Loading...Terry Taylor, executive director of Louisville-based Interfaith Paths to Peace, will visit Iran for nearly two weeks in November as part of a Citizen Diplomacy team sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a national, faith-based peace organization. Taylor will be one of about a dozen U.S. citizens from around the country taking part in the visit; he is the only participant from the Louisville area. The group will depart from the U.S. on November 5 and arrive in Tehran on November 7.
During the trip the group will visit with Iranian citizens and with some Iranian government officials in an effort to increase understanding between the people of the United States and the people of Iran. The team will travel to the cities of Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Qom, Yazd and other smaller communities. Team members will meet with Shi'i Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. They will also hold discussions with community-based peace groups and with disabled veterans of Iran's long war with Iraq in the 1980s.
According to FOR, "After 13 successful Iran delegations, we believe that civilian diplomacy trips are a central activity in a broader, sustained program of attracting and engaging people in the pursuit of improved relations between the US and Iran. In their trip, the delegates will get to touch on the rich culture of Iran as well as the complexity of politics in the country. Their visits will take them to the heart of glorious Persian history in Shiraz and Isfahan and to the modern capital city of Tehran. They will meet with ordinary people and politicians in Tehran. They will have tea with minority religious in Iran but will also visit the school of Shii theology in Qom. "
Terry Taylor of Interfaith Paths to Peace adds, "I am honored to be part of a noble effort to try to bridge the gaps that seem to separate people in two of the world's great nations. In the last several years I have visited Japan (and its Hiroshima Peace Museum), Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Qatar and other nations in the Middle East and Mediterranean.
"Traveling to Iran at this critically important time will place me and the other members of the delegation in the midst of a situation that holds both threat and opportunity. I travel with the hope of learning things from the Iranian people that I can share with groups in Louisville so that we can better understand the concerns, fears and (most especially) hopes for peace of a people who have experienced millennia of armed conflict."
About the National Fellowship of Reconciliation
The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) works at both the grass roots and policy levels to replace violence, war, racism, and economic injustice with nonviolence, peace, and justice.
Since 1915, (FOR) has carried on programs and educational projects concerned with domestic and international peace and justice, nonviolent alternatives to conflict and social change, and the rights of conscience. These efforts have ranged from on-the-ground work in rural Colombian conflict zones to the training of a multi-cultural cadre of youth skilled in nonviolence as a way of life.
FOR has over 38,000 members and supporters and approximately 100 chapters and affiliated groups distributed across 39 states in the US. Moreover, FOR has experience leading delegations that have built trust with the Iranian government.
About Interfaith Paths to Peace
Interfaith Paths to Peace (IPP) is a nonprofit organization based in Louisville , Kentucky . IPP works to make our community, the nation, and the world more peaceful by bringing people of different religions together through programs and events that promote inter-religious understanding.
IPP now delivers more day-to-day interfaith events and opportunities than any other group in the Louisville area and, we believe, in the U.S.
Interfaith Paths to Peace:
- Delivers Many Outstanding Interfaith Programs, Events and Activities
- Provides on-going programs and events including concerts, art exhibits, lectures, films, interfaith dinners, peace vigils, pilgrimages for peace, book-signings and more.
- Hosts regular events including free weekly meditation programs, monthly film and discussion events, and co-hosts Third Thursday luncheon presentations on important peacemaking topics.
- Is engaged in a year-long, monthly "Introduction to World Religions" program that reaches hundreds of people; and also offers additional educational programs including an "Introduction to Islam" class.
- Has a board of directors including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Baha'is, Buddhists, Hindus and Unitarians.
- The number of persons attending or participating in IPP events has increased from just a few hundred in 2004 to over 5,000 in 2009.
- Reaches Thousands of People with Interfaith Information via Radio, TV and the Internet.
- Sends daily e-mail notices about interfaith activities to over 1,200 people in the Louisville area.
- Has produced Public Radio underwriting spots that reach hundreds of thousands of people each month.
- Reaches the emerging online world through blogs, videos and other electronic tools, including weekly updates about world religious holidays.
- Has been featured in dozens of radio, TV, newspaper and magazine stories that have reached hundreds of thousands of people in Louisville , throughout the US and around the world.
- Is constantly updating and improving our highly interactive web site: www.Paths2Peace.org.
- Has Embarked on Interfaith Ventures in an International Setting.
- Attended the Hiroshima Commemoration Ceremony in August of 2006 as a guest of that city's Mayor.
- Has undertaken peacemaking and inter-cultural exchange efforts in the Middle East in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
- Provided peace and reconciliation education and empowerment in Rwanda , Congo and Denmark in 2009.
- Involved more than 7,000 young people from around the world in our new Peace Postcards project.
- Partners with the World Affairs Council of Kentucky & Southern Indiana in hosting dignitaries from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
- Partners with Over 100 Groups, Organizations, and Businesses in the US and Internationally
IPP has developed strong relationships with well over 100 local, regional, national and international partners many of whom request IPP to co-sponsor their events. These include churches, mosques, temples, monasteries, synagogues, houses of worship, museums, libraries, peace organizations, schools, businesses, prisons, and international groups such as the Shalom Center, the Islamic Society of North America, the U.S. State Department, the Peace Culture Foundation in Hiroshima, Japan, and more.
