Children of Abraham: Christian-Muslim-Jewish Defenses of Religious Liberty and Tolerance

Children of Abraham: Christian-Muslim-Jewish Defenses of Religious Liberty and Tolerance, aims to generate a fresh conversation, based in religious sources, on religious toleration and freedom. It will enlist thought leaders with deep religious convictions to search their traditions, sharpen each others' thinking and expression, and go public with some powerful affirmations of religious tolerance. This is a planning and pilot initiative, consisting of three main parts: 1. A book of essays, by 15 of the world's most eminent religious and public affairs leaders, summoning religious perspectives to argue for religious tolerance and freedom. Contributors include the former U.S. president, Jimmy Carter; and the former president of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid. This book will be published in English, Arabic, Turkish and Indonesian languages. 2. An initial conference in September, 2011, hosted in Washington, D.C., and featuring many of the book's contributors and a variety of influential religious and political opinion shapers. This conference will help launch the book and set a public agenda for the ensuing project. 3. A planning effort to make initial preparations for public conventions in a variety of sites over the next few years: Jakarta (2013), Istanbul (2013), and Tel Aviv (2014). This effort will result in conference leadership and planning committees being formed in each site and developing the components of a detailed proposal for these multi-media events, which will be the focus of the planned second phase of this project. Our request is for a planning grant to complete the book, hold the conference in the United States, begin making preparations for the international conferences, and prepare a proposal for a larger, convention-phase grant.