The Parliament of the World’s Religions in Salt Lake City provided a marvelous opportunity for us at the Graduate Theological Union. Founded more than 50 years ago by Protestant and Catholic seminaries, the GTU has now become intentionally interreligious, growing far beyond its Christian roots to include the study of Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Chinese religions. As the nation’s largest and most wide-ranging center for the academic study of religion, we have scholars who run the gamut from the study of ancient texts and cultures to new religious movements of our day.
Religious Freedom Fights Poverty and Counters Extremism
Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF), argues that freedom of belief is one of three factors significantly associated with global economic growth, according to a study by researchers at Georgetown University and Brigham Young University.
What We Need to Know about Religious Freedom: An Overview
Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.
Interfaith Skill-sets: Communicate, Connect, and Work Together
Nothing challenges the planners of massive interfaith gatherings so much as selecting proposed workshops for a schedule that lasts but a few days. The planners of the Salt Lake City Parliament of the World’s Religions received more than 2,000 workshop proposals hoping to shoehorn their way into the October 15-19 schedule.
My Five Days at the Parliament of the World’s Religions
The Parliament of the World’s Religions was held on October 15-19, 2015 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Roughly 10,000 people attended this year’s event, representing hundreds of nations and more than 50 faith traditions. Attendees included academics engaged in roundtable discussions of peace, disarmament, conflict resolution and climate change; leaders of various faith communities (Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Neopagan, indigenous, interspiritual, and more) committed to spreading peace and compassion in the world; as well as spiritual seekers and activists dedicated to healing their own communities from within and using interfaith dialogue to bridge some of those divides.
What Does Religious Freedom Really Mean?
Whenever I hear some of my fellow Christians talk about “religious freedom,” I think of that line from “The Princess Bride”: “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.”
What Losing Your Religious Freedom Actually Looks Like
A district court in Ethiopia has charged six members of an Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) with inciting public disturbance, destroying public trust in government officials and spreading hatred after it surfaced in the media that official complaints were made to the government about increasing persecution of Christians in a Muslim-dominated area in the south of the country.
Five Reasons that ‘Interfaith’ Is Not a Movement (Yet)
Without much general public notice, we have just passed the 50-year mark since the Second Vatican Council issued Nostra Aetate, forever changing the way religions and people of faith see and constructively interact with one another. Nostra Aetate continues to have a ripple effect, inspiring people and organizations to become intentional and strategic about advancing relations between faiths.
Apocalyptic Prophecy: Revelation & the Rapture – 2
Funding TIO’s Fifth Year
The Jewish Command to Pursue Justice is the Jewish Obligation to Act on Climate Change
My Jewish values tell me that I must pursue justice, of course, but they also tell me so much more. In Deuteronomy 16:18 we read “Justice, justice, you shall pursue.” As a Jew, I am not only commanded to fight for justice, but for “justice, justice.” Jews are given a double commandment – an un-stuttering repetition in our text that tells us that justice alone is not enough.
Attending the Parliament of the World’s Religions for the First Time
The Parliament of the World’s Religions held last month in Salt Lake City, Utah, was among the most inspiring experiences of my life. From the first day forward I was in awe. Never had I seen so many people passionate about both interfaith and their own faith gathered in one place. The inherent sense of community present among this group of more than 10,000, most of them strangers to one another, was amazing. Over and over I fell into conversation with people I happened to be standing next to – conversations that could last for thirty minutes!
Highway to Paris
As we move towards the 21st session of the Conference of Parties (COP 21) in Paris, there are still a few people living in denial about climate change. The good news is that increasing numbers of people are now acknowledging climate change. But the bad news is that this increase is proportional to the climate-change impacts we are facing, and nature will continue to act.
How a Year with Trappist Monks Led Me to The Citizens’ Climate Lobby
I’m a Mennonite Christian with strong Unitarian Universalist leanings. I was raised Presbyterian and discovered Mennonites in an unusual setting, preparing the way for my involvement in interfaith environmental advocacy.
To Be Your Khalifa
They say many people have a calling in life. Well, I knew from a very young age that my calling was to protect the ocean.
GIWA – The Global Interfaith WASH Alliance
An ambitious Hindu inspired venture aspires to global impact through an interfaith alliance centered on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
Can Things Get Better for Us All?
by Paul Chaffee
Trying to understand the scope of the word ‘interfaith’ is a never-ending exercise these days. Religion itself, in a remarkable turn-around, is taking center stage in the mainline media day after day.
A Conversation in Bangladesh about Religion and Women’s Roles
Secular and religious perspectives on gender roles and the meaning of women’s rights vary in different societies and can be a focus of considerable tension. Development practitioners often argue that women’s equal rights, including girls’ access to education, employment, and health care, are so fundamental that they amount to a litmus test of serious commitment to social progress. But lingering doubts are often framed in religious arguments.
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.
Exploring Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University
The attacks on September 11, 2001. Religious conflict in Northern Ireland. Protests over cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.