by Sofia Sayabalian
Having the opportunity to visit Reykjavík, Iceland was a special one. I always thought of Iceland as an isolated place–far, freezing, and frosted with whispers…
by Frank DiGirolamo
“Wow! … You just listened to my whole anthem.” It was late at night, years ago, on North Broadway in Capitol Hill. “Miguel” had just recited his life story to me for a good 20 minutes…
by Camila Torres
When I was a child, I was terrified of the dark. I hated going to sleep, because, once the lights turned off, the sheer possibility of encountering a monster kept me awake…
by Amina Malkin
When talking about religion, my father will sometimes talk about “the chosen people,” a title that Jewish people have historically adopted as a way to reference being descended from…
by Adrian Bird
Interfaith Partners of South Carolina (IPSC) was one of 57 recipients of the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award for 2018. At the award ceremony in Washington D.C., Director Christopher Wary stated:
by Syed M. Hassan
Since its founding more than 25 years ago, Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA) has made a concerted effort to develop productive relationships with other faith-based groups and non-governmental organizations.
by Cody Nielsen
Last month, I sat alone in the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center at Pennsylvania State College. I sat and cried for all the senseless acts of violence against Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities across the nation and world…
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
On Sunday, September 10, 2006, a day before the fifth-and-still-painful anniversary of 9/11, a group of some 75 angry demonstrators showed up – with a city permit – outside the King Fahad Mosque of Culver City…
by Yonatan Neril
The Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison tells the following story: A young girl with a bird in her hands went to a wise person. The child asked the wise person, “Is the bird in my hands alive or dead?”
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.
by Victor Kazanjian
Imagine watching the news or viewing your Facebook feed each day and seeing thousands of positive stories of people from different religions, spiritual practices, and indigenous traditions working together…
by Sally Mahé
At the birth of the United Religious Initiative (URI) 20 years ago, Appreciative Inquiry (AI), a transformational philosophy and methodology for positive change, served as midwife.
by Azza Karam
URI envisions a world at peace, sustained by engaged and interconnected communities committed to respect for diversity, nonviolent resolution of conflict, and social, political, economic, and environmental justice.
by Nicholas Porter and Jack Karn
Across the world millions of Christians, Jews, and Muslims pray for the peace of Jerusalem each night. It is an ancient prayer with modern aspirations…
by Abraham Karickam
Those of us in South Asia came to know about the birthing of a new international interfaith organization destined to change the world during the voyage of Bishop William Swing around the world in 1996.
from URI CC’s
Becoming a URI Cooperation Circle (CC) entails being a group of at least seven people, representing at least three religious traditions, and committed to a Charter whose purpose is…
by URI Members
The United Religions Initiative enjoys a kind of latitude and scope that invites the whole world in, but does so while honoring each of us and where we come from. That approach makes it a very personal
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…
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…
by Kehkashan Basu
Kutupalong – a beautiful, lyrical name. It could possibly describe a flower, a river, or an exotic bird. In fact, it is none of these three. Its claim to fame or rather infamy comes from the fact that it is the world’s largest refugee camp.
by William Swing
What do the following tragedies have in common? 1 - The Columbine High School shooting of April 1999. 2 - The Virginia Tech mass killings of April 2007. 3 - The Boston Marathon bombing of April 2013. 4 - The Jewish Community Center murders of April 2014?
Religion News Service Press Release
On October 16, Faith Communities Concerned about Nuclear Weapons, a group of diverse faith-based organizations and individuals committed to a nuclear-weapon-free world
by Jonathan Granoff
The destructive capacity of nuclear weapons is beyond imagination, poisoning the Earth forever. These horrific devices place before us every day the decision whether we will be the last human generation.
by Michael Ramos
The Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, who passed away fifty years ago last year, is remembered largely for his prolific spiritual writing from the cloistered monastery. Yet his writing on nuclear weapons and peace still…
