A 'Clash of Civilizations' or an Opportunity for Meaningful Community Dialogue?

A 'Clash of Civilizations' or an Opportunity for Meaningful Community Dialogue?

NEW YORK, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At a time of rising intolerance and growing cultural and religious discord, 20,000 Dialogues, a nationwide grassroots project using films about Muslims to promote dialogue and understanding, and Public Agenda, a nonprofit opinion research and civic engagement organization, have partnered on a joint initiative called "Many Religions, One Community: Lessons from Islamic Spain for Today's World." The initiative will offer the documentary film, Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain, and an accompanying dialogue toolkit and website to help civic and religious organizations across the country host community dialogues about the past, present and future of interfaith relations.

Endorsed by the World Economic Forum Top 100 Religious Leaders as a centerpiece for grassroots dialogues and recently broadcast on PBS, the film Cities of Light tells a story of vital importance for our contemporary world about the achievements and ultimate failures of a centuries-long period when Muslims, Christians, and Jews coexisted and built a society that lit the Dark Ages. The dialogue toolkit, developed using Public Agenda's proven "Citizen Choicework" methodology for community dialogue, offers three contrasting views of the lessons that can be drawn from this historical period and its implications for religious pluralism today.

The film and toolkit will be provided free of charge to organizations interested in leading conversations on the film in community events. In addition, six community dialogue sites will be selected to receive financial support and technical assistance for their events.

"Many Religions, One Community" will be launching with an initial community dialogue in Washington, DC at the Rumi Forum on Monday, March 9, 2009, sponsored by the Middle East Institute, a nonprofit educational organized founded in 1946 to promote knowledge of the Middle East in America and strengthen understanding of the United States by the people and governments of the region. Click here to learn more about this event.

"Since we launched 20,000 Dialogues with the national PBS broadcast of Cities of Light in August 2007, the film has brought diverse communities together for important interfaith discussions. The dialogue toolkit is an invaluable resource for organizations and groups looking for ways to create opportunities for ordinary citizens to engage in dialogue in the hope of building bridges of understanding between people of diverse traditions," added Executive Producer of Cities of Light, and co-founder of Unity Productions Foundation, Alex Kronemer.

For more information on the dialogue toolkit and the film, please visit www.20000dialogues.org/mroc.

20,000 Dialogues is a nationwide grassroots dialogue project designed to bring people of different faiths together using films about Muslims to stimulate discussion and promote understanding. In addition to facilitating dialogue, 20,000 Dialogues partners with national and community-based organizations to offer leadership facilitation training, a national network for service projects, and opportunities to continue the dialogue.

Public Agenda is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public opinion research and civic engagement organization with a mission to help citizens better understand critical public issues and to help American leaders better understand the public's values, concerns and views. Since its beginnings in 1975, Public Agenda has been a pioneer in the practice of public engagement, with hands-on experience in hundreds of communities and on dozens of tough issues.

Source: Public Agenda

CONTACT: McKenna Morrigan of Public Agenda, +1-212-686-6610 x52,
mmorrigan@publicagenda.org

Web Site: http://www.20000dialogues.org/
http://www.mideasti.org/
http://www.publicagenda.org/
http://www.rumiforum.org/

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