World Federation with Sovaida Ma'ani Ewing

A Woman's Perspective

While our experience with the coronavirus pandemic is extremely painful, it also provides us a rich opportunity to build a more peaceful and secure world. Together, we will explore a few of these opportunities. Presented by special guest Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing.

073 The Coronavirus Pandemic- Stepping Stone, Or Stumbling Block- Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing

In this webinar, Sovaida Ma'ani Ewing will talk about the themes in her book The Alchemy of Peace: 6 Essential Shifts in Mindsets and Habits to Achieve World Peace
available at Amazon.com Services LLC
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QZZZVYK

Book Description: "Humanity stands at a critical crossroads. Social, political, religious, economic, and environmental systems are unraveling with bewildering rapidity all around us. In the face of such disintegration many of us feel helpless, despondent, angry, and anxious. Such feelings pose the greatest danger of all, as they lead to a loss of hope and a paralysis of will at a time in our collective evolution when inaction can be catastrophic.

"The Alchemy of Peace" offers the gift of hope and a viable path out of the current chaos. It identifies a set of dysfunctional habits borne of tired old perspectives, false assumptions, limiting beliefs, and interpretations on the basis of which we make choices about how to behave. It posits that replacing these mindsets and habits with more constructive and empowering ones will open our eyes to new opportunities growing out of the ferment of our troubled times.

Sovaida Ma'ani Ewing is an author, speaker, international lawyer, life mastery coach, and founding director of The Center for Peace and Global Governance (cogg.org). a virtual think tank and online forum that pools and proposes principled solutions to pressing global challenges. Her latest book, available on Amazon, is "The Alchemy of Peace: 6 Essential Shifts in Mindsets and Habits to Achieve World Peace." She also hosts a live video podcast "Re Imagining Our World" on facebook and the CPGG YouTube channel. The program weekly program is dedicated to creating a vision of the world we want and infusing hope that we can make the choices necessary to attain it.

130 Alchemy Of Peace | Sovaida Ma'ani Ewing

Wilmette Institute Webinar Series: 
Creating An Effective System of Global Governance: Indispensable Mindsets, Habits, and Institutions .
with Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing.

In This Episode: 
COLLECTIVE THREATS REQUIRE A NEW SYSTEM OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE.
The current crisis is highlighting the degree to which we are interdependent and connected. While many of our greatest threats (like the corona virus pandemic) are collective, we lack the necessary global institutions to make authoritative and binding decisions and to enforce them. Together we will explore the kinds of institutions we need to create, to ensure humanity’s collective well-being.

100 Collective Threats Require A New System Of Global Governance - Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing

Baha’is in South Carolina, like Baha’is around the world, are working to make the world a better and more peaceful place in which to live. Through the publication of “Trudy and the Baha’is’ Spiritual Path in South Carolina,” Annette Reynolds hopes readers will realize that everyone can work together to build peaceful spiritual communities no matter what belief and background one comes from.  This recording covers most of the Question and Answer session from Annette's Wilmette Institute Web Talk of Sunday, 22 January, 2017.

Trudy and The Baha'is: Q and A with Annette Reynolds

A recitation of the poem 'Ain't I A Woman?' by Sojourner Truth. It is interspersed with 'responses' from the Baha'i Writings to the 'questions' posed by her throughout the poem. Author: Hermione C. Pickens. All Rights Reserved.

Ain't I A Woman - The Re - Mix(3)

Why is gender inequality so pervasive? Where does it come from and what causes it to arise from time to time? Does it have cultural and religious roots? What values are needed to confront its resurgence worldwide and what policies will enable us to create societies in which being born a boy or a girl is no longer a reason for whether or not or for how long or to what a degree we can develop our human potential?

We will take a look at some of these difficult questions and measures their cost on the security of individuals and society as a whole. We focus on how various restrictions against women have a direct impact on the economy of countries and the world. We evaluate the ways in which they undermine the talent pool available to the private sector, distort family relationships, and lead to inefficiencies in the use of resources. We analyze how gender bias contributes to an environment in which women, de facto, are second-class citizens, with fewer options than men, lower quality jobs, and lower pay. And we look at the devastating consequences of such inequality in terms of health, life expectancy and violence against girls and women, from the cradle to the grave.

Women are not yet fully politically empowered to change laws and implement new legal instruments to ensure gender equality worldwide. We have still scant presence in the corridors of power, whether as finance ministers, central bank governors, prime ministers or on the boards of leading corporations. Most importantly, in many parts of the world, including countries which consider themselves “advanced” many girls still receive less educational opportunities and less encouragement to pursue the development of their highest potential. This alone creates a vicious cycle of inequality that persists generation after generation. But perhaps if we include an economic perspective in our arsenal to promote gender equality, the penny might finally drop. The bottom line is, we simply cannot afford gender discrimination any longer.

