The Global Public Square

August 27, 2013 By David Dashifen Kees

The Global Public Square: Religious Freedom and the Making of a World Safe for Diversity is a book that starts and ends on high notes, but there are some dissonant chords in the middle. The book deals with what the author, Os Guinness, terms soul freedom which is often expanded throughout the book as the freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief, as well as a social framework for a civil public square that he states will protect this freedom and help society realize it fully. Read more

What I Meant to Say Was…I’m Not Interested

August 22, 2013 By Byron Ballard

I know, I know. This is going to sound harsh. But after two decades of hoeing a tough row in the interfaith fields, I have finally gotten to a place where I can follow Nancy Reagan's advice and Just Say No. Read more

On Common Ground is Powerful New Resource

August 21, 2013 By Holli Emore

The Pluralism Project of Harvard University has released On Common Ground, a comprehensive online resource, this permutation replacing the former published book versions. Here you will find a world of information on religions, the religious landscape of America, essays on interfaith topics. Read more

Evangelism?

August 14, 2013 By Drea Parker

Are you still here? Did those few black letters, put together to form a word with which society associates so much meaning, make you shiver at the mere sight and want to close the page? I know how you feel. Read more

Them and Us Part III: Common Ground

August 7, 2013 By Holli Emore

There’s nothing wrong with being different, or disagreeing, but the rut becomes a sinkhole when we forget how to stand on common ground with others. Read more

Iftar

August 7, 2013 By Sunweaver

This was Southern hospitality at its best. Or, at least, this is what Southern hospitality should look like. Read more

One Year Later

August 6, 2013 By David Dashifen Kees

One year ago, a gunman opened fire in a Sikh gurdwara killing six worshipers and then himself. Shortly thereafter, a group of people in the greater Boston area met at Trinity Church in Boston to stand together in solidarity with those who suffered this violence. Read more

Oak Creek Anniversary

July 31, 2013 By Holli Emore

Monday is the one-year anniversary of the shooting at the Oak Creek Sikh gurdwara in Wisconsin. I was contacted for comment this morning by a reporter from our local news station. Valarie Kaur, a Sikh activist and founder of Groundswell, notes that a full year later, everyone knows about Aurora and other tragedies, but most never understood what happened at Oak Creek and have already forgotten. The anniversary is a good reminder to those of us in another misunderstood minority religion of the importance of interfaith relations. Read more

Who’s TRULY Being Compassionate?

July 30, 2013 By Drea Parker

Who’s TRULY being compassionate? As a pagan, I am sometimes surprised when I hear a generic Christian admonish an evangelical faith group for their ‘so-called’ acts of compassion. It makes me ask myself: to what extent can we as a human race call ourselves compassionate? The truest forms of compassion can be defined through too many variables, words, interpretations, and means of thought processes. What compassion is to one person, another person will undoubtedly have a completely different understanding. Who’s... Read more

The Solace of Holy Stone

July 25, 2013 By Byron Ballard

I am on pilgrimage for a couple of weeks. I have also called it "field research." And sometimes "visiting friends." I am in Britain to teach a workshop at the Glastonbury Goddess Conference and am using some time ahead of that adventure to see some old standing stones, some old churches, and some old riverbeds. It has me thinking about this element of earth and how we begin to approach it in ways that we deem holy. Read more