The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee Sends Kids Back to School with Positive Messages

The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee participated in the Edgehill Back in School celebration this past weekend by distributing booklets at a neighborhood event.

The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee volunteers joined community partners, neighbors and police for the Back In School celebration this past weekend to help send kids back to school with all needed supplies and the right message.

"True joy and happiness are valuable," begins the common sense guide, The Way to Happiness, written by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1980s. Since then, the book has sparked a movement and has been reprinted and passed hand to hand to a wide variety of cultures and peoples. In Tennessee, The Way to Happiness Association works with communities and neighborhoods to spread the booklet to as many people as possible. Organizers say that when the booklet is passed from hand to hand, it is like oil spread upon a raging sea, the calm flows outward and outward.

The Tennessee Association launched its campaign to distribute the booklet in 2009. Since that time, the group has visited local health fairs, festivals and community gatherings.

The Edgehill Back In School celebration was kicked off this year as a way to help students who have started the school year only to find they didn’t have all supplies they needed. Vendors brought various supplies including calculators, backpacks and more to give away.

The Way to happiness volunteers passed the booklet to students and parents. The booklet details 21 precepts predicated on the fact that one's survival depends on the survival of others. According to thewaytohappiness.org, "This code of conduct can be followed by anyone, of any race, color or creed and works to restore the bonds that unite humankind." The Way to Happiness aims at giving people back a sense of what is right and wrong in a way that is easy to understand. In the three decades since it was authored, some 80 million copies of the book passed hand to hand.

For more information, visit twthtn.org.

Nashville Religion Communicators Council to Learn About Storytelling in Digital Media

The Nashville Chapter of the Religion Communicators Council (RCC) meets monthly to talk about topics of interest and hear from professionals in religious communications.  

The ever-changing landscape of digital media can be difficult to navigate, especially for a person of faith trying to get a message of hope out to the world. So, a group of religious communications professionals will gather to learn more about storytelling in digital media next Tuesday during the monthly meeting of the Religion Communicators Council (RCC).

The Religion Communicators Council (RCC) is an interfaith association of religion communicators at work in print and electronic communication, marketing and public relations.

Rev. Brian Fesler, president of the Nashville chapter and pastor of the Church of Scientology, says, “Religious people need to stay on top of the way messages are communicated in today’s world. Now, more than ever, we need hope highlighted on the social stream.”

The meeting will take place at the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church on October 2^nd over lunch.

The RCC has members from every faith group and walk of life including Baha’is, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Scientologists, Sikhs, Hindus and more. The RCC, founded in 1929, is an association of communications professionals who work for and with a diverse group of faith-based organizations in the areas of communications, public relations, advertising and development. The RCC provides opportunities for communicators to learn from each other. Together, RCC members promote excellence in the communication of faith and values in the public arena and encourage understanding among religious and faith groups. For more information about the Religion Communicators Council, visit religioncommunicators.org/nashville-chapter.

Church of Scientology Asks Religious Leaders to ‘Speak Your Peace’

The Church of Scientology with the Tennessee chapter of United for Human Rights (TNUHR) held a large inter-religious, multicultural event for International Peace Day.

The Church of Scientology, in partnership with Tennessee United for Human Rights, held its fourth annual Celebration of International Day of Peace, with a large number of religious and cultural leaders, each bringing words of peace from their respective traditions and backgrounds for an event dubbed “Speak Your Peace.”

International Day of Peace was declared by the United Nations General Assembly as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.

In Nashville, International Day of Peace has been observed over the past three years, each year with a different theme related to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. TUHR promotes human rights education as a way to combat ignorance and increase awareness.   This year is the 70^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, since it was signed in 1948, so TUHR wanted to do something on a large scale involving all people. Thus, an event that would tie together people of all faiths in unity through words of peace.

“I’m proud that we were able to bring together a multicultural, multi-faith community of people who could speak about peace on a universal level,” says Rev. Brian Fesler, regional coordinator of the Tennessee United for Human Rights program.

Participants represented a myriad of faith traditions and religions including Baha'i, Baptist, Jewish, LDS Church (Mormon), Sikh, Unity and Scientology. A common theme among all of the religious messages was that in unity, there is peace.

TNUHR is a chapter of the international organization United for Human Rights, formed on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to provide human rights resources and educational materials to all sectors of society. For more information about Peace Day or to find out more about Tennessee United for Human Rights, visit tnuhr.org. 

Preparations in Motion for the 70th Anniversary of International Human Rights Day

The planning committee for the Tennessee celebration of International Human Rights Day is preparing for the 2018 event.

Each year, Tennesseans gather to celebrate the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations on Dec 10, originally signed in 1948. This year will mark the 70^th anniversary of the signing of this important document. “Human Rights Day is a special event where future leaders come together with lifelong advocates to be inspired, educated and readied for the next challenge,” says planning committee chair Rev. Brian Fesler, pastor of the Church of Scientology.

The celebration centers around the presentation of awards to human rights champions in three categories: Rising Advocate, Outstanding Service and Lifetime Achievement. Past recipients of these prestigious honors have included the Rev. Bill Barnes, Rev. James “Tex” Thomas, Senator Thelma Harper, Kwame Lillard, Rosetta Miller Perry, Father Joseph Breen, Gatluak Thach, First Baptist Capitol Hill, and many more.  The committee is now accepting nominations for this year’s award recipients.

A committee of human rights organizations and nonprofits, including the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, Metro Human Relations Commission, United Nations Association, Amnesty International, Tennessee United for Human Rights, the Church of Scientology and others, work together each year to plan the event.

The committee plans to feature many different human rights organizations, especially the Tennessee governmental and non-profit agencies that have commitments to the thirty rights as laid out in the UDHR. Organizations who wish to participate in the planning may contact the organizer through www.tnuhr.org.