Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Mansquito - Malaria No More Blog

Follow this to our guest post at Malaria No More. Their blog is great!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Malaria

If you're here, you've probably seen the horrifying MANSQUITO roaming around campus. If you didn't get a chance to donate directly to the monstrosity, you can use this ChipIn widget to send money through PayPal. Thank you very much for your donation. If you're looking for other ways to get involved, email IFA President Kyle Kissick at kyle.kissick@du.edu



Wednesday, February 18, 2009

MnM Party - Eradicate Malaria

So we're working on some public advocacy events in the Spring quarter here on campus. The University of Denver Interfaith Student Alliance will be joining up with Malaria No More, the Interfaith Youth Core, and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation to raise awareness and funds for the fight against malaria.

We're having our kick-off event this coming Tuesday, February 24th at 7 pm. Check out the MnM Party Facebook event.





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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Hinduism and Buddhism

This last Sunday, I had the privilege of attending an interfaith lecture on Hinduism and Buddhism at the Tri-State Buddhist Temple. We heard from Yogacharya Srinidhi Baba of the Kriya Yogic tradition who spoke on the history of the Sanantana Dharma (also known as Hinduism) in India, as well as the nature of God-Realization and the Soul in Vedic tradition.

We then heard from the Venerable Claude d’EstrĂ©e, who is a lineage holder in both the Tibetan Gelugpa and Korean Son traditions, as well as a professor of the University of Denver. He discussed some of the basic tenets of Buddhism, addressed the differences between Hindu and Buddhist conceptions such as karma, dharma, and the soul (atman). He then taught a meditation in mindfulness colloquially known as the raisin meditation.

This event is one in a series of lectures on different religious traditions organized by the Youth Interfaith Group of St. Paul, Denver. The next lecture is on Judaism and Islam, and will be hosted at the Denver Islamic Society Mosque (2124 S. Birch St) at 2:30 on March 1st. We hope to see you all there.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

A Statement on Gaza

UPDATE: Visit this letter at the University of Denver's Clarion newspaper.

In light of the renewed conflict in the Gaza Strip, the University of Denver Interfaith Student Alliance (DU IFA) wishes to extend our condolences to those who have suffered as a result of the recent violence. Both the people of Israel as well as the Palestinians living within Gaza have lost family members, friends, and fellow citizens. For years, many innocent lives have been lost due to the complexities of a region long fraught with violence. There are no easy answers to the questions facing the people of Israel and Palestine. A long history of violence plagues the story of this region, as well as the story of all of humankind. The pages of our collective past are riddled with accounts of conflict and hostility, hatred and fear, war and genocide. Much of this hostility is a result of our tendency to react rashly to difficulties that we all face. As humans we too often view violence as a viable solution to the problems we face living together in our ever shrinking world. We must not succumb to the all too human error of failing to see that we all share these problems, that we are all merely people trying to live together in peace, and that we are all subject to our own prejudices and misconceptions about our fellow men and women.

The members of the DU IFA believe that the wisdom of our collective faith traditions compels us to call for peace, understanding, and compassion. As an organization, our mission is to promote understanding of the full diversity of religious expression. We seek to achieve this goal by promoting dialogue among our members of different faith traditions, with the belief that understanding leads to tolerance, tolerance to acceptance, acceptance to compassion, and compassion to peace. Dialogue is not a debate; dialogue is collaborative discussion that can educate us and enlighten our attitudes. In this way we hope and pray that the parties now entrenched in violence abandon their hostility, and embark upon the seemingly difficult road to peace through dialogue and diplomacy.

The University of Denver prides itself on its diversity. The Interfaith Student Alliance welcomes this diversity in all its forms, whether it be cultural, ethnic, or (especially) religious. Many of our students are Jewish and many are Arab or Muslim. That's not the whole story, of course; DU has many different student faith communities. But whatever religious or faith tradition we call our own, wherever we hail from on the globe, and whatever our political persuasions may be, we all have at least one thing in common here: We are all University of Denver students. We are committed to leaving this school and making a difference. We are the practical idealists and the future leaders. We are all in this together. Only by talking to one another can we achieve truly rewarding happiness in this life.

Continued violence can only lead to suffering in a region of this world that has already seen too much human hatred. In the words of one of this country's wisest citizens, the Honorable Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we must remember that "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars." The Interfaith Student Alliance invites all students, faculty, and staff to recognize that whatever might be occurring in the Middle East or indeed, anywhere, we must all continue to learn and grow together in a spirit of fellowship, academic excellence, and above all, peaceful dialogue.

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