Learn more about this program: www.WagingPeaceAlternatives.com
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HARRISONBURG, Va. --A treacherous fault line continues to creep its way around the world marking profound distrust and animosity between Christians and Muslims of various stripes.
A one-hour documentary, Waging Peace: Muslim and Christian Alternatives, scheduled for airing beginning June 23 on NBC-TV, examines courageous threads of peace also quietly being sown around the world. The program will air at the discretion of local NBC affiliates through November, 2013.
“I do believe we’re at a global crossroads where young professionals will lead us into a new generation, or two or three, of peace and understanding,” says J. E. Rash in the documentary. Rash is President and Founder of Legacy International, and a lecturer, writer, and consultant in conflict resolution.
Rashied Omar, Research Scholar of Islamic Studies and Peacebuilding at Notre Dame, says, “[There is] a long history of demonization of Muslims: Muslims feel that they are not being correctly represented in the west.”
A wide variety of persons add their perspectives in the documentary, including Lynne Hybels, of Willow Creek Community Church, Sami Rasouli, director of Muslim Peacemaker Teams in Iraq, David W. Shenk, author of A Muslim and Christian in Dialogue, Martin Marty, church historian and longtime columnist for Christian Century, Peggy Gish, Church of the Brethren peace and social justice activist, Jihad Turk, director of religious affairs at the Islamic Center of Southern California, and Najeeba Syeed-Miller, assistant professor of Interreligious Education at Claremont School of Theology, their first Muslim faculty and specialist in conflict resolution.
The documentary is intended to help communities find creative ways to build peaceful and just relationships. “The basic concept is that while Christianity and Islam both have warrior-like histories and those who take up the sword in the name of faith, another reality exists. In this time of mistrust and war, some Muslims and Christians are dedicating their lives to the pursuit of peace,” says producer Burton Buller. “In this documentary we examine the streams of peace that flow through both the Christian and Muslim worlds by telling dramatic, challenging stories of Muslims and Christians finding peaceful solutions to conflicts. Efforts to live together peacefully in the future may hinge on efforts such as these.”
Initial funding was provided through a grant from Odyssey Networks and a smaller foundation and individuals.
Third Way Media is the production agency for the documentary being produced by Buller Films, LLC, in cooperation with Inter-Attainment TV. Third Way Media has an almost 60-year history of producing award-winning media on religious and social issues affecting North American culture. Inter-Attainment TV is a non-profit television production company specializing in programs that educate and enlighten people about the faith and cultures of Islam.