From Sudan to Chicago or Shanghai, defining, enjoying, and sustaining a blessed community is a tough assignment. Since humans became human, we’ve hungered for a thriving, protective community…
Editorial: Seeking the Blessed Community
The Importance of Gratitude
by Audrey Kitagawa
Thank you, everyone for joining in this 9th annual interfaith Service of Remembrance and Gratitude. During the annual UN Commission on the Status of Women, this particular…
The Divine Feminine Emerging, Embodied, and Emboldened
by Kathe Schaft and Kay Lindahl
We can’t help but notice that the world seems to have suddenly ‘discovered’ the value of women. After thousands of years living in the shadow of the masculine, after being pushed into the margins…
Niu Now: Reconnecting to the Tree of Life
featuring Manulani Aluli Meyer & Indrajit Gunasekara
This special article has as its focus a video and enriching dialogue rather than ta ext. NIU NOW: Reconnecting to the Tree of Life looks at the efforts by a grassroots group in Hawai’i tackling…
Guru Ka Langar: The Sikh Ethos of Sharing Hospitality
by Tarunjit Singh Butalia
Many who have had the opportunity to attend a Langar (a Sikh word for “open kitchen) surely have fond memories of the incredible hospitality we experienced.
Beloved Community: One Church’s Journey
by Kay Lindahl
What is a beloved community? How do we become a beloved community? For the past four years our church has been intentional about engaging with these questions. This is the story of our journey so far…
Creating the Blessed Community
by Diana Whitney
I was in India, teaching Appreciative Inquiry and leading a leadership retreat with colleagues Dinesh Chandra and Anil Sachdev, when one of my co-founders of the Taos Institute…
An Unlikely Turnaround
by Betsy Woodman
The news, 24 hours a day of it, is by turns heart-rending, enraging, and depressing. School shootings. Climate crisis. Senseless war. Divisive politics. “When will they ever learn,” went the…
Why We Sing
by Paul Andrews
Art and culture are the treasure houses of our deepest dreams - not the fleeting dreams of power and empire, which can never satisfy what is best in us, but our deep soul-dreams, from which generation…
Editorial: We're Back!
In the two years we’ve been gone, the challenge in developing interfaith relations has received a body blow through the accelerating corruption of language and communication…
Interreligious Literacy and Why It Matters
by Brian Carwana
We live in a time when seemingly difficult conversations – including around race, gender, and sexual orientation – have become an important part of the public discourse. However, one arena, central to…
Religious Literacy & the Flying Spaghetti Monster
by David Callaway and Hannah Santos
Long-time advocates of religious freedom paused when Eddie Castillo successfully used the First Amendment to wear a pasta strainer on his head for his license photo. Castillo, a Pastafarian, argued the…
Thou Shalt Not Hate: The Role of Religious Actors in Addressing Hate Speech
by Emina Frljak
Many would say hate speech is just words…but words can hurt, and words can and do turn into action. From “harmless” hate speech, come hate crimes. There are sadly many examples of hate speech…
When Wiccans & Evangelical Christians Become Friends
by Don Frew
A year into my public information work, I saw notice of a conference called “Deception & Discernment: Exposing the Dangers of the Occult.” I thought I should attend and see…
The Interfaith Rainforest Initiative: A Case Study of Religious Literacy
by Dr. Charles Ian McNeill
As the impacts of climate change intensify in plain sight on every continent, the United Nations Environmental Programme’s “Emissions Gap Report 2022,” released just…
The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng (and what I’ve learned from them)
by Rabbi Anson Laytner
For over a thousand years, there has been a Jewish community in Kaifeng, China, making it one of the most long-lived continuous Jewish communities in the world. Never more than…
15 Facts on African Religions
by Jacob K. Olupona
1. African traditional religion refers to the indigenous or autochthonous religions of the African people. It deals with their cosmology, ritual practices, symbols, arts, society, and…
Reimagining Interfaith: Taking Our Lead from Kids
by Vicki Garlock
The interfaith movement is all about bringing people together. Most of the time we focus on adults, and social justice issues. Don’t get me wrong. I fully support any and all…
September 2022 Interfaith News Roundup
by Paul Chaffee
Stories from Institutional Religion – The Far Reaches of Faith and Practice – In Memoriam
Passing the Baton
by Paul Chaffee
This month I am stepping down as the editor of The Interfaith Observer. I do so happily confident that the Tri-Faith Initiative of Omaha, Nebraska will give new life to TIO, new resources reshaping it to address the interreligious needs…