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Indialogue presented paper at Peace Builders Conference in Atlanta, USA

Indialogue presented paper at Peace Builders Conference in Atlanta, USA

Indialogue presented paper at Peace Builders Conference in Atlanta, USA

2015-04-08, ATLANTA: Nurdin Kaparov, Director Delhi Office, Indialogue Foundation presented a paper titled “How Hizmet Movement can promote #RespectForTheSared?”at conference in Atlanta City, USA during 8-10 April. The academic event was titled International Peace Builders Conference on “Fostering Dialogues in Education, Ethics and Non-Violent Peacebuilding: Global, Social and Religious Movements Today” and was held at MLK International Chapel at Morehouse College. The conference was organized by The Atlantic Institute and Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

This conference brought together scholars and practitioners who provided insights that focused on people-to-people relationships, rather than political processes, that further non-violent social change in societies. This event was created to discuss how peace in today’s turbulent world can be achieved through informal, apolitical, educational, and grassroots mechanisms.

The conference kicked-off with “A Day of Peace” on Wednesday, April 8. Beginning in the African American Hall of Fame on the second floor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel, academics gathered to discuss the Opening Panel focused on Peace & Conflict Studies: Religion, Politics and Diplomacy. Nurdin Kaparov presented paper in first session of this day of conference and shared panel with: Dr. John Tures, LaGrange College speaking on “Whirling Diversions in Turkey”, Dr. Sait Yavuz, University of Houston who presented “Narratives of Religious Transformation in Anatolia: From Paganism to Islam”, and the panel concluded with Dr. Wm. Loyd Allen from the McAfee School of Theology, Mercer Unversity who explored “The Meeting of Saint and Sultan: The Symbolic Power for Peace in the Personal Encounter Between Saint Francis of Assisi and Sultan Al-Kamil of Egypt.”

One more scholar from India Jigmey Dorje Lama from Viswa-Bharati University participated and presented paper titled “Karuna (Compassion): Peacebuilding Through Compassion” on third day of the conference. The panel chair was Dr. Kipton Jensen from Morehouse College. Presenters included: Dr. Peter Cohen, Clemson University – “Gandhi’s Satyagraha: A Paradigm for Religious Dialogue Leading to Peace;” Dr. Anwar Alam, Zirve University, Turkey – “Gandhi and Gulen: Comparing their Views for Peace Buidling Exercises;” Dr. Jessica Rehman, University of California Riverside – “Muslim Men of the Margins: Post-Genocide Cambodian Nation Building and Khmer Masculinities.”

One second day of the conference Mr. Fethullah Gulen was honoured with Gandhi King Ikeda Award for Peace for his contribution towards “interfaith and cross-cultural dialogue about science, democracy and spirituality and opposition to violence and to the misuses of religion as political ideology [which] made [him] the humanizing face of Islam.” As the Reverend Dean Lawrence Carter, Sr. stated, Mr. Gulen was honored for:

  • Being among the first world teachers in the tradition of Islam to publicly condemn the terrorist attack on 9/11 and call for global peace;
  • For consistently speaking against suicidal terrorist attacks as not reflecting the spirituality of Jihad;
  • For affirming the intrinsic dignity and equal moral worth of all people;
  • For his beliefs and actions that the universe clearly sustains cooperative diversity;
  • For teaching that the highest education is that which does not merely give information, but makes everyone’s life in harmony with all existence?

The award was received on Mr. Gulen’s behalf by Dr. Y. Alp Aslandogan, president of the Alliance for Shared Values.

The Gandhi King Ikeda Award for Peace was created by the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College with the hope that by examining the lives of these great figures, viewers will find these lofty ideals and principles within the grasp of their own daily existence. For it is within the mundane realm of daily living that Mohandas K. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Daisaku Ikeda have sought to forge an existence filled with dignity, freedom and happiness for all people.

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