May 22, 2018 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Speakers include Riane Eisler, internationally known for her work to reveal the deep historical and cultural foundations of misogyny and violence in books such as The Chalice and the Blade and Sacred Pleasure; Julie Owens, a ground-breaking trainer in the field of domestic violence prevention and victim advocacy, and Ron Clark, Church-Planter and Minister of Portland, Oregon’s Agape Church of Christ, who has authored Freeing the Oppressed and developed innovative approaches to enrolling clergy-people as effective advocates for those who are victimized or oppressed.

How can we re-shape the stories we live by and re-claim the power of faith communities as leaders in today’s intersecting movements to end violence and promote healthy, ethical human relationships?

Eisler, Owens, and Clark will candidly share the events in their own lives that sparked their passion for disrupting the roots of violence and will dialogue about how we can move away from traditions of domination and forge healthier and more equitable relationships – without leaving behind the faith traditions that can inspire and sustain our journey.

We’ll probe issues like:

• How should we respond when sacred texts are used to justify violence?
• How do we make sense of the ways in which religious texts seem to hold conflicting messages about how we are supposed to treat one another?
• How can we help our faith communities stop ignoring or normalizing women’s experiences of intimate violence, while cultivating ears to hear and hearts to believe the experiences of women and other survivors of violence?
• What roles can faith communities play?
• Why is gender inequality the lynchpin of oppression and violence across different eras and cultures?
• How does an intersectional understanding of oppression help us connect the dots between seemingly unrelated forms of violence?
• What possibilities for action open when we understand domestic violence as a human rights and social justice issue?
• Why are local interventions in violent behavior not enough to prevent violence in our families and communities?
• What does it really take to move away from cultures of domination, driven by control and fear?
• How can we build cultures of partnership which celebrate relationships of mutual benefit and mutual responsibility?

Don’t miss this timely and important conversation! Register to attend: