It is that time of the year when the Caux Scholars Program (CSP) needs your help!  Please think of potential scholars for the 2015 summer program and encourage them to apply. The application deadline is February 27, 2015!

I was happy to have been part of the CSP Alumni Reunion this summer.  How inspiring to meet a sampling of our wonderful Caux Scholar alumni network!   Returning to Caux certainly reignites us on many levels, so please do look at the experiences captured in our CSP Reunion report and photo-journalist Abdujalil Abdurasulov's (CSP 2003) pictures on Flickr and the video he made of the reunion. A big thank you for his work! The alumni who were present at Caux took responsibility to create regional networks to help spread the CSP-Caux spirit.  As we have over 400 alumni, it will take some work, so you may be asked to help in this endeavor!

An important way to connect with our network promoting peace and transformation is to sign on to Khalil's platform (Khalil, CSP 2010, tells his story in an article in this issue!).  These are challenging times, so to continue to cultivate a sense of care is what Amaha Selassie (CSP 2012) reflects on in his article about the beloved community.  Asifa Koul (CSP 2010) interviewed Mohammed Abu-Nimer, who will join us this summer in Caux.

You would have been very proud of the CSP-AP pilot program that graduated 17 CSP-AP alumni from 13 countries.  Patrick McNamara (CSP 1996, USA) was on faculty, focusing on peacebuilding and sustainable development.  And Christie Shrestha (CSP 2004, Nepal/USA) came to work with Prerna Rathi (CSP 2014, India), who was organizing the program (see article below). We are grateful to the donors and contributors, as well as the probono time and energy by many who made this CSP-AP launch successful!   

Do you believe that your work can be enhanced by connection with fellow scholars? We look forward to a deeper and more meaningful connection in the coming years!  

Thinking of you as you launch into 2015,

When it comes to the field of interfaith/interreligious dialogue and peacebuilding, Professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer needs no introduction. He has been actively involved as an interreligious conflict resolution and interfaith dialogue practitioner for more than two decades in different parts of the world, including Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Mindanao (Philippines), and the United States. Prof. Mohammed also teaches peace and conflict resolution at American University, Washington, DC.

According to Professor Mohammed, the center is unique in several ways: First, the governing Board of Directors is comprised of representatives from some of the major world religions-Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Second, it serves as a multiplatform for religion, governmental and nongovernmental institutions and civil society in order to improve interfaith and intercultural initiatives. Third, the center is the first of its kind that brings together policymakers and religious leaders to address conflict, whether social, political, religious, or ethnic. "And this (the Center) is based on the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and respect for religious diversity," Prof. Mohammed added. Read more ...

I was a Caux Scholar in 1996 and it changed my life. Now coming full circle, I serve on the faculty of the new Caux Scholars Program at Asia Plateau and I watched it change others' lives.

There were 17 scholars from 13 countries in this new class who gathered from December 28, 2014 through January 16, 2015. This impressive group of scholars in their 20s and 30s came to the beautiful IofC conference center in Panchgani, India with a common hope to take new skills as peacebuilders back to their communities. They are leaving with more than just those skills. Many expressed a deeper spiritual direction and moral courage to live differently as models of peace in their families, organizations, communities and nations.

Some examples of the amazing Caux Scholars include: an Iraqi immigrant to Sweden who works to integrate Muslim youth into European societies, even more important after the recent Paris attacks and backlash we are seeing; a social entrepreneur who launched a "friendships across borders" program to link young people in India and Pakistan; a director of Seeds of Peace building bridges of reconciliation originally between Israelis and Palestinians and now expanding into divides between Hindus and Muslims; two young women from Afghanistan working on the rights of girls and women in that country; a Ugandan student leader who is working to bring conflicting communities together at her university; and an Egyptian woman who participated in the revolution there. Read more ...

Amaha Selassie (CSP 2012) is presently working on his PhD in Sociology in Dayton, OH, and is taking part in the Community Trustbuilding Fellowship in Richmond, VA. Recently he has been involved in community action protesting the shooting of unarmed black men in Ferguson, New York and Ohio, #BlackLivesMatter. Amaha was recently awarded the Freedom and Justice award from SCLC*. He calls on lovers of peace to go deeper:

Dr. Martin Luther King warns us never to confuse the "isness" of the status quo with the "oughtness" of what society can be. For me, the status quo is rooted in fear manifesting itself in 1st and 2nd class citizenship, dehumanization, exploitation and denial of the worth and unique gifts every culture has to offer.

From my perspective, the oughtness can be best summarized by King's World House vision that states that people of all ethnicities, religions, and cultures can no longer live separated from each other and therefore must learn how to live together in peace. Within America we are in a period of great social change. There are many, including me, who know that a world with a more universal sense of belonging beyond arbitrary socially constructed categories of difference is possible.

To press towards this ideal, many have taken to non-violent direct action to create community transformation in a way that acknowledges the dignity and worth of all those involved. I caution us not to stop there. Now more than ever, we need those that choose to love through their actions towards one another.

What is required now to sustain a strong sense of community beyond this "movement moment" is to develop deep relationships and trust.  Read more ...

We hope you enjoyed this issue of Cauxmunique. Please share this newsletter with your friends and forward it to those you know have a passion for peacebuilding.