On Dec. 4, Christian, Jewish, and Islamic church leaders from central Wisconsin, representing the world’s three Abrahamic faiths, will discuss the prospects and challenges of advocating for peace in a turbulent world as part of T.B. Scott Library’s Words Worth Hearing series.
“Conversations on Peace” will be held in T.B. Scott Free Library’s Community Room, beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4. All are welcome, and admission is free of charge.
The forum’s moderator, James Botsford, who lives east of Wausau, has a long and varied career. Besides a law degree, he holds bachelors and master’s degrees in religion. Retired from a 30-year career devoted to Native American rights, Botsford currently represents the Native American Church of North America and serves on the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska’s Supreme Court. He has also served on the boards of two ACLU affiliates.
The forum’s panelists are Rev. Kyle Carnes, pastor of St. Stephen’s United Church of Christ in Merrill; Rabbi Dan Danson, spiritual leader of Mt Sinai Congregation, in Wausau, since 1988; and Dr. Abu Rabbany, who was born into a Muslim family in Bangladesh in 1963, graduated from the Bangladesh Agricultural University in 1987 then completed his Ph.D. Degree in 1998 from Ehime University, Japan with Horticulture as Major subject. Dr. Rabbany participates in different interfaith dialogues to represent the local Muslim community named as the Islamic Society for Central Wisconsin (ISCW). Dr. Rabbany has one God, one wife and one son.
Carnes, Danson and Rabbany will each present a picture of what peace looks like according to his particular faith, and discuss how that peace can be achieved while living in a complex and turbulent environment.
Rabbi Danson has this to say: “All religious and spiritual traditions see themselves as a path to peace, but getting there is clearly a challenge. I’d like to explore what insights our traditions have about the importance of peace, how it can be achieved, and their insights into the aspects of human nature that can make it difficult to achieve.”
The group will discuss how the three Abrahamic faiths can work together to achieve the goal of world peace. A question and answer period will follow for audience participation.
Besides regular Words Worth Hearing sponsors The Checkered Churn and First Street Coffee Station, Mykenos Grill of Rib Mountain and others will provide refreshments.
T.B. Scott Free Library’s Conversations forums provide the public an opportunity to learn about and discuss matters of public policy in an open, civil and respectful venue. Previous Conversations forums have approached the issues of voting, climate change and immigration.
For more about T.B. Scott Free Library, call 715-536-7191, go to the library’s website at www.tbscottlibrary.org, or visit “T.B. Scott Free Library” page on Facebook.