HAWAII

Workshop to help people who grieve

A workshop to help grieving people and their family and friends cope during the holiday season will be held next Saturday at the Koolau Golf Course, 45-550 Kionaole Road, Kaneohe.

The program from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. will feature introduction by St. Francis Hospice bereavement services manager Felicia Marquez-Wong and invocation by the Rev. J.P. Sabbithi, chaplain. Bernadette Baraquio will present “;In Memory of You”; and Christa Freeze, of St. Francis Hospice, will talk about “;When Life Gives You Scraps, Let's Make Quilts.”;

The $65 cost includes lunch, refreshments and workshop materials. For registration information, call Sandy Pohl, 521-1812, or Felicia Marquez-Wong, 547-8145.

Futaba Memorial features scholar

A nationally known Buddhist scholar and author will be the guest speaker at the free Futaba Memorial Lecture Series next Saturday at Honpa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple annex, 1727 Pali Highway.

Thomas Kasulis will speak about “;Shinran's Humility: A Spiritual Model for Today's World.”; A 9:30 a.m. lecture will explore “;Shin Buddhism as Shinran Lived It.”; At 1 p.m., he will speak on “;Shin Buddhism as Shinran Taught It.”;

Kasulis is professor of comparative studies in humanities and chairman of the East Asian Languages and Literature Department at Ohio State University. He is the author of “;Zen Action/Zen Person,”; “;Shinto: the Way Home”; and “;Intimacy or Integrity: Philosophy and Cultural Difference.”;

Registration will begin at 9 a.m. Lunch will be served.

The series is co-sponsored by the Futaba Memorial Lecture Fund, the University of Hawaii Foundation, Milander Fund and Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin.

Haleiwa site hosts gratitude seminar

Historian John S. Tanaka will speak about “;Hidden and Unwritten History: Kingdom of Hawaii”; at an Oct. 26 lecture in Haleiwa.

The 13th annual Thanksgiving and Gratitude Seminar is sponsored by Haleiwa Shingon Mission, 66-469 Paalaa Road.

Tanaka, author of “;Yesterday's Rainbow,”; was in the Army intelligence corps in World War II and a former United Nations correspondent in Korea.

Also speaking will be Candi Cann, a Leeward Community College instructor, on “;Religion in Contemporary China,”; and George Tanabe, University of Hawaii emeritus professor of religion, on “;China: the Mother of Japanese Buddhism.”;

The event from 9 a.m. to noon is free and open to the public. Reservations for lunch are required. Call 637-4423.

Interfaith Alliance to give out awards

The Interfaith Alliance Hawaii will honor a local resident and three Oahu religious organizations for their roles in the community at its annual Celebration and Awards Dinner tomorrow.

The event at 5:30 p.m. at Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin, 1727 Pali Highway, is open to the public. The $20 cost includes a vegetarian buffet dinner and is payable at the door. The cost for youth is $15. To register, call John Heidel, 261-4585, or Randolph Sykes, 561-6010.

The guest speaker, Honolulu Advertiser columnist Jerry Burris, will speak on “;How Free and Fair is the Press?”;

The interfaith group will present awards to:

» Shinnyo-En Hawaii, sponsor of the annual Memorial Day lantern floating ceremony, for providing a positive healing role in Hawaii.

» Church of the Crossroads, for facilitating community activism.

» First Unitarian Church of Hawaii, for facilitating community activism.

» Rob Hail, for his work with Cambodian orphans and International Foster Parents programs.

NATION

Mormons urged to strive for unity

SALT LAKE CITY » Mormons should strive for unity at home, in the church and with those whose backgrounds and opinions differ from Latter-day Saints, a senior church leader said.

Henry B. Eyring, the senior counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said at the faith's semiannual General Conference that the divisions that come with increased conflict between people around the world could “;infect”; Mormons.

Eyring said the path to unity is through faith, humility, prayer and service to God. Eyring also said Mormons can be peacemakers in times of conflict by looking for common ground.

Apostle Robert D. Hales also touched on critiques of Mormonism by other faiths.

“;More regrettable than the church being accused of not being Christian is when church members react to such accusations in an un-Christlike way,”; Hales said. “;Surely our Heavenly Father is saddened—and the devil laughs—when we contentiously debate doctrinal differences with our Christian neighbors.”;

The General Conference draws more than 100,000 people to the church's downtown Salt Lake City conference center.

Woman fined for stalking Muslim

ROCHESTER, Minn. » A North Dakota woman convicted of stalking a woman in Minnesota because she is Muslim must pay $3,000 in fines and do 200 hours of community work service.

Olmsted County Judge Kevin Lund also placed 47-year-old Patricia Stockwell on two years' probation and ordered her to write an apology to the victim. If Stockwell fails to the meet the conditions, she will serve one year in jail.

A jury convicted her in September 2006 of stalking Madina Hassan and found it was because of Hassan's Muslim faith.