US Interfaith Conference Features Unity In The Divine Feminine

Nazareth College in Rochester, NY is hosting the 2010 Interfaith Understanding Conference on April 11 - 13.

From the website:
"The conference will establish an environment conducive to understanding the diversity of faiths in the Rochester community and the world," said Muhammad Shafiq, executive director of the Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue at Nazareth College. "We believe that individuals can learn from each other, understand each other and work together in a respectful way for the common good."

Speakers representing five major world religions will encourage participants to explore critical issues of diversity by highlighting eight major themes: next generation, stories of faith, women's interfaith leadership, LGBT and religion, religious stereotypes and prejudices, global interfaith coexistence, business and ethics, and environmental and social justice.

The conference is endorsed by the global nonprofit United Religions Initiative (URI) and representatives of the The Parliament of the World's Religions will be on hand.

In addition, the conference focuses on interfaith activities at the high school and college levels. A scholarship is offered to students as well.

One plenary session offered is The Divine Feminine: The Foundation of the Abrahamic World by Sr. Joan Chittister.

In "The Divine Feminine: the foundation of the Abrahamic world" Joan Chittister explores four questions, including: Where does the subject of the Divine Feminine come from and why is it important for us to consider it today? For the answers she looks to all the major religious traditions including the Hebrew scriptures and Jesus' life in the Christian scriptures. Sister Joan also presents wisdom stories and considers the basic concept of God in support of her belief in the authentic role of the Divine Feminine in all spirituality.

The concept of the Divine Feminine is a pillar in both ancient occult belief systems and gnostic heresy recently publicized by Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

Israel provoked God's anger by making offerings to The Queen of Heaven in the Book of Jeremiah. Roman Catholicism offers the most famous figure of the Divine Feminine in the Mary of Rome.

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