I just attended the Building Hope Conference at Yale (June 13-22, 2011), a strategic international conference of Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious leaders, committed to seeking the common good.So what are some of the major lessons I learned?

Approximately ten leaders from each faith community were chosen to attend this international gathering focused on seeking the common good. Participants have been carefully chosen by senior leaders in each faith community as representing those mid-career leaders most likely to be exercising the widest influence in their communities in the coming 10-15 years. Here is a final statement and report from the conference.

Media reports keep emphasizing the brutality of the Syrian repression, despite the regime’s repeated promises of reforms. What is more, the Alawi ruling elite has carried out attacks against both the Sunni majority and the small Christian population. Recently in an address to the Religious Summit of the G8 , the Syrian Orthodox Bishop of Aleppo, Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, appealed to the worldwide church and the wider religious community to support a peaceful resolution to the Syrian conflict.

One of the most damaging ways the sacred-secular dichotomy demonstrates itself is in the clergy-laity split. For example, the phrase “full time Christian service” often implies a superior quality inherent in clerical or missionary work. Let’s see what the Apostle Peter says about this.

"Pastors are spiritual. Businessmen aren’t. Prayer is spiritual. Work isn’t. The physical world is bad. The unseen heavenly realm is good." This sacred-secular dichotomy has plagued the church from the beginning.

If Jesus gives us freedom of choice, freedom to choose or reject him, then certainly we must promote and protect freedom of religion for others.

I am writing from Yale University in New Haven, CT where I am preparing for the upcoming Building Hope conference (June 13-22, 2011). I am consulting with the Reconciliation Program directed by Joseph Cumming. The Reconciliation Program is part of Yale’s Center for Faith & Culture, directed by Miroslav Volf. 

A close friend of mine was sharing his heart with me. “Rick, I was talking about the Seven Resolutions Against Prejudice, Hatred & Discrimination with a well-known pastor. The pastor dismissed the document without even reading it, saying, ‘I don’t do interfaith stuff!’ How do I respond to this?”

In his short series on the subject of jihad, Dr. David Johnston now explains the concepts of the “greater” and “lesser jihad”, as found in the Quran. You may be surprised at the conclusion!