A CELEBRATION OF MULTIFAITH ART

The Golden Rule Poster Launch

September 2001

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On May 28, the Scarboro Mission Centre was alive with celebration. People of numerous faith traditions joined Scarboro in a joyful launch of The Golden Rule Across the World’s Religions poster.

The evening of the Golden Rule poster launch climaxed with a Golden Rule prayer service in which the 13 sacred writings featured on the poster were recited by representatives of 11 faith traditions. The evening of the Golden Rule poster launch climaxed with a Golden Rule prayer service in which the 13 sacred writings featured on the poster were recited by representatives of 11 faith traditions.

Produced by Scarboro Missions, the poster was five years in the making. It details The Golden Rule through the scripture and symbols of 13 world religions.

The creation of the poster was a labour of love involving numerous artists, teachers and scholars. The research also included extensive consultations with members of all 13 spiritual traditions represented on the poster.

Published only a year ago, the poster has proven to be enormously successful:

  • Already, it is mounted in offices, living rooms, classrooms and houses of worship across North America.

  • It has been featured in a documentary which was filmed in a world religions classroom and aired Canada-wide on Vision TV.

  • As we anticipated, the poster is a big hit in schools. Teachers in Canada and the United States are finding the poster very useful as an educational tool. Plans are underway to develop accompanying study guides for schools as well as for adult audiences.

  • The poster has already been used in Christian Sunday school programs. We hope that it will eventually be utilized in educational programs for young people in mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras, temples, meditation centres, and other houses of worship.

  • Families are using the poster in the home to inspire conversations on values.

  • Plans are afoot to use the poster as the liturgical centrepiece for a multifaith prayer service at City Hall in Toronto.

  • Inspired by our efforts, a school board in Quebec is developing a Golden Rule poster in French. We envision the eventual possibility of the poster being translated into several languages.

The poster is beginning to make its way around the planet. Such is its global, universal and inclusive quality.

Because The Golden Rule is found in so many religious traditions, it has wide-ranging moral authority. In the 1990s, thousands of leaders from religious, humanitarian and educational institutions signed a declaration entitled, “Toward A Global Ethic”. This document, sponsored by the Parliament of World Religions, strongly endorsed the universal ethical principle found in these diverse expressions of The Golden Rule.

At the Golden Rule poster launch: L-R: Fr. Gerald Curry, Editor of Scarboro Missions magazine; Muhammad Shaikh, a Muslim educator; and Lou Boswell of St. Joseph Thorn Press, art consultants and printer of the poster. At the Golden Rule poster launch: L-R: Fr. Gerald Curry, Editor of Scarboro Missions magazine; Muhammad Shaikh, a Muslim educator; and Lou Boswell of St. Joseph Thorn Press, art consultants and printer of the poster.

The poster has numerous practical applications. It is first of all a tool for promoting reflection and action in such areas as interreligious dialogue, multifaith prayer, solidarity, social justice, world peace and global unity. Teachers are finding it useful in courses on world religions, ethics, scripture and comparative religion.

The poster is a great way to introduce the idea of the spiritual basis of ethical thinking in all cultures, said Grade 11 World Religions teacher, Joe Wey, of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Mississauga, Ontario.

“Most of my students had studied only Christianity, so some of them were surprised to see the similarities,” said Wey, who was one of the first teachers to use The Golden Rule poster.

After comparing The Golden Rule in Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, Wey had his students look deeper into each of the religions covered on the poster. It made for interesting class work, particularly in the multicultural context of the Greater Toronto Area, he said.

“We teach, not tolerance, but rather respect for other religions,” said Wey.

The poster launch was savoured in an atmosphere of joy and unity. Indeed, humour and good cheer reigned throughout the evening program which recognized and honoured more than 30 individuals involved in creating the poster. The evening climaxed with a Golden Rule prayer service in which the 13 sacred writings featured on the poster were recited by representatives of 11 faith traditions.

Scarboro Missions is confident that the poster will continue to be a vehicle for healing and unity. In the words of Muhammad Shaikh who represented the Muslim community at the launch, “this poster should be displayed in every classroom in Canada.”

Pope John Paul receives The Golden Rule poster

The Holy Father wishes me to express his gratitude for the copy of Scarboro Missions and the Scarboro Missions Golden Rule poster which you sent to him.

His Holiness asks our Lord Jesus Christ to sustain you in his grace and to fill you with his peace. I am also pleased to convey to you and the members of the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society the Apostolic Blessing.

Monsignor Pedro López Quintana
Assessor, Secretariat of State
The Vatican

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