A Sixteen-Year-Old Points the Way
Hate Comes to Manchester, Tennessee
A Salute to America
On Atheists and Theists Together at the Interfaith Table
As an interfaith activist, I’ve worked to bring an end to religious division. In recent years, this has increasingly meant speaking out against the rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence sweeping America.
The Beloved Community in the Face of Violence
This story was originally posted in Huff Post Religion on July 7, 2012, following the tragic violence at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin. Entering 2013, Susan Baller-Shephard’s story about the Sikh community continues to resonate and offer lessons for us all. Ed.
Looking Back – Interfaith 2012
If you’re an interfaith activist, you may have noticed how the movement is growing exponentially, how our dreams to reach around the world in one giant interfaith embrace are slowly, surely coming true. Globally there is good news (and bad, I’m afraid) coming from all directions.
Jihad on the D Train
I’d like to say it’s been a quiet week in my hometown, as Garrison Keillor recites at the beginning of his monologues on public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion. But I’m never able to say that, because I’m not from Lake Wobegon. I’m a New Yorker by birth and by attitude, though not by residence over the past nearly three decades.
Interfaith Misunderstanding in America
There was a U.S. senator’s wild allegation about Islamic extremists infiltrating the American government.
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.
Where the Anti-Muslim Path Leads
“If I were Muslim, I’d kill myself.”
No, that’s not what was said. It was: “If I looked like him, I’d kill myself.”
The speaker was my favorite uncle, commenting on an overweight man, across a hotel pool. Considering how much self-talk I had engaged in to convince myself to be seen in a swimsuit, visiting my California relatives, I absorbed this pronouncement in shame and silence, trying desperately to hold onto shreds of self-worth.
Telling Stories of Muslims and Christians in Syria
Twelve years ago, I travelled to a monastery in the Syrian desert, where I met an Italian priest by the name of Father Paolo Dall'Oglio. For 20 years, he had been living in rural Syria, serving as the abbot of the ancient monastery of Deir Mar Musa. There, he led a community of Arabic-speaking monks and nuns dedicated to prayer, hospitality, manual work and dialogue with Muslims. As I settled in I was astonished to notice Muslims visiting all day, admiring the church frescoes, joining the local Syrian Christians for lunch, even excusing themselves so that they could perform their prayers in a quiet corner [Father Paolo Dall’Oglio] of the monastery grounds. I had never seen love between Muslims and Christians embodied so effortlessly, a communion of human beings sharing daily life.
From hatred to healing
Who was not stunned by the recent events in Norway, as news of the bombing in Oslo and the subsequent massacre of some 69 young people at a camp on an island nearby broke on the world? As details followed, it appeared that the man responsible for the attacks believed he was fighting for a "Christian Europe" against Islam, Marxism, and multiculturalism.