A Proposal to provide URI

a voice for peace, justice and the

healing of the Earth for all living beings.
 The Need
"In the end we will remember not the words of
our enemies, but the silence of our friends." ---
Martin Luther King Jr.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent
about things that matter". -- Martin Luther King Jr.

"Oppression can only survive through silence." ---

Carmen de Monteflores

In order to better achieve the URI purpose to end

religiously motivated violence, promote daily interfaith
cooperation, and create cultures of peace, justice, and
healing the Earth for all living beings, a structure to
bring forth the prophetic voices of the various
religious traditions and spiritual expressions of the
world is needed.

With so many issues in the world to respond to URI

needs to find a prophetic voice for peace, justice, and
healing the Earth to further its purpose.
Martin Luther King Jr.
 Key URI Charter
Preamble & Principles For this Proposal
The URI Charter Preamble states: We unite in
responsible cooperative action to bring the wisdom
and values of our religions, spiritual expressions,
and indigenous traditions to bear on the economic,
environmental, political, and social challenges facing
our Earth community.

We unite to provide a global opportunity for

participation by all people, especially by those whose
voices are not often heard.

Key URI Principles:

To join our mailing list or find out how you
can contribute, contact our global office:

5. We listen and speak with respect to deepen mutual

To join our mailing list or find out how you
canUnited Religions
contribute, Initiative
contact our global office:
P.O. Box 29242
United ReligionsCA
San Francisco, Initiative
94129-0242 USA

understanding and trust. P.O. Box 29242

SanPHONE: +1-415-561-2300
Francisco, CA 94129-0242 USA
FAX: +1-415-561-2313
EMAIL:+1-415-561-2300
PHONE: office@uri.org
ONLINE:
FAX: www.uri.org
+1-415-561-2313
EMAIL: office@uri.org
For information about Cooperation Circles or to
ONLINE: www.uri.org
find out how to become an Affiliate, please check
Forour website: www.uri.org/membership
information about Cooperation Circles or to
find out how to become an Affiliate, please check
ourEwebsite: www.uri.org/membership
P R I N T E D O N R E C Y C L E D PA P E R

9. We practice healing and reconciliation to resolve conflict E P R I N T E D O N R E C Y C L E D PA P E R

without resorting to violence

11. We seek and offer cooperation with other interfaith efforts.

13. We have authority to make decisions at the most local level

that includes relevant and affected parties.
 Key Principles of this Proposal

Statements would be made to speak to the larger

URI for further study, reflection, and action.
Statements would therefore not be made on
behalf of URI but to URI CC's for their
consideration and action. At the same time these
statements might be used by other organizations,
media, etc for their consideration as well.

Statements would only be made if they showed a

clear relationship to the implementation of the URI
Purpose and/or Preamble and were consistent with
URI Principles. Special emphasis would be given in
the statements to principle 9 that states: We
practice healing and reconciliation to resolve
conflict without resorting to violence.

Statements for consideration to the larger URI

could be initiated by any URI member of a CC,
local CC, MCC, or MMCC member. keeping in
tradition with the URI historical structure of the
ability to act at the lowest level possible.
 Proposed Structure
A new part time staff position would be created to research, keep up to breast with global issues, and interact with
groups outside URI. This person would be responsible for drafting and editing statements for consideration by the Global
Council Review Panel on various global issues and providing counsel to others within URI who were interested in
submitting statements for consideration. The work involved with this new position would go beyond the volunteer level
of expertise and time commitment. A new staff person would also help implement principle 11 which states:” We seek
and offer cooperation with other interfaith efforts”. This would be particularly true when it comes to statements.

This new staff person would be joined by a URI Global Council Review Panel of at least three other persons to consider
any statement to be sent out to the URI members. These three or more persons would be appointed by the Global
Council to represent their interest.

URI Regional staff would become part of the Global Council Review Panel for any issue dealing with their specific
region. Each URI Regional staff person would be encouraged to also have their own advisory group of 2 or more
persons from their region to give input as well. Regional staff would have a full vote on the recommendation of the URI
Global Council Review Panel.

The URI Executive Director would have veto power over any statement that the Global Council Review Panel approves.
This would help provide an additional check and balance to any statement going out to the membership with URI's
name. The Executive Director would also have the option to refer the statement to the full Global Council for
consideration if he or she so chose. If the URI Executive Director did not approve a statement within 10 days it would be
considered vetoed.

The Executive Director's veto could be reversed at any time by the Executive Director and/or brought to the full Global
Council at their next scheduled meeting for any issue that the panel felt strongly enough about to have considered
beyond the decision of the Executive Director. For the panel to refer the matter to the full Global Council the Global
Council Review Panel decision would have to be unanimous. It would be rare or never that the Global Council would
probably consider any statement under this process but the option would be available if the panel felt strong enough
about some issue. All approved statements would be be posted and archived on the URI Website.
Notes On Proposal Rationale
URI has been in the process of formation
for over ten years. It is past time that it
has a voice to contribute to global issues as
was envisioned in the URI preamble where
it states: “We unite in responsible
cooperative action to bring the wisdom and
values of our religions, spiritual expressions,
and indigenous traditions to bear on the
economic, environmental, political, and social
challenges facing our Earth community.”

People in the world need URI’s voice

especially the poor as the preamble states:
We unite to provide a global opportunity
for participation by all people, especially by
those whose voices are not often heard.

The unheard voices need to be

heard, especially the voices of the poor.
 Proposal Rationale cont.
The rationale for having statements speak
“to” URI members as opposed to “for” URI
members and the rationale to involve the
Regional Staff in statements that concern their
region is found in Principle 13. that states:
“We have authority to make decisions at the
most local level that includes relevant and
affected parties.”

By not having a global body speak for a CC or

all URI individual members, a URI CC may
disagree with the Global Council and individuals
from various faith traditions are free to oppose
decisions as well. This also helps keep decision
making at the most local level

In the case of involving Regional staff in

statements affecting their region, this allows
decision making at the most local level and also A voice for URI is needed to share
includes “relevant affected parties” in the the sacred and serve the World.
decision.
 Proposal Rationale cont.
Many if not most statements will come as part
of the day to day operations of URI. Some
statements may have more far reaching
implications that the entire Global Council
should consider.

Allowing the URI Executive Director the

discretion to determine which statements need
expediting, which statements need more
involvement of the full Global Council, or
which statements are just not appropriate for a
particular time in the life of URI are provided
in this structure.

This will provide a good check and balance

for the Global Council Review Panel.

So as not to give the Exec. Dir unchecked

power the panel can vote unanimously to
bring an issue to the full GC if it so chose to All members of URI can contribute to the
do so. process of peace, justice, and healing the Earth.
 Proposal Sumary
In summary this proposal to give the URI
a global voice is strongly rooted in the URI
Charter purpose, preamble, and principles.

The structure provides a mechanism for the

Global Council to speak on any issue without
falling into the trap of having to speak for others
or create a burden of heavy time commitment.

The structure also has many checks and balances

between the Global Review Panel, the URI
Regional staff, the URI Executive Director, and
the full Global Council to ensure Principle 5 is
implemented in all statements which says: “We
listen and speak with respect to deepen mutual
understanding and trust.

Finally, this proposal is designed to have the

flexibility to be highly efficient when needed,
deliberative and more engaging of the full Global
Council when needed, and proactive in giving URI has many people depending
URI a significant voice in the world. on it for a voice in the world.
The fate of the earth is in our hands. A strong
URI voice will determine in part how we care
for the Earth, our only home.
For further information or questions contact:
David Randle
(727)-388-6675
email: whale@globalhealing.net