Interfaith Dialog Center - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Interfaith Dialog Center (IDC) is a non-profit

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

, tax exempt (501(c) (3)) organization founded by Turkish-Americans of North Jersey in 2003. IDC endeavors to promote respect and mutual understanding among all faiths and cultures by organizing educational and cultural activities such as lecture

Lecture

thumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...

s, seminar

Seminar

Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...

s, conferences

Meeting

In a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.- Definitions :An act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose....

, discussion panels, luncheon

Luncheon

Luncheon, commonly abbreviated to lunch, is a mid-day meal, and is smaller than dinner.In English-speaking countries during the eighteenth century, lunch was originally called "dinner"— a word still used regularly to mean a noontime meal in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and some parts of England,...

s and trips to Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. By this mission IDC aims to contribute to improvement of diversity

Diversity (politics)

In the political arena, the term diversity is used to describe political entities with members who have identifiable differences in their backgrounds or lifestyles....

, pluralism and multiculturalism

Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...

in the society.

IDC has been inspired by the Turkish scholar Fethullah Gulen

Fethullah Gülen

Muhammed Fethullah Gülen is a Turkish preacher, author, educator, and Sufi Muslim scholar living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania . He is the founder and leader of the Gülen movement...

.

IDC started its activities with the leadership of its volunteers by organizing short educational seminars at the conference room of the Rutherford Public Library. IDC rented its center at 545 Interstate Place, Carlstadt, New Jersey

Carlstadt, New Jersey

Carlstadt is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 6,127.Carlstadt was originally formed as a village by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 12, 1860, within Lodi Township. It was named after Dr...

in the Spring of 2004. IDC hired its first full time staff in the Summer of 2004. Now, IDC operates at its office in Newark

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

at 17 Academy Street Suite 701.

As IDC has aimed to reach out to all segments of the society, it has been organizing different activities to serve this end.

IDC announced in August 2011 that it had a new name, The Peace Islands Institute, and that it would operate not only in New Jersey but also in the East Coast states like New York and Massachusetts.

Dialog and Unity Dinners

They started as a Ramadan

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...

Dinner in November 2004. All faiths and cultures, government officials, members of law enforcement

Law enforcement agency

In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...

, and elected officials come together on this dinner. These dinners gathered many from all walks of life. Mr. Weysan Dun, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Newark, announced his departure from New Jersey at one of IDC's dinners on November 18, 2009.

IDC Awards Ceremony

IDC Awards started in 2008, publicly recognize the outstanding achievements of those recipients who have distinguished themselves in their profession, community and service to humanity and New Jersey community. The awards are based on a variety of factors, including interfaith/intercultural involvement, community service, education, community educational involvements, professional and community honors, business and professional leadership, and educational honors. Awards ceremony were covered by the media both in 2008 and 2009. Award Ceremonies were on TVs. Ebru TV broadcasted the first ceremony in the US and Turkey in their main news program.
IDC held its 2010 ceremony on June 6, 2010. Honorees included Governor Thomas Kean

Thomas Kean

Thomas Howard Kean is an American Republican Party politician, who served as the 48th Governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Kean is best known globally, however, for his 2002 appointment as Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, widely known as the...

, Rep. Rush Holt and Ebru TV.

Abraham's Table Luncheons

These luncheons are venues where speakers from Abrahamic religions

Abrahamic religions

Abrahamic religions are the monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham or recognizing a spiritual tradition identified with him...

discuss and find our commonalities. Started in 2004 as clergy

Clergy

Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....

luncheons, it is NJ's only widely attended religious luncheon series. IDC is collaborating with churches, synagogues and colleges like College of St. Elizabeth, Centenary College.

IDC Luncheon Forums

IDC Luncheons serve as venues for interfaith-intercultural, non-political forums to exchange ideas and discuss vital issues that relate to New Jerseyans. The speakers share their viewpoints, perceptions, and experiences on those vital issues. IDC luncheons hosted many distinguished like then US Attorney Chris Christie, Drew University's president Dr. Robert Weisbuch

Robert Weisbuch

-Biography:Weisbuch received a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a Ph.D. from Yale University. He spent 25 years at the University of Michigan, where he served as Chair of the Department of English, associate vice president for research, associate dean for faculty programs, and interim dean of the...

, and Paula Dow

Paula Dow

Paula T. Dow is the 58th and current Attorney General of New Jersey, appointed by incoming Governor Chris Christie. Her nomination to a full term was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate in February 2010. She is the first African American woman to be attorney general in state history.-Biography:Dow...

Turkey Trips

Sponsored by IDC Turkey trips are very much instrumental in building bridges between and the Turkish American

Turkish American

Turkish Americans are people who have Turkish ancestry and are citizens of the United States.-History:Early Turkish immigrants to the United States were predominantly from Turkey's rural community. They settled in large, industrial cities and found employment as unskilled laborers...

