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October 2023, LGBTQ, Meaning Making
Maij Vu Mai
The Space Between Us

by Maij Vu Mai

What is religious pluralism to the Survivor? To the one who’s lost faith in themselves? Lost faith in other people? Lost faith in humanity? To the one who’s lost faith in their ability to connect because…

The Space Between Us
October 2023
Miranda Hovemeyer
Putting Interfaith Inclusivity to the Test

by Miranda Hovemeyer

I’ll be honest. I haven’t felt at home in the field of interfaith work for quite a while. During one of the last interfaith conferences I spoke at, I was asked by an older white gentleman why I was there, then insisting…

Putting Interfaith Inclusivity to the Test
Arts, October 2023
Sable Manson
Interfaith Retreat-in-a-Box

by Sable Manson

n the spring of 2020, I was working with my higher education colleagues to prepare for an interfaith retreat set on Catalina Island, off the coast of southern California. We had planned numerous…

Interfaith Retreat-in-a-Box
October 2023, Emerging Interfaith Culture, Interfaith Relationships
Najeeba Syeed
Multi-Faith Relations in Rural Settings

by Najeeba Syeed

I’ve written about “casserole” hospitality, an ethic of care demonstrated in America’s Heartland found in communities of various traditions who welcome…

Multi-Faith Relations in Rural Settings
October 2023
Anum Mulla
Compassion as Strength: Reclaiming Religious ...

by Anum Mulla

When we talk about compassion, which by definition is found in aspiring to alleviate another’s suffering, it is far too often viewed as a path that only implores people to be kind. Some societies are…

Compassion as Strength: Reclaiming Religious Pluralism

American Muslims

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Forging Community Through Fasting

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Forging Community Through Fasting

by Vicki Garlock

Increasingly, both Muslims and non-Muslims are using Ramadan as a chance to forge friendships across religious boundaries. Since iftar is a community meal anyway, it provides a ready-made way to change negative stereotypes about Islam and the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims.

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Obama’s Interfaith Vision and the Restlessness of Our Wretched Refuse

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Many people are very discouraged by the current climate of anti-Muslim and anti-“other” rhetoric that so fills the airwaves. However, the larger reality is that we are progressing as a nation towards a more positive appropriation of our rich religious diversity. It comes with fits and starts, albeit. But don’t be fooled to think otherwise. It is the way human social progress works.

Dangers of Legitimizing Bigotry

The origin of the word bigot dates as far back as 1598 and had a sense of “religious hypocrite.” While the story may be fictional, Wikipedia says “the Normans were first called bigots, when their Duke Rollo, who when receiving Gisla, daughter of King Charles, in marriage, and with her the investiture of the dukedom, refused to kiss the king’s foot in token of subjection – unless the king would hold it out for that specific purpose.

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A Muslim Initiative Addresses Radicalization of Young People

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Moderate Muslims and interfaith activists are regularly, persistently asked the question: Why don’t your leaders step forward and protest the advancing threat of Islamic extremism? Especially in light of troubling headlines from Iraq and Syria in recent weeks?

In fact, American Muslims have established dedicated websites brimming with articles and YouTube segments by prominent Muslims leaders, citing the Quran and full of harsh condemnation against religious extremism – websites mostly unknown to the greater public. Heretics have “high-jacked” their religion and caused Muslims in America and the world to be targets of Islamophobia, and they are raising their voices. Only recently have major media started to pay attention.