From the Board – Recognizing Goodness Regardless of the Rhetoric
How to Develop Spiritual Friendship
Last spring semester I mentioned Spiritual Friendship in a course I was teaching on spirituality. One of the students shared with me that he had never heard the term. He was intrigued with the concept — it seemed to describe one of his relationships.
Interfaith Millennials Organize in Washington D.C.
This year is going to be a big one for interfaith collaboration in our nation’s capital. And Millennials are going to be at the forefront.
Listening and Achieving the Impossible Dream
Can Jews and Muslims actually get along? For the average American, plagued by widespread misinformation and skewed biases from the media, this might seem nearly impossible. In light of the ubiquitous news of conflict in the Middle East, coexistence between these two faith traditions is often perceived as a lost cause. However, here in the Southern California an number of Jewish and Muslim communities are working in harmony towards peace and understanding.
The Story Behind the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy
The Foundation for Religious Diplomacy is a nonprofit in Utah organized to promote and facilitate communication among people experiencing conflicts inspired by religious differences. It seeks to enroll and train religiously bi-lingual “interreligious diplomats” who can engage in deep dialogue encounters to decrease ill will and build trust, even in the midst of difficult conflicts. The Foundation has been particularly successful in providing ‘conservative’ communities from a variety of religions a safe multi-religious haven and platform to build enriching friendships through honest contestation and collaborative efforts. Ed.
First Steps in Building a Global Interfaith Community
Death, destruction and United Nations preventive military efforts often command public and media attention. The other purposes and activities of the U.N. – concentrating, for instance, on developing respect for rights, preventing discrimination, economic development, and cultural coexistence – receive less attention.
Love is the Means and the End
I approached this book with high hopes and some trepidation. I longed for interspirituality when I had no name for it. I knew I wanted more than interfaith dialogue, useful as that is as a starting place. I am usually disappointed when authors compare faiths. My experience of heavily negative criticism of Christianity and blithe misinformation makes me wary.
Just Sign Up for the Goodies?
I was prepared not to like this book. I did not disagree with the author’s core belief that, in the words of Brother Wayne Teasdale, there is a “shared mystic heart beating in the center of the world’s deepest spiritual traditions.” Nor did I have trouble with naming that heart “interspiritual.”
Faithful to the Truth
Mirabai Starr speaks of the great tree of monotheism with its roots entrenched in the immutable soil of the metaphysical truth of love and its trunk extending heavenwards.
What Happens When Governments Foster Interfaith Action?
The question is no longer, “Should governments foster interreligious action?” but instead, “How should they do it?” And then, “What happens when they do?”
Teaching World Religions for 40 Years
The first class of a new semester is always magical for me: a clean slate, tabula rasa, and new beginning. As I gaze at the students filling the large lecture hall in the Science Math Building at Saddleback Community College, Mission Viejo, in southern California, my stomach rumbles with nervous energy: my 40th year of teaching, but it seems like I am just beginning.
Challenging Evangelical Assumptions
Evangelicals face enormous challenges in the pluralistic public square in the 21st century, especially among Muslims. Suspicion and fear of Muslims exist in many quarters as a result of 9/11 and other radical Muslim acts of terror in places like Spain and London and some bad habits about how most of us absorb news. We firmly believe that radical Muslims do not represent the majority of Muslims in the West, who have repeatedly disavowed terrorism. Clearly, most Muslims in the U.S. seek to live out their Muslim faith in ways that affirm and resonate with American values.
The Case for Multifaith Education
As a rabbi who directs a multifaith center in a Christian seminary, I often get asked about multifaith education. People ask me, “What curriculum should I use?” or “How can we teach our students about other religions?” Even more often I am asked, “Do you know a Muslim I can invite to speak at our program?” But rarely am I asked, “Why should we be doing interfaith education at all?” A rabbinic colleague of mine put it to me this way: “I just can’t articulate why interfaith is important to focus on,” he said. “Other than making sure we can all just get along, why does this matter?” he asked. Let’s be honest: most of us know precious little about our own religious traditions, so why should we spend our valuable time learning about other faiths?
When Interfaith Activists Face Violence
Ansari, known as Willy, one of our Muslim members being trained in peacebuilding in the Tala community of Caloocan City in Metro Manila, was shot dead while playing pool by the roadside one day. Fear struck the hearts of everyone, and we did not know how to carry on. ‘Something bigger’ than our selves prevailed. This is my story.
Interfaith Relations: Do the Math!
Albert and Tony were best friends who grew up in each other’s homes. Albert’s Jewish mother sent him off to school each day with the question, “Albert, do you have your books?” Tony’s Italian mother sent him off to school each morning with the query, “Tony, do you have your lunch?”
One Muslim’s Interfaith Resolutions
The following resolutions were framed by Sohaib Saeed as the conclusion to his paper titled, “The Golden Rule – Can We Live by It?” presented at the 10th Festival of Spirituality and Peace in Edinburgh, August 2010. The longer paper demonstrates how deeply and constructively Saeed reaches into both the Golden Rule idea and Islam to come to resolutions from which every one of us can benefit.
Rebranding Interfaith
I had asked a Jewish audience to share a single word to capture their thoughts of my presentation on Muslim-Jewish relations. I had spent the last hour painting a picture of the broken communication between Jews and Muslims over the last 20 years – the public spats, the failed dialogues and the wounded relationships. I devoted the last portion of the session to envisioning a more positive paradigm and cultivating the tools to get us there.
NewGround Interfaith Engagement Model Reaches Egypt
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.
Exploring Religious Identity in Omaha and Beyond
“Wait, you’re a Muslim? But you’re not even brown!”
Emina was setting up a video blog for her interfaith youth service project two years ago. Instead of a tart response to her fellow-student, Emina videotaped her answer, using the opportunity to explain the diversity within Islam and her own identity as a Muslim.
A Review of My Neighbor’s Faith
Seasoned workers in the interfaith vineyard rarely deviate when asked what has been most valuable in their interreligious journey – “It’s the relationships” comes back again and again. My Neighbor’s Faith – Stories of Interreligious Encounter, Growth, and Transformation (Orbis), published this month, takes us into those deep interfaith relationships with 53 religious leaders, teachers, theologians, community leaders, and activists. We’ve heard many of these voices before in their public, academic, or professional roles. In My Neighbor’s Faith, though, we get to hear their personal stories of encountering ‘the other’ and finding their lives transformed.