http://www.nwaonline.net/281216684861365.bsp
"The Morning News" (Arkansas News)
Religious Leaders To Describe Traditions Of Peace
Tue, Jan 14, 2003
Public To Join Discussion Of Differing Faiths
Special To The Morning News/NWAonline.net
FAYETTEVILLE -- Clerics and lay members of various religious denominations will meet together at 7 p.m. today to share their peace traditions.
A discussion will follow, and the public is invited.
Sponsored by the Omni Center for Peace and Justice, the meeting will be in the sanctuary of the United Campus Ministry at Maple Street and Storer Avenue in Fayetteville.
During the first hour, each denomination's peace tradition will be presented by one representative, led by moderator David Edwards, a professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas.
The second hour will be open to discussion among presenters and audience.
"In this time of attack and retaliation, of invasion and war, of weapons of mass destruction and of pandemic hunger and disease, a potential bastion of wisdom and practice for peace resides in our faith communities," a news release from the Omni Peace Center said.
"Meeting in the spirit of peace, we will seek to increase our understanding of our own denomination's peacemaking, to share that knowledge with others, and to learn more about the peace traditions of other faiths."
Presenters include the Rev. Scott Jones, Rolling Hills Baptist Church; Geoff Oelsner, representing the Buddhist faith; the Rev. Jim Johnson of the First Christian Church; Eli or Irene Miller of the Church of the Brethren/Mennonite; the Rev. Lowell Grisham of the Episcopal Church; Maeve Courteau, representing the Jehovah's Witnesses; Mike Lieber, representing Judaism; the Rev. Libbie Lazzaraga of the Presbyterian Church; Karen Takemoto, representing the Quaker faith; Julia Thoma or Paul Warren, representing the Roman Catholic Church; the Rev. Rhett Baird of the Unitarian Universalist Church; and the Rev. Gary Simmons of the Unity Church.
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Watchtower Quotes on Interfaith:
Quote from the Official Watchtower.org Website: http://www.watchtower.org/library/br78/article_03.htm
Satan is invisible ruler of world -- 1 John 5:19, 2 Cor. 4:4, John 12:31
A Christian must have no part in interfaith movements -- 2 Cor. 6:14-17, 2 Cor. 11:13-15, Gal. 5:9, Deut. 7:1-5
A Christian must keep separate from world -- Jas. 4:4, 1 John 2:15, John 15:19, John 17:16
All human laws that do not conflict with God's laws should be obeyed -- Matt. 22:20, 21, 1 Pet. 2:12, 1 Pet. 4:15
Quote from The Watchtower November 15th 2001 Issue, Page 19:
"Hypocrisy...will ultimately prove death-dealing to those who practice it. In the end, hypocrisy will be openly exposed. There is nothing covered over that will not become uncovered, said Jesus Christ, and secret that will not become known. (Matthew 10:26; Luke 12:2) Wise King Solomon declared: The true God himself will bring every sort of work into the judgment in relation to every hidden thing, as to whether it is good or bad. Ecclesiastes 12:14."
Quote from AWAKE! November 22nd 1975 Issue, Page 23:
"Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing in common with other religious groups and can never seek any affiliation with them."
Quote from The Watchtower July 1st 1993 Issue, Page 16, Paragraph 17:
NO ECUMENISM.
Two other complaints made against Jehovah's Witnesses are that they refuse to take part in the ecumenical movement and that they engage in what is termed "aggressive proselytizing." Both of these reproaches were also flung at the early Christians. Christendom, with her Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant components, is undeniably a part of this world. Like Jesus, Jehovah's Witnesses "are no part of this world." (John 17:14) How could they ally themselves through interfaith movements with religious organizations that promote unchristian conduct and beliefs?
Quote from The Watchtower July 15th 1989 Issue, Page 25:
Surely, then, we should do nothing to support interfaith movements or perpetuate false religion.
Quote from The Watchtower March 15th 1988 Issue, Page 9:
Would not offering prayers at an interfaith meeting on a Buddhist holy mountain amount to a Christian's 'becoming unevenly yoked'?
Quote from The Watchtower January 1st 1987 Issue, Page 29:
mostly Catholics, that have noticed religion's drifting toward politics and its acceptance and approval of un-Biblical practices like interfaith, immorality, and violence.
Quotes from The Watchtower April 1st 1986 Issue, Pages 30-31:
Questions From Readers
Why have Jehovah's Witnesses disfellowshipped (excommunicated) for apostasy some who still profess belief in God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ?
Those who voice such an objection point out that many religious organizations claiming to be Christian allow dissident views...
However, such examples provide no grounds for our doing the same. Why not? Many of such denominations allow widely divergent views among the clergy and the laity because they feel they cannot be certain as to just what is Bible truth...
Moreover, to the extent that religionists believe in interfaith, they are obligated not to take divergent beliefs too seriously...
Obviously, a basis for approved fellowship with Jehovah's Witnesses cannot rest merely on a belief in God, in the Bible, in Jesus Christ, and so forth. The Roman Catholic pope, as well as the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, professes such beliefs, yet their church memberships are exclusive of each other. Likewise, simply professing to have such beliefs would not authorize one to be known as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Approved association with Jehovah's Witnesses requires accepting the entire range of the true teachings of the Bible, including those Scriptural beliefs that are unique to Jehovah's Witnesses. What do such beliefs include?
That the great issue before humankind is the rightfulness of Jehovah's sovereignty, which is why he has allowed wickedness so long. (Ezekiel 25:17) That Jesus Christ had a prehuman existence and is subordinate to his heavenly Father. (John 14:28) That there is a "faithful and discreet slave" upon earth today 'entrusted with all of Jesus' earthly interests,' which slave is associated with the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses. (Matthew 24:45-47) That 1914 marked the end of the Gentile Times and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the heavens, as well as the time for Christ's foretold presence. (Luke 21:7-24; Revelation 11:15-12:10) That only 144,000 Christians will receive the heavenly reward. (Revelation 14:1, 3) That Armageddon, referring to the battle of the great day of God the Almighty, is near. (Revelation 16:14, 16; 19:11-21) That it will be followed by Christ's Millennial Reign, which will restore an earth-wide paradise. That the first to enjoy it will be the present "great crowd" of Jesus' "other sheep."...
...the apostle John termed as antichrists those who did not believe that Jesus had come in the flesh. They may well have believed in God, in the Hebrew Scriptures, in Jesus as God's Son, and so on.
Following such Scriptural patterns, if a Christian (who claims belief in God, the Bible, and Jesus) unrepentantly promotes false teachings, it may be necessary for him to be expelled from the congregation. (See Titus 3:10, 11.)