Interfaith Relationships
Getting to Know One Another
by Rob Sellers
As a new university graduate, I was fortunate to spend 11 weeks as a student missionary in the Philippines in the summer of 1967.
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!
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
What would the manifestation of a global ethic look like in everyday life?Is it possible to translate the lofty ideals for humanity imagined by theologians and professors into a flesh and blood reality that people of all beliefs can accept and commit to?
A TIO Interview
Dr. Wilson is director of St Philip’s Centre in Leicester, UK, providing training and consultancy on interfaith issues for a wide range of local and national bodies. For this issue of TIO, dedicated to Towards a Global Ethic – An Initial Declaration, TIO interviewed Tom to learn more about transforming disagreement into trust.
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
It began suddenly in the fall of 2014. There were no early warnings. During my daily walks I started to hear melodies in my head that seemed to erupt, complete with lyrics, like fully-formed children.
by Hans Gustafson
The term “wherewithal” is a curious word, especially given the fluidity with which we use (and abuse) the English language today. The term has been in usage since the 16th century and can now function as a pronoun, noun, conjunction, and perhaps more.
by Vicki Garlock
The changes that occur during adolescence and young adulthood are considerable, and most developmental psychologists acknowledge this important phase in a person’s life. For example, Erik Erikson (Childhood and Society, reissue, 1993), a well-known developmental psychologist in the 20th century, proposed that this developmental period is characterized by Identity vs. Role Confusion
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
In a quest to uncover and promote interfaith engagement around the globe, many roads have led me – unexpectedly – to Morocco, a monarchy ruled by a young king. One of the most liberal Muslim countries in the Middle East, Morocco reflects a unique culture of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, and European influences and simultaneously supports a refreshing integration of ancient traditions with a modern outlook.
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
Tension can be at a rolling boil during interfaith encounters, but Rabbi David Rosen, a modern Orthodox Rabbi, born and educated in England, who lives with his family in Israel, has never been intimidated by the heat.
by Vicki Garlock
Increasingly, both Muslims and non-Muslims are using Ramadan as a chance to forge friendships across religious boundaries. Since iftar is a community meal anyway, it provides a ready-made way to change negative stereotypes about Islam and the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims.
by Bud Heckman
Researchers tell us one of the most important assessments made by young people in sizing up any faith is “authenticity.” They are discerning consumers in a marketplace of ideas. Does this tradition/scripture/institution/leader/group appear authentic? One mark of authenticity is its vitality. Is it “vital” in the sense that it has relevance to the ways of the very diverse world we all now live in? It must pass a sniff test.
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
You can understand the power of one individual to make a difference when you meet 39 year-old Marium Mohuiddin – feisty, independent, and articulate – proud to be a Muslim and not afraid to take on the big issues of our times.
by Bud Heckman
My first memories of interfaith encounters were innocent and rather comical. I grew up in a bubble – an almost exclusively white, Christian, rural/suburban region of Ohio. Everyone that I knew went to church, or so it seemed.
by Henry Ralph Carse
In the shadow of the ancient walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, on a sunny day in April, I am leading a small group of prophets down a pathway into the Kidron Valley, and then up the slopes of the Mount of Olives. I call them “prophets,” but these women and men in their twenties are not in old-fashioned robes or unkempt beards, nor roaring dire warnings about the end of time.
by Ariella Amit
As I was scrolling through my Facebook feed a few years ago, I came across a post encouraging Los Angeles youth to apply for membership on an Interfaith Council. I followed the link to the website reluctantly and began reading about the goals of the council. By the end of my interfaith research, I realized that being a privileged, white Jew living in Los Angeles, I have little exposure to different religions at all.
by Mark Waters
I was touched when, across the language barrier, he asked for a photo with our group. Our McMurry University team was working on a Habitat for Humanity project in India. Our job was to help paint two mostly completed houses. The professional painter – who asked for the photo – was Muslim.
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.
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.
“West’s war with Islam to last 100 years” was the banner headline of a recent Australian newspaper. Admittedly, the text referred to ‘extreme Islam,’ but the headline reinforces a very dangerous over-simplification sadly too often voiced both by Christians and Muslims on the social media.
Making Interfaith Dialogue Work, Small-Scale to Large-Scale
New Lutheran Publication on Interreligion
Review: Muslim, Christian, Jew: The Oneness of God and the Unity of Our Faith by Art Gish
Interfaith Friendship
by Rob Hankinson
I arrived at my first United Church of Canada pastoral charge (Lac La Biche, Alberta) as a freshly minted (ordained and settled) minister on August 1, 1973.
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
There is one particular passage in the Torah, in the tenth chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, that both disturbs and delights me. For centuries it has provoked lively debate and wide-ranging interpretations among our sages and rabbis.
by Elías González
Silence. Young people sitting in a circle. Prayers. “This is how it all began, with a prayer, by the hand of God. Like a dream.” Mexico City, one of the most populated cities on the planet, has historically been a land of encounter among cultures, civilizations, and religions.
by Bud Heckman
Numerous efforts have been made over time to bring people of different walks of faith together and think creatively about the meaning of community and accountability. Yet few visions are as refreshingly bold as what has been happening in Omaha, Nebraska.
by Daniel Bellerose
Bumping down the red dirt roads in East Africa, my wife and I made our weekly voyage to the city of Iringa. Our driver was Eliah, a biologist, birder, and devout…
by Patrick McInerney
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” These opening lines from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities could equally describe our times.
by Dawn Anahid MacKeen
The following is a chapter from MacKeen’s book recounting how she finally meets the descendants of Sheikh Hammud al-Aekleh, whose family welcomed in her grandfather, saving his life. Some members of the family that greeted her in 2007 today are Syrian refugees themselves.
Thanksgiving comes to Jerusalem, and I am beside myself with preparations for the feast. Onions sizzle, garlic roasts, chickens brine, and cranberries boil. The windows steam with contented warmth, and aromas crowd around the doorframes. A pan sizzles with crisping chicken skin, a soup bubbles slowly as vegetables melt into the broth. I am in heaven.
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…
One of the Largest Religious Rituals in the Western World
by Najeeba Syeed
I’ve written about “casserole” hospitality, an ethic of care demonstrated in America’s Heartland found in communities of various traditions who welcome…