Faithbook, a new social networking facility for people of different faiths on Facebook, goes live today.
Faithbook uses images, videos and content from the various 'faith books' or sacred texts, as well as provocative commentary from prominent figures from nine major faiths, to spark responsible inter faith dialogue across the UK and the rest of the world. The inter faith resource is the initiative of the Movement for Reform Judaism, who represent a quarter of Britain's affiliated Jews, and marks the launch of its new, gender neutral faith book, the Siddur.
This is the first time the various faith communities have come together virtually to use the positive power of new media to explore the role and relevance of religion in modern society. In a recent interview, Bali bomber Imam Samudra said 'The internet is now the most important method of spreading jihad and Islam.' On Faithbook, Usama Hasan, Director of City Circle and commentator on Muslim affairs, sees Faithbook as part of the solution, 'It is when fundamentalist and extremist messages in all religions are allowed to fester without being challenged that we have a serious problem.'
Much of the Faithbook editorial is inspired by the unusual, contemporary content of the new Siddur. Prayers for natural disasters and when a child leaves home are among the subjects tackled by the Siddur, which sets out to be the most modern prayer book of its time, and enables believers - as Facebook does with its users - to personalise their prayer content according to their spiritual needs. Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand, Executive Director of the Movement for Reform Judaism, says 'Faithbook brings real-time inter faith networking to the forefront for the first time.'
HH Dalai Lama features on the Facebook group with the Siddur, as well as exclusive images of faith books from the Sacred Exhibition at the British Library. Faith figures kick-start discussions on subjects as diverse as 'the place of religion in modern society,' 'countering extremism through new media,' and 'gender neutral language in sacred texts,' to try and mobilise some of the 8 million UK and 70 million global Facebook users, and develop a truly representative interfaith debate.
All media enquiries:
• Simon Cohen, global tolerance, 0845 054 0064, 0751 538 7314, simon@globaltolerance.com
• Mike Waldron, global tolerance, 0845 054 0064, 0778 694 5880, mike@globaltolerance.com
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