Talking to Iran
Preview film: Talking
to
Iran
(2007)
- Duty
of religious leaders to bring dialogue to high moral ground
- Most
delegates were from the Quaker/Mennonite tradition—strong commitment to
peace
- Role
of media to inflate differences and highten conflict
- Role
of dialogue: To reduce tensions
- Move
from hate to understanding
- US
moves to promote shah over Iranian preferences
- Iran
takes hostages 1979; side with Iraq against Iran
8. Motivation of delegates: feeling responsible to
do this…to go to the core of our faith
- One
of the most fundamental beliefs of the Quaker faith is the idea that
within each of us is a measure of the Divine, what Quakers call "that
of God" in all beings and what the Gospel of John referred to as
"the true Light" (John 1:9-10). That fundamental belief, that we
each have that of God within us, gave rise to the Quaker belief in
equality -- equality between men and women, black people and white, those
of one faith and those of another. It logically follows that in the
original expressions of the Quaker faith, there were no priests, no
ministers, no pastors -- just people, equal to one another, holding each
other in the Light and listening in silence for the "still, small
voice" of God.