Hello, fuzzy liberal arts guy, fuzzy liberal arts girl here! I have resisted punning about laying anthesthesized, but surely you will share why you picked the monikor. :)
EiF works through providing a safe space (ie environment where you can speak your mind while other people are discouraged from stoning you) to talk and share--in terms of outreach we go through religious groups that we have personal relationships with, in a way we are very much a word-of-mouth group. We don't work with/for institutions, though each session is hosted by a house of worship (host: physical space, quick sharing on faith tradition, food), and our volunteers sometimes get roped into more "official events". In the previous two years EiF had organized camps for youngsters and a conference for other inter-faith practioners in SG; I haven't participated in either and so cannot comment. On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 12:55 PM, J. Alfred Prufrock < [email protected]> wrote: > Thank you for the explanation. Sounds interesting, How do you work - > through schools, youth fora, structured or informal interations? > (This is one of the few topics on this list that a fuzzy liberal arts guy > like me can understand without extra reading) > > JAP > > 2010/1/13 Chew Lin Kay <[email protected]> > > I'm involved in a mostly-autonomous, government-supported (with the >> t-shirt to prove it!) programme, Explorations into Faith. EiF >> organizes dialogues on various topics to provide young people with a >> forum to share their views. Past topics include faith and sustenance, >> faith and political involvement, faith and the concept of evil.. >> >> I enjoy getting involved because it's one way of getting past the >> dogma: ok, so here's what your scriptures say, now how does that >> translate (or not) to how we live? It's also one way of getting past >> the propaganda--Singapore is big on touting its racial and religious >> harmony, but tolerance and understanding are not the same thing. To >> wit: in parochial schools, Muslim students are automatically exempt >> from chapel but children from other religious backgrounds will need an >> official letter from their parents. This is a response to the >> missionary fervour of the eighties when the Christians specifically >> targetted the Muslims--it's an understandable, but ultimately >> illogical and inadequate response. >> >> EiF is small, and the criticism that we are preaching to the converted >> (har har) is valid, but the progress we make in creating relationships >> and channels for understanding is real. Which doesn't explain how I >> got involved--two reasons. One to get some facilitation chops, and the >> second, a disciplined environment to explore how I meandered to >> atheism. >> >> CL >> >> >> On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 2:29 PM, J. Alfred Prufrock >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> > "volunteer inter-faith facilitator" >> > >> > Please translate. >> > >> > >> > -- >> > J. Alfred Prufrock >> > >> >> > > > -- > J. Alfred Prufrock > > "Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded > I do not know whether a man or a woman > - But who is that on the other side of you?" >