Community and other faith groups and individuals. What makes Turkey particularly attractive as a travel destination is that because it has always been a crossroads for civilizations and beliefs, not to mention its marvelous natural beauties, warm hospitality, and world famous cuisine

Cuisine

Cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture. Cuisines are often named after the geographic areas or regions that they originate from...

. Turkey is a land of Divine love. It is a land where diverse faiths and cultures have lived in peace for millennia. It is a land of dialogue and tolerance; it is the land of Abraham - spiritual forefather of Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, and Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. Turkey trips are very instrumental to develop friendship, understand and respect each other better. Bishop Serratelli of Paterson Diocese, NJ, says 'Visiting devout individuals who are inspired by Gülen made our trip through Turkey a true journey of faith'.

All IDC events serve to cultivate friendship

Friendship

Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association are often thought of as spanning across the same continuum...

and deepen inter-cultural awareness and understanding among the many diverse ethnic and civic communities in New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

Neighborliness Project

Neighborliness Project was initiated by IDC in the fall of 2008. The aim of the project is to improve the interactions among neighbors in various communities. To this effect, Turkish community members invite people of different faiths and cultures to a dinner party at their homes, which kindles long lasting friendships. "A meal like this is not about pushing beliefs on one another, but learning about aspects of culture through breaking the fast", Win Win Kyi, a professor at Bergen Community College said after the meal. Throughout the evening, she said she realized how much in common she had with her hosts.

Mission

Interfaith dialogue is one of the major medicines to overcome humanity's common ills that arise from unbelief. Our world's durability depends, to a great extent, on the promotion of interfaith dialogue. We also believe that establishment of dialog environments is a means to appreciate diverse opinions and eliminate the stereotypes often assigned to 'others'.

In that respect, IDC educates non-Muslims about Islam and Muslims about other faiths to establish mutual understanding and tolerance

Toleration

Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...

. To achieve this end, we invite and encourage sharing of various perspectives, partner with other religious and interreligious organizations and organize educational activities such as seminars, lectures and discussion panels, all of which inspire and illuminate us in our endeavor to fulfill our mission.

Aims and Principles

- To spread the interreligious dialog at the grassroots

Grassroots

A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...

level through meetings with diverse participation,

- To provide a medium where followers of different religion

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

s may meet each other and understand the issues by finding consensus among them,

- To spread common values of faiths in order to contribute to the world peace

World peace

World Peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or people. World peace is an idea of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare. The term is sometimes used to...

,

- To cooperate with similar local and international organizations and work closely with them in the boundaries of its constitution,

- Religions, language

Language

Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...

s and ethnicities exist so that we come together and learn from, not fight, each other,

- We share values to promote; we share problems to solve,

- Coexistence of civilizations is possible only through dialogue in this age of globalization,

- The pillars of dialogue are love

Love

Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...

, tolerance, compassion

Compassion

Compassion is a virtue — one in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnection and humanism — foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood.There is an aspect of...

and forgiving,

- Love is the essence of existence,

- Tolerance is our binding spirit,

- Compassion and forgiving are inclusive aspects of a harmonious society, in which individual will flourish, community will arise,

- Diversity

Diversity (politics)

In the political arena, the term diversity is used to describe political entities with members who have identifiable differences in their backgrounds or lifestyles....

is our richness. Diversity without dialogue causes hostility

Hostility

Hostility is a form of angry internal rejection or denial in psychology. It is a part of personal construct psychology, developed by George Kelly...

, dialogue without diversity brings distortion.
"Come, come, whoever you are.

Wanderer, idolater, worshiper of fire,

Come even you have broken your vows a thousand times,

Come, and come yet again.

Ours is not a caravan of despair."

-RUMI
Levent Koç, Ph.D. has been serving as IDC's director since 2004.

IDC has been listed by Harvard University's pluralism project.

Advisory Board of IDC

Ahmet Kurucan, Ph. D.

Most Rev. Arthur Serratelli, Bishop, RC Diocese of Paterson

Maxine Clark Beach, Ph. D,. Dean of School of Theology and Vice President, Drew University

Drew University

Drew University is a private university located in Madison, New Jersey.Originally established as the Drew Theological Seminary in 1867, the university later expanded to include an undergraduate liberal arts college in 1928 and commenced a program of graduate studies in 1955...

Rabbi Jack Bemporad, Director, Center for Interreligious Understanding

Rev. Donald M. Pitches, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Carlstadt

Rev. Christopher M.F. Brdlik, Rector, Calvary Episcopal Church, Summit

Mr. Patrick Brannigan, Executive Director, NJ Catholic Conference

Rev. Robert Morris, Executive Director, Interweave Inc.

Ms. Maud Dahme, Former President, NJ State Board of Education

Mr. Alfred Koeppe, President and CEO, Newark Alliance

Mr. William Jay Roseman, Mayor, Carlstadt

Dr. Mesut Sahin

Kemal C. Ozgur, MA.

Mr. John R. Smith, Director - Corporate Responsibility, PSEG

Ms. Joan Verplanck, President, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce

Rev. Jacqueline Burgess, Vice President, NJ Council of Churches (representing NJCC)

News, references and remarks on IDC

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