VOA标准英语2008年-Interfaith Youth Movement Growing Worldwide

In many societies around the world where religious differences have boiled into armed conflict, young people are at particular risk. Often, they are recruited by religious extremists to join in terror campaigns against rival religious communities. But as we hear from in this report written by VOA's Mohamed Elshinnawi, a growing interfaith youth movement is working to counter the extremists, and to give young people the tools and training they need to build more peaceful, tolerant societies.

From its headquarters in the midwestern city of Chicago, a private organization known as the Interfaith Youth Core is training what it hopes will be tomorrow's peace-makers. The not-for-profit American group teaches young people how to build bridges of friendship and understanding across cultures and faiths. It provides leadership training, program funding and support for networking projects among groups of young people around the world.

Young Muslims at Forefront of Interfaith Youth Movement in U.S.

Dr. Eboo Patel, a well-known Muslim and social activist¹ in the United States, is the founder² and director of Interfaith Youth Core. He says young American Muslims are at the forefront of the interfaith youth movement.

"They use it as an opportunity to manifest the peace-building commands within Islam," Patel says. "They use it as an opportunity to articulate their very misunderstood religion in the world. And they use it as an opportunity to get to know people from different backgrounds with whom they share many values."

Young people comprise a large and growing percentage of the populations in many of the most religiously volatile³ corners of the world. These are often places, says Patel, where traditional socio-economic patterns are breaking down, where people from different backgrounds and faiths are interacting more closely and competing for influence, and where frictions⁴ are mounting between religious and civil law.

In this turmoil⁵, Patel says, it can be difficult for young people of faith to understand the value of a pluralistic and tolerant society. He believes the interfaith youth movement he's helping⁶ to build focuses on some essential truths: that people of all faiths deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and that there can be no peace between nations without peace between religions.

Youth Recruit for Peace in Middle East

Samuel Rizk is the founding member of the Forum⁷ for Development, Culture and Dialogue, a private group based in Beirut, Lebanon, that specializes in conflict resolution and religious dialogue. Rizk believes the interfaith youth movement has been an important counter-strategy against extremist recruiters.

"The [interfaith] youth movement can actually recruit them for peace initiatives," he says. "We can provide models for co-existence in different parts of the world; then clearly that would be a help to peace in the future.

Rizk says the movement's belief in religious pluralism is a key part of its efforts to help defuse seemingly intractible conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere.

"Now we are talking about relationships between Muslims and Christian⁸ young people. In another instance we are talking about relationships between Sunnis & Shias," Rizk says. "I think there will come a time, hopefully, when there is peace in the Middle East that we can expand to include Muslims and Christians⁹ and Jews."

Reaching Out to Young European Muslims

The U.S government, too, recognizes the importance of this interfaith youth movement. Farah Pandith is a specialist with the U.S. State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Her office works with young European Muslims interested in studying the American model of religious pluralism.

She is hopeful that they are "sharp enough and strong enough when they are dealing¹⁰ with their identity problem, and they are being told that they cannot belong, they are being told they are different, and they are being told that the Jews and the Christians are not their friends, that they have the ability to be able to push back against that insane ideology¹¹."

Farah believes that educating young Muslims in Europe and elsewhere, as they struggle to find their identities in today's chaotic¹² world, can help them appreciate the value of peaceful interfaith dialogues, and so better resist the lure¹³ of religious extremism.

 

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

4 frictions   

n.摩擦( friction的名词复数 )；摩擦力；冲突；不和

参考例句：

• Family frictions can interfere with a child's schoolwork. 家庭中的争吵会影响孩子的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As far as we are concerned, these frictions are not of our own making [have been imposed on us]. 就我们来说，这种摩擦是被动式的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

12 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

13 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。