040 Equality Of Women Equals Prosperity For All

Jena Khodadad, “Biotechnology, Benefits and Perils: The Need for Spiritual Perspective in Achieving Harmony of Science and Religion”

Momentous advancement in the past century and a half in molecular biology of the gene has spurred a scientific and medical revolution, accompanied at once with undreamt of possibilities as well as considerable moral and ethical implications. Such developments include: breakthrough in the structure of the DNA molecule, the carrier of the genetic information in all living things; the mapping and decoding of the entire human genome; and the technology for editing and modifying the gene. The rapidly advancing technology of gene editing, bearing the acronym CRISPER, is acquiring increasing refinements, enhanced possibilities and wider applications.

Other biotechnologies, such as recombinant DNA, gene cloning, and stem cell research, are among numerous other advances which hold prospects for the welfare of humankind, but can also portend harmful outcomes. Among the significant benefits are: identification of the genetic base of disease, eradication of deadly diseases, development of drugs and therapies, prolongation of human life and much more. Among the adverse implications are: c, human cloning, generation of biohazards and their release into the environment.

Such technological advances bring to the forefront the benefits but also the perils of biotechnology, recalling the dystopian predictions in the “Brave New World” of Aldous Huxley.

Followers of traditional religions may adopt a stance against such technologies, which they believe tamper with the gene and trespass into the realm of God’s creation. The sacred writings of the Bahá’í Faith, however, inculcate the importance of scientific investigation and knowledge. Hence Bahá’í scientists will likely choose to promote progress in scientific learning toward “the extermination of disease, to the extension of scientific research, to the raising of the standard of physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of the human brain, … to the prolongation of human life, and to the furtherance of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual life of the entire human race.” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u’llah, p. 204) while at the same time remaining vigilant of their harmful implications.

Jena Khadem Khodadad, holds a Ph.D from Northwestern University in biological sciences (cell and molecular biology). Her academic career as professor on the medical and graduate college faculties has entailed teaching of cell and molecular biology and neuroscience and research on the molecular organization of biological membranes. The results of her work were presented before national and international scientific forums and published in scientific journals and books. Jena has served on institutions and agencies of the Bahá’í Faith. As an advocate of human rights, Jena has presented before human rights organizations including Amnesty International and the American Jewish Committee on the denial of higher education to Bahá’ís in Iran. As an active member of an interfaith organization, she is dedicated to interfaith understanding and dialogue.

Jena is the daughter of Hand of the Cause of God, Zikrullah Khadem and Javidukht Khadem and was raised in a household infused with love and passion of the Bahá’í Faith. She has attained the presence of Shoghi Effendi and presented at numerous conferences, seminars and classes on “Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith”– a theme which is integral to the focus of this web talk.  Jena’s most recent writing, The Dynamics of Growth: Scientific Principles at Work in the Worldwide Advancement of the Bahá’í Faith, is published by George Ronald. This book applies insights from science to the question of growth of the Bahá’í Faith in particular and to growth of religions in general. Jena and her husband, Manuchehr, live in the United States in the Chicago area.

047 Biotechnology, Benefits and Perils -The Need for Spiritual Perspective | Jena Khadem Khodadad

The numerically largest Bahá’í community in the world resides in India, and most of those Bahá’ís come from a Hindu background. Bahá’ís readily acknowledge Hinduism as one of the great religions, and identify Krishna as one of the “Manifestations of God”. Yet, generally speaking, Bahá’ís outside of India know little about this religion, and very little about Krishna. They are not alone. Most non-Hindus may be able to evoke a few common perceptions, such as Hindus believe in many gods; cows sacred for Hindus; they believe in reincarnation and are vegetarians, right?, yet otherwise have little knowledge of this religion.

This talk aims to “decode” elements of what constitutes “Hinduism”, an ancient and vastly complex religion, to address these perceptions, and to examine points of convergence and divergence between Hinduism and the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. 

More specifically, I will examine the following questions:

What do Bahá’í authoritative texts say about Hinduism and Krishna?
Who was Krishna and how is He understood in the history of Hinduism?
What are some of the areas of doctrinal difference and convergence between Hinduism and the Bahá’í Faith?
What are the basics of Hindu ethics and practice, including ritual and worship, and what might be some fruitful points of interfaith discussion from a Bahá’í perspective?
The talk will end with an overview of the history of the Bahá’í Faith in South Asia, including the Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi, now one of the most visited sites in India.

