by Paul Chaffee, Editor
Growing up 100 years ago meant knowing almost nothing about the world’s spiritual traditions except your own. That world is mostly gone from us, never to return.
A Sampler of Where We Have Come
A Tribute to Bill Lesher
by Joseph Prabhu
The Reverend William E. Lesher – Bill to his friends – was a man of many parts and roles. Seminary president, theological scholar and educator, pastor and religious leader, civil rights advocate and marcher, pioneer of the modern interfaith movement, and toward the end of his life, a tireless promoter of a possible new civilization for humankind.
Best of TIO Videos 2017
by Megan Anderson
Below you will find our top picks from 2017. They cover the prayerful to the prophetic; they call us to reflect and to take action. Their messages are pertinent to the situations today and contain lessons each of us can learn from. So kick back and prepare to be inspired, challenged, and have your thoughts provoked.
Ethics in the Swamp: the Rot of Corruption
by Katherine Marshall
Corruption is a live topic today. Since 2005, international anti-corruption day has been “celebrated” on December 9, in hopes that a visible day marking the topic can raise awareness about corruption and bolster a sense that something can be done to combat and prevent it.
All I Have Is a Voice
by Marcus Braybrooke
The row over reading verses of the Qur’an in a Cathedral in Scotland has, I gather, reached across the Atlantic. Certainly the Cathedral has had a lot of abusive online messages from the U.S.A. During an Epiphany service at the Cathedral a Muslim law student was invited to read the Qur’anic account of the birth of Jesus, which also says, as Muslims believe, that Jesus was a prophet but not divine.
The Slow Food Movement – Revaluing What We Eat
by Paul Chaffee
For those who would love to find some middle ground between the strictures of a vegetarian or vegan diet, on one hand, and the sometime travesties of big agriculture, GMOs (genetically modified organisms), packaged food, and fast food, on the other, the slow food movement may be a satisfying alternative in reflecting on and choosing what you eat and how you eat.
What if Animals Believe in God?
by Andrew Aghapour
Chimpanzees believe in God. This news, widely reported last year, is only a slight exaggeration. Using hidden cameras, scientists have indeed captured footage of chimpanzee behavior that resembles religious ritual.
An Excerpt from "The Hundred-Year Walk – An Armenian Odyssey"
by Dawn Anahid MacKeen
The following is a chapter from MacKeen’s book recounting how she finally meets the descendants of Sheikh Hammud al-Aekleh, whose family welcomed in her grandfather, saving his life. Some members of the family that greeted her in 2007 today are Syrian refugees themselves.
On Discovering and Re-Imagining Interfaith
by Bud Heckman
When I first started working for interfaith cooperation, I could not find or figure out much of anything. I was hungry to learn, but it was more intuition, inductive reasoning, and plain old dumb luck of “finding” some of the trails of pioneers that moved me forward in figuring out what interfaith was.
Seizing an Alternative
by Philip Clayton
This is the story of the interfaith movement and climate change. It is also the story of a scholar of science and religion who gradually realizes that global climate change is the most urgent threat that humanity faces.Rampant poverty, social inequalities, the unjust treatment of the global South, each of these is magnified ten or a hundred fold by climate disruption.
Spiritual Exploring with Kids
by Vicki Garlock
Kids love to explore. And a quick look at any summer camp guide will support that claim. Last summer, kids in our area could attend Camp Explorer, Camp Eco-Explorer, Camp Adventure, Camp Discovery, Camp Run Wild, Camp Invention, or Nature Adventures, to name just a few!
Dogma is a Danger to Us All
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
“Religion is dead.” I winced as if I had experienced a body blow when I heard these words, delivered by one of the keynote speakers at an interspiritual conference on the East Coast three years ago.The keynote speaker happened to be a friend of mine, a cable show producer who for decades has extoled and promoted the “spiritual-but-not-religious” movement, a growing phenomena that has challenged the value and significance of traditional religions in our times.
Despina Namwembe and Grassroots Interfaith in Africa
A TIO Interview
Despina Namwembe is a force of hope to be reckoned with when it comes to grassroots interfaith work in Africa. A social scientist with a masters in peace and conflict studies, she coordinates the work of more than 30 grassroots interfaith organizations doing different social action projects in the Great Lakes countries of Africa.