Genocide, Reconciliation, Forgiveness,
and the Search for Meaning in the Face of Evil
INTERFAITH PANEL DISCUSSION
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Tuesday, November 3 at 7:30pm
Cape Cod Lounge, Student Union Building
UMass Amherst
Free, open to the public, and wheelchair accessible.
Spiritual leaders from various religious and spiritual traditions will discuss how they approach evil in the form of genocide and other crimes against humanity, the possibility of reconciliation or forgiveness, and how people can continue to find meaning in life in the aftermath of such atrocities.
A related art exhibition—"Never Again: Genocide from Cambodia to Darfur and Beyond"—will be open for viewing at the Student Union Art Gallery before and after this program (and during the gallery's regular hours).
Another panel discussion—"Genocide: From Justice to Prevention"—addressing the political and legal issues related to genocide, will be held on November 10.
Press Release (pdf)
More information about the art exhibits and related programs
SPEAKERS on the Interfaith Panel:
Rev. Chris Carlisle, Episcopal priest
Sister Clare Carter, Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist monk
Leonard FourHawks, Mohawk and Northern Cheyenne Indian storyteller
Dr. Mohammad Ali Hazratji, president of the Hampshire Mosque
Rabbi David Seidenberg, teacher of Jewish theology and spirituality
(More detailed biographical information below)
Speaker Biographies:
REV. CHRIS CARLISLE has been the Episcopal chaplain at UMass Amherst since 1983 and is Director of Higher Education Ministry for the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. He has served on numerous national committees advising the Episcopal Church on matters pertaining to spirituality and ministry in higher education. In 1996, he founded the “God and Science” project, organizing forums to explore the interface between science and religion—an interest which led to the publication of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Intelligent Design (2006). Devoted to community service in addition to spiritual ministry, Rev. Carlisle founded the Five-College chapter of Habitat for Humanity in 1995, and has organized and led numerous Alternative Spring Break trips for students who wish to spend their school vacations in service to humanity. He founded the South Africa Children’s Advancement Fund working to improve the lives of children in South Africa, and was instrumental in bringing South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu to UMass Amherst in 1992. Rev. Carlisle received an M.T.S. from Harvard in 1978, and an M.Div from Yale in 1982.
SISTER CLARE CARTER was born in Boston and ordained in the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Order in 1981 in Japan. She has practiced and served at the New England Peace Pagoda in Leverett since it was completed in 1986. The founder of the Nipponzan Myohoji Order, Nichidatsu Fujii (1885-1985), believed the purpose of all religion is to bring true peace to all life on this earth, as well as peace in the depths of our hearts. He instructs all monks and nuns to walk and pray for peace in all parts of the world, in addition to building Peace Pagodas. Following this teaching, Sister Clare has participated in many local and regional walks, and in some international walks such as the Interfaith Pilgrimage for Peace and Life from Auschwitz to Hiroshima (1995), and retracing the journey of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage (1998-1999).
MOHAMMAD ALI HAZRATJI, MD is Chief of Neurology at Holyoke Medical Center, and has been a practicing neurologist in the Pioneer Valley for the last 28 years. He is president of the Hampshire Mosque in Amherst, and was president of the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts from 1990-2007. Dr. Hazratji has been active in interfaith activities, refugee medical relief work overseas, refugee resettlement programs, and programs for promoting peace and understanding among people. He has lectured at colleges throughout Western Massachusetts on Islamic issues and participated as a speaker on various panels in the aftermath of 9/11.
RABBI DAVID SEIDENBERG teaches Jewish theology. spirituality, ecology, and traditional Jewish spirituals (niggunim), through his website NeoHasid.com and in workshops and classes around the country. He received his smikhah (ordination) and a doctorate in Jewish theology from the Jewish Theological Seminary. His dissertation was on Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) and ecotheology—Jewish thought in relation to ecology and the environment. He also received ordination from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a Hasidic spiritual leader and founder of the Jewish Renewal movement. Rabbi Seidenberg was a founding board member of the Jewish peace group, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom: The Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace.
LEONARD FOURHAWKS is a full blood Mohawk and Northern Cheyenne Indian. Born in Canada, Leonard grew up surrounded by the extended family of his parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles. From his mother’s Mohawk family, he learned many of the old traditional stories about how the earth was made, how Rabbit got his long ears, and why the birds all sing different songs. From his father’s Cheyenne family, he learned about traditional crafts such as drum making, leather sewing and weaving bone breastplates. From both sides of the family, Native American values of balance, spirituality and tradition were deeply instilled.
During the Depression, his father moved the family to New York where Indians could find employment as steel workers and in the navel shipyards. It was there that Leonard developed his fascination with the navy, and he joined the military as soon as he was of age. After serving in the Korean conflict on the battleship New Jersey, Leonard returned to the family farm in New York. There he spent much of his time with his grandparents, learning as much as he could about the old traditions in order to keep them alive. During the Vietnam era, Leonard once again answered the call of duty as a Navy SeaBee Drill Instructor.
Returning to New York, Leonard used the knowledge garnered in the service to become an electrician and an engineer, working for many years in the engineering department of one of the largest Veterans Administration hospitals in the U.S.
However, he felt that there was something missing in his life. He wanted to be more a part of the Indian world that he grew up in. He still made traditional crafts, and he returned to his maternal grandmother to learn the old stories that she had told him as a child. With her blessings, he began sharing those stories at gatherings as The Storyteller. At an Indian art show, he met Amalia, a fellow Native artist. Their common interest in keeping Native American culture alive brought them together, and in 1985, they married. They traveled extensively attending Indian gatherings and art shows across the country, selling their award winning artwork, and teaching about the culture through the old stories. Leonard also worked for many years as a Park Ranger.
As an ordained minister, Leonard does spiritual counseling, conducts weddings, and officiates at funerals. Leonard continues to travel as a storyteller, and also lectures on various Native American subjects, from history to the continuation of the culture in modern times.
