Online Zoom Forum: Spiritual Politics: Changing the World from the Inside Out.
Date: Wednesday 18 June 2025.
Time: 7pm-9pm (UK time).
Event Description:
Format: There will be five talks, each of 12 minutes, followed by discussion among the speakers and the chair, followed by Q & A.
Chair:
The Revd Bonnie Evans-Hills:
Bio: Bonnie Evans-Hills is a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church and has considerable experience in inter-religious dialogue, working with organisations such as the EU Commission on Foreign Affairs & Security, the World Council of Churches, Churches Together in Britain & Ireland, the Anglican Communion, and the Anglican Mission organisation USPG (United Society for Partners in the Gospel). Bonnie has been involved in contributing to the UN Office for the Prevention of Genocide’s Global Plan of Action for Religious Leaders & Actors. She was recently awarded the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Speakers:
Luke Devlin:
Title: "While living in an evil time or region, say God": Nondual Spiritual Activism for the Present Moment.
Description: Hope is hard to come by in our era of wars and social, ecological and economic strife. Discerning ways to act, individually and collectively, in ways that are life-giving is crucial to sustain morale and avoid nihilism and hopelessness. In this talk, I argue that drawing on sources of strength and meaning beyond the temporal and material- in other words, drawing on spiritual depth- is necessary to avoid burning out or selling out in this time of humbling at the late stage of industrial civilisation.
Bio: Luke Devlin is a human ecologist, broadcaster and social commentator based in Glasgow. He is Executive Director of the Centre for Human Ecology and Programme Manager for Interfaith Glasgow, where he works on interfaith restorative justice. He serves as Secretariat for Interfaith Climate Justice Scotland. A member of the Catholic Worker movement, he is a regular contributor on religious and ethical affairs to BBC Radio Scotland's Thought for the Day, and Radio 4's Daily Service and Sunday Morning.
Marianne Cerilli:
Title: The Politics of Unity, and Healing for Change.
Description: The Politics of Unity, and Healing for Change are two related themes to my social innovation tools and work. Both align with Spiritual Politics. Healing for Change means we need to address our own wounds to effectively address the wounds of others and the larger world. The Politics of Unity is trauma informed politics that applies conflict resolution concepts and tools to political structures and procedures making them less war-like. One idea is “speaking peace to power”, or disarming dictators. Crucial because retaliation against dictators and autocrats will likely lead to mass violence and war. So we need to learn to "crack the code of trauma", that leads some to become oppressors. This means we see that bullying, dominance and oppressing people are a trauma response by people who were victimized and vowed to never be victims again, and instead see the only option to become perpetrators and abusers. This means we must get really good at regulating ourselves for dialogue, find compassion for our inner dictator, and facilitate other's rediscovering their reflective humanity. Less ridicule and attacks more organizing strategies like deep canvassing. This requires we are centred and as non-reactive as possible Meaning we start by working on ourselves, and continue this inner and outer dance of action and reflection.
Bio: Degrees from the University of Manitoba, Bachelor Physical Education (now Kinesiology) and Bachelor of Education, plus additional graduate coursework in education psychology, counselling, and health education. Certificated in Conflict Resolution, Training for Trainers, Volunteer Management plus other relevant training in stages of change and motivational interviewing, story based strategy, distributive organizing and more, my career experience intersects education, community development and politics.
The common thread is the social and ecological determinants of health, and community development. My career evolved from focusing on individual health behaviors to what creates healthy organizations, systems and healthy communities for healthy people.
Dr George Mutalemwa:
Title: Speaking Truth to Self in Speaking Truth to Power.
Description: The debate on the noninterference of politics in religion and vice versa is an old one. This debate often tilts for or against politics meddling in religious affairs or the other way round while some analysts settle for the two complementing each other. This presentation seeks to critique an area that is often ignored, namely the self that goes beyond speaking truth to power to speaking truth to self. I argue that the starting point in speaking truth to power should begin with an epistemological inquiry of truth at an individual level. In other words, it does not follow that “politicians tell lies” and “religious leaders tell the truth” or vice versa and therefore politics and religion are mutually exclusive like truth and lies. Rather truth should inform all discourses whether religious or political, starting with an individual. The presentation concludes that truth at an individual level connects one’s being and action as a springboard to spiritual politics at an institutional level locally and globally. I recommend that the search for the truth at an individual level should be a daily preoccupation and should not be limited to events such as general elections.
