.sqs-featured-posts-gallery .title-desc-wrapper .view-post

Paul Chaffee

Passing the Baton

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…

The Spirit in the World

The Spirit in the World

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

The original impulse to create TIO nine years ago came from realizing how very much interfaith activity was sprouting up in the world and how very little most people knew about it, local interfaith activists included.

Skillsets for Interfaith Relationships

Skillsets for Interfaith Relationships

What does it take to create and nurture healthy interfaith culture? Good intentions and an open heart are surely necessary.

Being Able to Empower Each Other

Being Able to Empower Each Other

by Paul Chaffee

The digital tools that began raining down back in the eighties have been an enormous boon to religion and multifaith organizations and how we communicate.

Paying Attention to Spirit

Paying Attention to Spirit

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

Hundreds of thousands of pages have been written detailing the history and doctrines of our particular religious traditions, most of them demonstrating how different we are from each other.

A New Day for Interfaith Relations

A New Day for Interfaith Relations

by Paul Chaffee

August 2019 should go down in interfaith annals as a milestone, a month when a quiet, mostly unnoticed development emerged that could exponentially magnify…

Disaster and the Task Ahead

Disaster and the Task Ahead

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

The most important shift in the world of disaster response today relates to our communication capabilities.

Collaborative Interfaith Disaster Response

Collaborative Interfaith Disaster Response

by Paul Chaffee

Starting August 6, 1969, Hurricane Camille whipped across Cuba, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and the East Coast of the United States for eight days with winds up to 174 miles per hour.

For One Organization?

For One Organization?

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

I’ve been asked why TIO would devote an entire issue to one organization – the United Religions Initiative (URI). That’s a fair question.

What Makes URI Unique?

What Makes URI Unique?

by Paul Chaffee

In The Coming United Religions (1998), William Swing wrote “I began a long and inward journey in February 1993. During a 24-hour period in my life, I moved from…

The Journey Beyond Mutually Assured Destruction

The Journey Beyond Mutually Assured Destruction

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) is a military term referring to opposing nations each having nuclear weapons. The argument for maintaining nuclear weapons is…

Getting Involved with the Major Anti-nuclear Players

Getting Involved with the Major Anti-nuclear Players

by Paul Chaffee

Jesus warned about those who have eyes but cannot see. His injunction resonates today when considering the general ignorance of the dangers of nuclear weapons, a risk of even greater consequence than climate change.

Spirituality, Creativity, and Community

Spirituality, Creativity, and Community

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

Drums and flutes are among the oldest tools empowering human beings to explore who we are. We have historical evidence that drums go back at least 7,500 years and probably much earlier.

Good News in a Bad-News Year

Good News in a Bad-News Year

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

Historians looking back at 2018 will have little difficulty describing the mayhem and trauma the world was facing.

Compassion – Interfaith’s Common Ground

Compassion – Interfaith’s Common Ground

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

In preparing each month’s TIO, we typically invite two or three more contributors than we usually publish, on the safe assumption…

A Fifth Directive Added to the Global Ethic

A Fifth Directive Added to the Global Ethic

A TIO Report

Towards a Global Ethic – An Initial Declaration is a cornerstone of the modern interfaith movement. The text was drafted by German theologian Hans Küng at the request of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Climate - To Do or Die

Climate - To Do or Die

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

A strong case can be made that humankind is approaching a tipping point, a time and place where we fall off the edge of the cliff, victims of our own greed and need to exploit a weary, wounded, and depleted Earth.

Pacific School of Religion’s Unlikely Adventure

Pacific School of Religion’s Unlikely Adventure

by Paul Chaffee

Nowhere is the diminishing influence of liberal Protestantism in the US more dramatic than in the decline of its seminaries. Mounting debt, smaller student bodies, and ever-increasing costs have left dozens of institutions struggling to survive.

Toronto, Interfaith, and the State of the World

Toronto, Interfaith, and the State of the World

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

Nineteen years ago … but I remember it vividly. Stepping onto a crowded hotel elevator, I encountered interfaith luminary Huston Smith and a group of American Indian leaders in their full tribal vestments

Taking Advantage of the Digital World

Taking Advantage of the Digital World

by Paul Chaffee, Editor

The digital world has become so enmeshed into our daily lives that it’s difficult to isolate and define it, much less critique it.