Daniel Smith-Christopher - Religion and Peacebuilding 7/7

Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, Phil.D.
Director of Peace Studies
Department of Theology
Loyola Marymount University

Dr. Smith-Christopher is the author of several books, including, Jonah, Jesus, and Other Good Coyotes: Speaking Peace to Power in the Bible, A Biblical Theology of Exile (Overtures to Biblical Theology) and Introduction to the Old Testament: Our Invitation to Faith and Justice, a text for secondary school courses in Old Testament. Dr. Smith-Christopher is also the author of The Books of Ezra-Nehemiah in The Oxford Bible Commentary, and Daniel in the New Interpreters Bible Commentary. Dr. Smith-Christophers most recent book, Jonah, Jesus and Other Good Coyotes: Speaking Peace to Power in the Bible, is now available, with a foreword by Dr. Walter Brueggeman. Dr. Smith Christopher is the editor of and a contributor to the text, Subverting Hatred: The Challenge of Religious Nonviolence. The 10th anniversary edition of Subverting Hatred has been announced.

Dr. Smith-Christopher has taught and spoken on topics in scripture, particularly of the Exilic and Persian periods, and on issues of peace, justice and non-violence, and recently began teaching on the role of Scripture in African-American Gospel and Blues musical and lyrical traditions. Dr. Smith-Christopher has also consulted on many television and multi-media projects in these areas.

The Soka Gakkai International (SGI-USA) Culture of Peace Resource Centers in New York, Santa Monica, Chicago Washington D.C., and Honolulu have launched the Culture of Peace Distinguished Speaker Series to engage people in a dialogue on the values, attitudes and behaviors that reject violence and inspire creative energy toward the peaceful resolution of conflicts. Lecturers in this series focus on one or more of the 8 action areas defined by the 1999 United Nations Declaration and Program of Action on a Culture of Peace: (1) Fostering a culture of peace through education, (2) Promoting sustainable economic and social development, (3) Promoting respect for all human rights, (4) Ensuring equality between women and men, (5) Fostering democratic participation, (6) Advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity, (7) Supporting participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge and (8) Promoting international peace and security.

We hope that this eclectic and thought-provoking series of dialogues will empower community participants with a heightened awareness of the subtle shifts in our attitudes and behaviors that can help attain and sustain a culture of peace and to apply what they have learned in meaningful ways to their families, schools, workplaces and local communities. This annual lecture series begins on January 26 of each year to commemorate the founding of the Soka Gakkai International and the yearly publication of a peace proposal by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda. All lectures are free and open to the public.

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