The Public Conversations Project prevents and transforms conflicts driven by deep differences in identity, beliefs, or values.
Featured Posts
News Feed
religion
Ten Years after September 11, 2001: An Opportunity for Reflecting and Connecting
September 9, 2011 — When faced with a hungry cougar, our distant ancestors didn’t engage in complex thinking about the situation. If they had, they would have been eaten, and we 21st century humans might not be here to reflect on our ancestors or anything else. Fortunately, our ancestors’ brains, like ours, excelled at rapid response in times of threat. Such a response mechanism, so well suited to living in the wild, is still useful to us 21st century humans.
Can Religion Make Us More Civil?
February 24, 2011 — This post by John Backman was originally published by the Huffington Post. We are re-posting it here with John’s permission because we think the topic is highly valuable. What we did not find highly valuable, however, was the tone and content of many of the more than a thousand comments that the original posting has received. We are interested in online conversations and in talking about civility, but we continue to wonder how we can do better when it comes to both of these. With that in mind, we offer John’s thoughts as a way of beginning the conversation on a fresh canvas.
Jewish Dialogue on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
December 2, 2010 — One of the issues that the Public Conversations Project has worked on extensively is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We know that this is an issue charged with deeply held views from multiple religious, political, ethnic and national perspectives.
New Workshop for Clergy and Lay Leaders: Transforming Divisive Conversation
August 24, 2010—While communities of faith typically value diversity, it’s not uncommon for conflict to arise around difference in theology, worship, and transition (just to name a few.)
GLENDALE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Talking About Talking to Kids About Israel
When Marjorie Ingalls described her internal conflict about having conversations with her kids about Israel on the Web site for Tablet Magazine, she received some strong responses from readers. That’s no surprise, since there is a wide range of deeply held viewpoints and emotions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the Jewish community.
Israel Need Not Be Third Rail
Yesterday, the New York Times printed an article entitled "On Israel, Jews and Leaders Often Disagree," which began with the following characterization: "Criticizing Israel has long been the equivalent of touching the third rail in many Jewish families and friendships, relegating disagreements to a conversational demilitarized zone where only the innocent and foolhardy go." This hit home with me for a number of personal and professional reasons.
Thoughts on a Guantanamo Reunion—Jan. 21, 2010
A recent article in the New York Times featured an unlikely reunion. While searching for friends on Facebook, a former guard at Guantanamo Bay, Brandon Neely, did a search for some former detainees that he had guarded at the detention facility. After reconnecting with two former prisoners, Mr.
The Charter for Compassion — Nov. 17, 2009
Have you ever heard of TED (not the short-lived low-cost airline brand of United Airlines)? TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading."
The Pastor and the Imam—Nov. 13, 2009
All of us at the Public Conversations Project were delighted to hear of the Chirac Foundation's recent 2009 award of its first-ever Prize for the Prevention of Conflicts to Pastor James Wuye and Imam Muhammed Ashafa, of Kaduna, Nigeria. The Pastor and the Imam, as they are known, were honored for the work of their Interfaith Mediation Center toward interfaith understanding and coexistence in Nigeria. In May, 2009, the Pastor and the Imam visited the
