These lyrics from an old time romantic favorite, “You Mean the World to Me,” express the joy experienced in the interfaith movement. Starting as the movement did: acknowledging people from different religions with curiosity and respect, being fascinated by different practices and customs, meeting, speaking, listening, and learning together, the interfaith movement grew.
The Joys of Interfaith in Hard Times
As we take stock of 2014, it can be difficult locating the joys of interfaith peacebuilding. The state of interreligious relations and social justice work in the U.S. is at a crucial turning point. It seems that our social fabric is increasingly being cut away by decaying trust in democratic social and civic institutions. It is up to leaders of faith and good will to take the helm, proclaim a way forward together and provide for alternative visions of life together in the U.S.
Laurie Zoloth Calls American Academy of Religion to Account
In an impassioned, eloquent plea in San Diego last month, Laurie Zoloth, newly appointed 2014 president of the Academy of American Religion (AAR), called for a conscious “interruption” in our lives to take into account the dire climate crisis and to make substantial changes in our daily behavior.
Rising Above Borders
It was with much excitement over the prospect of being able to see a new country, albeit from afar, that I visited the Indo-Pak Wagah Border in Lahore.
Generations of Religious Leadership Sit Down Together
A simple discussion several years ago about how to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Interreligious Council of Southern California‘s (IRC) led to exploring the importance of fostering stronger relationships and bridging the gap between the older and rising generations of faith-inspired leaders. It turned out these members of the IRC and the Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) at the University of Southern California had touched on a growing concern.
Join Your Name to the Global Climate Movement
On the evening of Sunday December 7, faith communities around the world staged vigils, calling for climate action. These vigils were organized through the Our Voices campaign, a global multi-faith campaign expressing the moral imperative behind climate change, of which Religions for Peace USA is a continental partner.
Changing the Face of Our Nations
“The camp was a life-changing experience for me. It was the most fun I’ve ever had. It was the most eye-opening experience I’ve ever had. And I made some of the best friends I will ever have.”
– Tamar, American 14-year-old
On Being a Muslim Parent
Last year, as I was unpacking my son’s school backpack, I found the children’s book on the Prophet Muhammad that my wife and I read to him at night. He had brought it to school without telling us. “It was for show and tell,” he explained to me.
Getting to Know You While We’re in Turkey
What happens when a Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew walk down the street together? The beginning of a bad joke, right? Wrong. The Muslim was Plemon el-Amin, imam of the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam. The Christian was James Lampkin, senior pastor of Atlanta’s Northside Drive Baptist Church. And the Jew was Sherry Frank, executive director of the Atlanta Chapter of the American Jewish Committee. The street was Yerebatan Caddesi in the old city of Istanbul. The year was 2002. This walk marked the beginning of a remarkable experiment in interfaith community-building by a city nearly 6,000 miles away.
The Joy of Interfaith Friendship
by Marcus Braybrooke
Friendship is becoming a subject of theological discussion, although the actual experience of friendship – or fellowship, which was the chosen term of Francis Younghusband…
Finding Light in the Midst of “Devil-worshippers”
As we’ve watched horrific reports of the “Islamic State” terrorist organization this year, most Americans have heard about a religious/ethnic group called the Yezidis1 for the first time. However, the stories of Yezidi refugee families being displaced and attacked by ISIS fighters leave out an important fact: across the Near East, Yezidis are known as “Devil-worshippers.” Perhaps editors assumed this would be too difficult to explain to American audiences.
On Raising Hindu Americans in Detroit, Michigan
As a first generation American who grew up in India, it seems counter-intuitive, at first, to be writing about growing up Hindu in America. Reflecting on my experience as a parent raising two Hindu American teens, though, a 19-year old and a 13-year old, I feel emboldened to put ‘pen to paper’ and share my thoughts.
Navigating Life as Second-Generation Americans
I’m the daughter of second-generation Americans (SGAs). My four grandparents immigrated to the United States in the early twentieth century to escape desperate economic conditions and the grinding anti-Semitism they faced as Jews in Eastern Europe. Each settled in the Midwest United States and eventually in Omaha, Nebraska, where there was and remains a small but vibrant Jewish community.
Why Are We Buddhists? Korean-American Perspectives
Scholars of American Buddhism generally categorize Buddhism in America into two groups: “Asian immigrant Buddhism” and “American convert Buddhism.” The former refers to the Buddhism that immigrants from Asian nations brought with them and continue to practice in the new land, whereas the latter indicates Buddhism practiced by westerners.
Mastering Dual Identity
In Changing Faith: The Dynamics and Consequences of Americans’ Shifting Religious Identities (2014), Darren Sherkat writes the following:
Immigrant religion is not merely a sideline. “Real America” is not western European sectarian Protestantism. Real America is defined, produced, and reproduced by waves of diverse immigrant groups assimilating into or accommodating with a dominant Anglo-dominated culture.
Why Hindu Americans Should Care about Advocacy
About seven years ago, I found myself in the rather awkward situation of having to describe advocacy to my Hindu friends. I had just left a consulting job to join the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) as a fulltime staff member. Speaking with Jewish or Christian friends was easy: they generally nodded their heads in understanding when I explained that HAF is an advocacy group for the Hindu American community. But the response from most of my Hindu friends was a blank stare. And my attempts to explain the breadth of HAF’s advocacy efforts – from education and curriculum reform to media outreach to human rights – barely did anything to alleviate their confusion.
Religion, Globalization, and Modernity
Modernity equates to a secular view of the world. Religion will slowly wither away. Globalization is a new force in the world, spreading modernity, finally spelling religion’s death-knoll.
Peace in Middle East Will Come Only with Help from All of God’s People, says Yehezkel Landau
PULASKI, Tennessee – There will be peace in Israel and Palestine, Professor Yehezkel Landau – founder of a joint Jewish-Palestinian-Christian peace initiative in Israel – told a small group of Middle Tennessee religious leaders during the first evening of a three-day conference, Our Muslim Neighbor Initiative. But religious leaders must be part of building that peace.
Dharma and the Death of My Father
On April 1,t 2004, my world turned upside down. I was rushed from the middle of a normal day at junior high school and was immediately brought to the hospital bedside of my father, who had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. I remember walking into the four-occupant hospital room. The walls glowed with a melancholy yellow stain. I saw his face, which defined the word defeated. As a Japanese immigrant, raising a family of his own in a new country, I cannot imagine how he felt when he received his diagnosis.
How a Muslim Experienced Agape at Puja
In the tradition of Thanksgiving, I would like to show my appreciation for the unique interfaith environment at Georgetown University. Here is a story of how a devout Muslim learned about the Christian concept of agape by engaging with the Hindu community.