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In defense of a secular Christmas |
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Written by The Baltimore Sun
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Wednesday, 23 December 2009 |
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In response to Garrison Keilor's column "Nonbelievers, please leave Christmas alone" (Dec. 16): While I respect your point of view expressing your dislike of the secularization and commercialization of Christmas, I did find your comment about "Jewish guys writing Christmas songs" very offensive. The anger you voiced in that paragraph was hateful, and I, as a long-time fan, was saddened to hear it.
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Written by Herb Rubenstein
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Friday, 14 August 2009 |
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Peace is a wonderful goal. Peace implies justice, since no peace will last forever if there is persistent injustice. Peace also implies a sense of warmth, and good feelings toward one another. In our world, peace is a high goal, but not always attainable. We need to find another goal, somewhere between peace and war, and we need to pursue that middle ground vigorously.
I propose that the middle ground should be called “living mutually.”
Living mutually means only that people will do no harm to each other.
It does not mean that all sides like each other, have any feelings of
warmth toward each other, or even feel that the other side has been
just to each other. However, living mutually is more than some
temporary truce. It does not mean that the sides ever have to do
commerce with each other, or joint projects. It means neither side
will undertake any activity that will do harm to the other side. “Do
no harm,” interestingly enough is the basic creed of the practice of
medicine by doctors, nurses, and all personnel/workers associated with
the medical profession. It should be essential basis of all human
interaction.
This is a goal we can strive for, now, in the Middle East and
throughout the world. It could lead to more peace in the world. It
will certainly promote more tolerance. It can also serve as a guide or
guiding principle to all sides of every conflict in the world as an
approach that might be able to make the world a better place. It is
time to give “living mutually,” as we have defined it, a chance.
Comments are welcome from everyone. Share this with anyone if you
think it has merit as an “organizing principle” for our behavior and
the behavior of all peoples.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 14 August 2009 )
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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 06 May 2009 |
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The Movement for a Tolerant World
is seeking bloggers who would like to contribute to an ongoing online dialogue
meant to highlight the progress – or failure – of tolerance in our world. We
need you to write your thoughts on current news stories that are related to
peace, conflict resolution, cultural and/or religious diversity for a general,
worldwide audience.
We are looking for a minimum of six
blog contributions over a six-month period from each guest contributor. Your contribution can be available online
elsewhere (e.g., your personal blog) as long as links and trackbacks are
included in the post. You can choose to
post under a pseudonym if you wish to protect your identity; just register under
a new name and let us know the details, because we need to verify that sources
are authentic to avoid spam. You are
also encouraged to comment on others’ blog contributions either in your own
entry or in the comments section of other posts.
Your contribution will be posted on
the same day it’s submitted after it’s been reviewed. Each contribution should
link to at least one news story, as our goal is to foster public discussion on
how to increase tolerance and inclusivity both in the news and beyond it. Contributors can submit up to one blog every
two weeks. Accompanying photographs
with credits are warmly encouraged.
There are no national or
educational limitations in order to write for our website. If you are
interested in helping to build a more tolerant world, we encourage you to share
your thoughts, experiences, and perspectives on current events. The Movement
for a Tolerant World is a great place to start, or extend, your thoughts. The
length of your contribution should not exceed 2500 words.
If you have a blog and you write on these issues already, please be in
contact with us so that we can follow your blog. We will request
permission to repost entries that we believe are relevant for this site
and that deserve wider circulation.
You can submit your works to
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Last Updated ( Friday, 08 May 2009 )
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UNESCO and Cultural Diversity |
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Written by UNESCO
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Tuesday, 24 March 2009 |
The safeguarding of cultural diversity is an enduring and central
theme of the United Nations system in general and, more particularly of
UNESCO, which is entrusted with the mandate to ensure the preservation
and "promotion of the fruitful diversity of cultures" by virtue of the 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity.
This mandate has been emphasized through a variety of resolutions and initiatives, such as the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the adoption of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
Such international agreements set out a platform that links together
the issues of cultural diversity, peace and development, and the role
of the state in fostering pluralism. These agreements also highlight
the need for policy makers to take these issues into condiseration at
both national and international levels, and emphasize the need for
promotion of intercultural dialogue.
However, the issues of
globalization, increasingly open markets, and rapid changes in
information and communication technologies are posing new challenges
for the safeguarding of cultural pluralism.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 March 2009 )
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