The online “book club” is the creation of URI Multi-Regional Coordinator Abdallah Hendawy, who wanted to provide a platform for URI members from different regions to talk and work together.
“So far, the feedback has been very positive and diverse,” Hendawy said. “There is no special criteria on what kind of topics should be presented, but the general framework is URI work-related topics, such as inter-religious dialogue, cultural integration, peace making, etc.
The “club” has already discussed “Peace Among Religions: Hans Küng’s Analysis of Christian and Muslim Paradigms of Social Justice in Search of a Global Ethic,” an articleby Richard H. Morgan, a professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Social Welfare.
More recently, the club – now accessible through the social networking site Facebook – is considering an article by Temple University professor Leonard Swidler. Professor Swidler, editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies, helped arrange an inter-religious conference earlier this year at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan. His article, “Ground Rules of Inter-Religious Dialogue,” is available here.
