by Paul Chaffee
The most important thing to know about Reimagining Interfaith (RI), the upcoming conference in Washington DC (July 28-August 1), is how collaborative it is.
Opening the Door to Collaboration
Reimagining Interfaith Narratives
by Aaron Stauffer
Good organizers consistently emphasize the importance of leaders “understanding” and “working” on their stories. When they are first getting to know a leader, they ask questions like: What keeps you up at night?
Reimagining the "White Man's Burden"
by Maha Elgenaidi
After decades of leading a national nonprofit that counters bigotry through education, I am now firmly convinced that we need new partners to overcome racism, Islamophobia, and exclusivist thinking in our nation.
From the Shared Love of Justice and Humanity
by Kathleen A. Green
Three years ago, I shared my idea for a doctorate of ministry dissertation – bringing humanists and religious adherents together in interfaith engagement – and received some blank stares, a few shaking heads, and even a couple of flat out discouraging declarations such as “What’s the point?
Pagans in an Interfaith/Intrafaith World
by Jason Pitzl-Waters
For modern Paganism as a movement to effectively interface with the rest of the world’s religions, we have to be conscious of how we are progressing with Pagan ecumenical and intrafaith initiatives.
Welcoming Marginalized Traditions
by Hans Gustafson
Marginalized traditions, including contemporary Paganisms and Earth-based traditions, are beginning to be welcomed to the table of interreligious engagement in pockets around the U.S. However, the rest of us can still be more welcoming.
Trumpers: The Interfaith Movement’s Greatest Test
by Kevin Singer
In the 2018 Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country, a controversial guru from India and his followers attempt to build a utopian society in Wasco County, Oregon.
Who Isn't at the Table?
by Paul Chaffee, Editor
“Who isn’t at the table yet, who isn’t here?” P. Gerard O’Rourke’s voice, a gruff and gentle Irish brogue, asked the question each month at the start of interfaith board meetings.
‘The Fierce Urgency of Now’
by Bud Heckman
A question for you: Why isn’t the movement for interfaith cooperation seen and taken as seriously and central in our societies as are other movements for social justice and the common good, such as race, gender, abilities, the environment, and so on?
Missing Voices
by Marcus Braybrooke
After the inauguration of the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development in Vienna last month, I visited the Mauthausen Concentration Camp.
Religion’s Response to Refugees
by Anashwara Ashok
Many factors affect the decisions being taken on the fate of refugees, but one factor is often overlooked: the historical relationship between religion and refugees.
Hearing the Interfaith Voices Least Often Heard
by Don Frew
I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone in a group say “We even have a Witch” and point to me to emphasize how inclusive they are. So, in terms of diversity, I occupy a place at one extreme end of the interfaith spectrum.
Enlarging the Interfaith Tent
by Hans Gustafson
Despite an ever-widening door to the growing tent of interreligious engagement, there remains work to do. Interreligious studies in the academy, as well as the interfaith movement in the wider community, have blossomed in the West over the last few decades.
Finding Faith, Then Interfaith
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
Her lineage offers no clues. Martha Alice Perkins was born in La Fayette, Indiana in 1947, the daughter of a state policeman and devoted church-going Methodist mother, as well as the granddaughter of a member of the local Ku Klux Klan.
A Visit to the Yánesha, Indigenous Peoples of Central Peru
by Lyla June Johnston
The sky was black and beautiful. The stars shone above like glistening guardians of the night. Guided only by fire light, we scaled the Amazonian hillside.
SabangMerauke – Setting the Interfaith Table in Indonesia
by Vicki Garlock
SabangMerauke, a non-profit organization in Indonesia, offers a loving, yet straightforward antidote to the fear that sometimes finds its way into human hearts and minds. Their message? Get to know one another!
California Interfaith Connections Growing
by Stephen Albert
Certain things in life are no-brainers. In Jim Croce’s 1972 song “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim,” he told us: “You don't tug on superman's cape, You don't spit into the wind, You don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger, And you don't mess around with Jim.”
The Man Behind The Way: Lao Tzu & Daoist Spirituality
by Stephen Hill
Little is truly known about the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, the guiding figure in Daoism (also translated as Taoism), which is still a popular spiritual practice.
Review: The Life of Yogananda by Philip Goldberg
by Paul Chaffee
The religions of India – Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism – are less familiar and stranger to most Americans than the Abrahamic religions, which have dominated America since Columbus.
Setting the Interfaith Agenda
by Paul Chaffee
For all the Global Ethic has and has not achieved, much discussed in this issue of TIO, the document set the agenda for the interfaith movement that has blossomed around the world in the quarter-century since it was published.