Keywords Truth . religion . spiritual politics . self . being and doing
Bio: Dr. George Mutalemwa is Founding Director of the Africa Peace and Development Network (Mtandao wa Amani na Maendeleo Afrika, MAMA) and Senior Research Fellow at St. Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT). He has served as Hoffmann Lecturer for Intercultural Competences at the University of Vechta, Germany, Executive Secretary of the Association of Catholic Universities and Higher Institutes of Africa and Madagascar (ACUHIAM), Ag. Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs at SAUT, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Sociology and Development, Co-editor of Peace Studies for Sustainable Development in Africa: Conflicts and Peace Oriented Conflict Resolution (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-92474-4) and Peace as Nonviolence: Topics in African Peace Studies (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-52905-4)
Dr Thomas Clough Daffern:
Title: From Unexpected Grief, Through Mourning, To Universal Compassion and Peace.
Description: The daughter of the speaker was found unexpectedly dead in her flat in Brighton on May 6. A beautiful and spiritually aware young woman of 37 with a wonderful life ahead of her.
Having been thrust into grief and mourning totally unexpectedly, the speaker has discovered a whole new level of engagement and motivation for ongoing peace work and global spiritual reconciliation.
Some 25,000 women and girls die each day on Earth from preventable deaths (war, bombing, suicide, gang violence, domestic abuse, starvation, preventable diseases, etc.), which means 25,000 families are being catapulted into deep grief daily. And 25,000 men and boys are likewise dying of preventable causes.
Only when you personally experience this sense of loss does it hit home. Otherwise, these are just statistics.
Sharing from this new perspective, the speaker will suggest that if only we can start from within, with our own sense of loss, grief, and mourning, we can begin to mourn for each other’s dead as well as our own. This might give us the needed energy as one humanity to raise our horizons to a place of universal compassion and actual peace.
Bio: Dr Thomas Clough Daffern is a philosopher, historian, peace studies expert, poet and religious studies specialist. He was awarded his PhD from the University of London for a thesis which explores the history of the search for peace, and which proposes a new field of historiography, Transpersonal History. He has taken initiations in many spiritual paths and runs the Commonwealth Interfaith Network. He is Director of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy (IIPSGP) www.educationaid.net which works across many academic fields to bring together all those with an interest in and a commitment towards the study of peace, nonviolence and philosophy. Thomas taught at the Muslim College 1990-1993 & for the University of London, & University of Oxford 1993-2003. As House of Lords, Research Seminar Convenor (1992-2001) he worked with Lords and MP’s to establish an All Party Group for Peace and Conflict Resolution and co-chaired 35 meetings in parliament on peace policy. He has written over 60 books and is a published historian, philosopher, poet, and specialist in interfaith peace-making. He founded the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East (https://trcme.wordpress.com/) after many visits to Israel and Palestine and has friends on all sides of these agonising policy choices. He has consistently supported a two state solution and in 1991 he already called on Palestine to adopt a non-violent policy of resistance to stop giving Israel excuses to demonise and attack them. He is particularly interested in the religious and spiritual opportunities for peacemaking in the region and believes that between Christianity, Judaism and Islam, Bahaism and Zoroastrianism etc. there should be treaties and declarations of non-violence. For this purpose he has drafted the first Interfaith Peace Treaty (www.Interfaithpeacetreaty.wordpress.com). He sees education as a key resource for peacebuilding and served as a front line philosophy and religious studies teacher for 20 years in the UK, and is also now running the International Delphic Academy to redefine what we mean by education as at root the process of transformational self-knowledge development. He also serves as Chair of the World Intellectuals’ Wisdom Forum (https://worldintellectualforumeurope.weebly.com).
Peter A McColl:
Bio: I have extensive experience of Scottish public policy and research. Through my work in the Scottish Parliament and for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisatons I have a thorough understanding of Scottish public affairs.
I have worked with voluntary sector organisations in both service delivery and representation. This work has included press and media work, campaigns, lobbying and policy analysis and development.
I have worked on detailed policy in the areas of voluntary sector funding (including Social Impact Bonds and Lottery), social partnership, prevention in health policy; and social enterprise.
I am able to adapt my skills to work flexibly and innovatively to deliver change in policy and politics.
Specialties: Scottish public policy; parliamentary affairs; social research; social enterprise and the voluntary sector; lobbying; political strategy; policy analysis and development; press and media work; campaigns.
An archive recording will be made for the EICSP archive.
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Cost: By Donation:
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Account Name: Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace
Bank: Bank of Scotland
Bank Address: Edinburgh Royal Mile Branch
Account Number: 06131159
Sort Code: 802000
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