop in the sea, here’s my declaration:
My name is Daniel Rainey, and no violence, persecution, or prejudice based on any religion, occurring at any time in any place, is done in my name.
I find myself wanting to post comments about a lot of things that I can’t comment on because of my current position with the NMB, but I think I’m safe in saying that there’s a new book out that I think is really great. Of course, I could be biased because I’m one of the editors, but you can judge that for yourself. The book is a 600 page compendium of the current state of ODR around the world, with chapters written by an international cross section of dispute resolution professionals who have been working in the ODR arena for the past decade and more. It is available in all the usual channels, including Amazon.com.