HOME
INTRODUCTION
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
TALKS AGENDA & WORKSHOPS
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
PLANNING COMMITTEE
SPONSORSHIP
REGISTER
POSTER
CONTACT US
PHOTO GALLERY

Highlights of the 2011 conference

The Spiritual Diversity Conference staged in Halifax on 2 and 3 June, 2011, hit the ground running with at least 120 delegates taking  up seats in the auditorium at Saint Mary’s University. Delegates were a mix of people of all faiths: Buddhists, Baha’is, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities.

Among important points made at the conference were:  
1. That culture at its heart is religious and therefore any multicultural process must embrace religious diversity.
2. The conference called for dialogue between Christian  and Muslim societies to stem the tide of violence in the world.
3. A Muslim Imam documented notes for participants clarifying misunderstood texts in Islamic scripture
4. Crucial to the unfolding story of Canadian citizenship is the range of new questions that emerge from the Charter’s  “freedom of conscience and religion.”  
5. A group research undertaken among  Muslim youth has concluded that religion is, for them, a private matter – one in which it is less a force for division and conflict and more a medium for integration. This, the study concluded, bodes well for Canada and its pursuit of a multicultural and multi-religious society.

An Assessment form titled “What do I take home from the Conference” was distributed to participants. Approximately 85 per cent said “an appreciation of Canada’s religious diversity can lead to greater societal harmony.”

The Assessment Form was a tool to aid thinking on the following issues:  i) Commonalities and differences in faith traditions ii) The cause of hatred, bigotry and xenophobia iii) Human rights discourse and religion iv) The call for an Advisory Board of religious and civic leaders to create a paradigm shift from the “clash of civilizations” to “dialogue of civilizations”.

A post-conference book and DVD have been produced. Copies will be distributed to Interfaith Councils across Canada as well as to policy makers in Ottawa and in the three levels of government in the region.

The book can also be downloaded here.

Finally, there were calls from all of the rows in the auditorium for this conference to become an annual regular on the city’s conference calendar. In order to heed that call, a plan is afoot to hold the next Spiritual Diversity Conference in September 2012. This will, firstly, be a regional event. Other strategic approaches that would take the dialogue further into the future are currently being studied.

Sponsors