Anne M. Pearson holds a Ph.D. in religious studies, specializing in South Asian religions. She taught for many years in the Department of Religious Studies at McMaster University, Hamilton, as well as the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo, teaching courses on world religions, Hinduism, gender and religion, Gandhi and nonviolence, among others. She has authored a book (“Because it gives me peace of mind—Ritual Fasts in the Religious Lives of Hindu Women”), articles and book chapters on various topics including on Hinduism in Canada. She has been a faculty member of the Wilmette Institute since the 1990s, involved with courses on Hinduism and Buddhism for deepening and dialogue, and preparing for interfaith dialogue, among other courses. She lived in India for a number of years, and continues to visit and be involved with organizations that promote women’s empowerment and peace-building. She has also been an active participant in the Baha’i community since embracing the Faith as a student in the late 1970s.

Explore more webtalks and courses on the Baha'i Faith here:
https://wilmetteinstitute.org

054 Decoding Hinduism: Sacred Cows, Krishna, and the Bahá’í Faith | Anne Pearson

The increasing instability and turbulence of our times is shaking many of us to the core. Our aim in this talk is to understand the forces of our times in light of the teachings of the Faith and thereby avoid the fear, despondency and paralysis of will that might otherwise result. We will focus in particular on the twin processes of integration and disintegration. We will examine the collective journey of humanity towards maturity and unity and contemplate the exigencies and implications of its current developmental stage. We will learn that much of what is happening is not random but part of a greater divine plan that is designed to lead us to a a glorious collective destiny. We will learn to read the signs of labor that the world is experiencing and remind ourselves of the ultimate outcome of this messy and difficult process, namely the birth of a New World Order. In doing so we will bolster our confidence and ignite hope in our collective future.

Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing is an international lawyer, independent scholar, and the founding director of CPGG — the Center for Peace and Global Governance (http://cpgg.org). CPGG is a virtual think tank and online forum that pools and proposes principled solutions to pressing global problems through publications, podcasts, lectures, workshops, webinars, and targeted consulting. CPGG has just published Sovaida’s latest book entitled Bridge to Global Governance: Tackling Climate Change, Energy Distribution and Nuclear Proliferation. The book posits that while humanity’s unprecedented interdependence has made it prone to systemic aliments like climate change and growing threats of nuclear terrorism and war, yet it lacks the institutions for collective decision-making and enforcement needed to tackle these challenges effectively. There is a huge chasm between the institutions we have and those we need. The book engenders hope by proposing a first step across this gap — a step that is inspired by a highly successful institutional model used to rebuild Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War. It recommends adapting this model to address our current challenges while also building confidence to create broader global governance institutions to solve our myriad other collective problems.

Sovaida has also written Building a World Federation: The Key to Solving Our Global Crises. The book posits that humanity has been passing through stages of collective growth towards integration and unity. Our current collective crises–including climate change, financial upheavals, proliferation of nuclear weapons, gross human rights atrocities, and mismanagement of critical natural resources–are simply manifestations of our passage through a turbulent adolescence. The only way to a peaceful world is for humanity to take the next step towards maturity by establishing collective decision-making institutions that can evolve into a world federation of nation-states.

Sovaida is also the author of Collective Security Within Reach published by George Ronald in 2008 with a foreword written by an Under-Secretary General of the United Nations.  It offers concrete recommendations for action by world leaders, national and international, to solve some of the pressing global problems of our time including the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the equitable distribution of energy resources and the international use of force. Ms. Ma’ani Ewing is currently working on her next book focussing on issues of energy and nuclear proliferation.

Ms. Ma’ani Ewing is a barrister-at-law of England and Wales, an LLM graduate in International Law and European Union Law from Cambridge University and an attorney-at-law in the United States. Her eighteen year legal career has included private practice with respected law firms in Washington, DC, including her own, teaching as an adjunct professor of law and most recently service as an Attorney-Advisor in the Legal Advisor’s Office of the US State Department.

034 Finding Hope In Turbulent Times | Sovaida Ewing

Is there any hope for those who despair at the state of the world and the powerlessness of governments to find a way forward? Global Governance and the Emergence of Global Institutions for the 21st Century provides ambitious but reasonable proposals to give our globalized world the institutions of international governance necessary to address effectively the catastrophic risks facing humanity that are beyond national control. The solution, the authors suggest, is to extend to the international level the same principles of sensible governance that exist in well-governed national systems: rule of law, legislation in the common interest, an executive branch to implement such legislation, and courts to enforce it. The best protection is unified collective action, based on shared values and respect for diversity, applying widely accepted international principles to advance universal human prosperity and well-being

075 Global Governance And The Emergence Of Global Institutions For The 21st Century

The Wilmette Institute was founded in 1995 to provide basic and advanced courses on the Bahá’í Faith. In 1998, the Wilmette Institute moved to a largely online study approach in order to provide educational classes to a broader student body. It now offers more than 50 unique courses on the web to an average of 30 students per course.