Journal Articles

Interfaith and Peace, Social Justice and Respect for the Earth

Marcus Braybrooke - TIO Correspondent — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

“War no more.” That was the hope that inspired Charles Bonney as he explained in his opening address to the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions. Bonney believed that a major cause of conflict was “because the religious faiths of the world have most seriously misunderstood and misjudged each other.”i One hundred years later, Hans Küng declared that there would be “No peace in the world without peace between religions.”ii

Clooney, Kony and Why Interfaith Matters

Greg Damhorst — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The Kony 2012 video has now amassed more than 83 million views on YouTube and triggered a response with which Invisible Children can’t keep up. To make things worse, this viral phenomenon has triggered assertions that have called the non-profit’s integrity into question on multiple levels. It sounds like a mess. But at least a significantly larger portion of the world’s population knows something about the horrors taking place in Uganda, right?

Debate Over Mother Earth’s ‘Rights’ Stirs Fears of Pagan Socialism

Bron Taylor — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Religious and political conservatives have long feared the global march of paganism and socialism. In their view, it was bad enough when Earth Day emerged in 1972, promoting a socialist agenda. But now, under the auspices of the United Nations, the notion has evolved into the overtly pagan, and thus doubly dangerous, International Mother Earth Day.

NewGround Interfaith Engagement Model Reaches Egypt

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

NewGround began in 2006 as a response to the climate of tension and mistrust between Jews and Muslims in Los Angeles. It was established to create a national model for healthy relations, productive engagement and social change between American Muslims and Jews.

Talking with Tomorrow’s Peacemakers

Akash Mehta — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

We live in a violent world filled with conflict, and we always have. But every member of every generation has a responsibility to our world, each in our own way, to lessen the unhappiness that reigns on this planet. Our generation, like the ones before it, will grow up and lead the world. It is essential that tomorrow’s leaders, trying to fix our world’s problems, are empathetic, understanding not only their own people’s suffering, but the suffering of those on the ‘other side’ as well.

Letter to the Editor

Bruce Schuman — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Just a little note in response to the April issue that I am browsing and studying and contemplating this morning...

The first thought is that everything is so beautifully done, with such finesse and excellence. So much care has gone into this. It is remarkable and very much deserving praise and conscious appreciation.

Peacemaking – Seeking, Finding, Starting

Angela Butel — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Turning the final page of Eboo Patel’s Acts of Faith, I felt what only comes from finishing a great book: a mixture of equal parts exhilaration and disappointment that it’s over. Patel is an engaging writer with an intriguing personal story, and the major ideas encapsulated in his book spoke to me on a very basic level.

Thich Nhat Hanh: In 100 Years There May Be No More Humans on Planet Earth

Tom Levitt — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The acclaimed Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh talks to the Ecologist about the loss of biodiversity and why human vulnerability is not something we should despair about

Occupy Faith National Conference: Let the walls come crumbling down!

Nichola Torbett — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Just before noon on March 20, in Berkeley, California, Rabbi Arthur Waskow blew the shofar, an act most often associated with the call to repentance on the morning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Some say that the shofar, famous for causing the walls of Jericho to fall, awakens the Divine within each hearer.

Interfaith Call to Action on Climate Change

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The Interfaith Moral Action on Climate Change is a collaborative interfaith political action initiative to wake up politicians in the United States and begin taking responsibility for the disaster of climate change. You can endorse the call at IMACC’s website.