by Marium Mohiuddin
“You have to come and help me right now!” he said. All I could think was “it’s 4 a.m., and there’s no way I can sneak out.” My parents would kill me. Despite being a senior in college...
by Sparrow Etter Carlson
I write this now with my hand on my heart, and here it will remain. For what follows is about the precious people within our midst who are treated as ex-humans in our society and...
by Mohammed Jibriel
I recently learned about the concept of moral injury, which describes the profound psychological, behavioral, social, and spiritual distress that...
by Zack Ritter
“All 40,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza are terrorists,” she said as we were eating cookies, standing around the flickering flames at Shabbat services. I was...
by Vicki Garlock
Thanks to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the world now possesses “only” about 14,500 nuclear weapons, down from over 70,000 weapons, the estimated peak in the mid-1980’s.
by Vicki Garlock
Compassion has become quite the buzzword of late. The Dalai Lama talks about compassion, of course. That’s to be expected. But when TV stars, musicians, authors, scientists, and even politicians…
by Vicki Garlock
Ever wondered if the Bible teaches care for God’s creation? Betsy LaVela and her GreenFaith Kids curriculum offer a resounding, convincing “Yes!”
by Vicki Garlock
For the first time ever, the Parliament, in conjunction with Spiritual Playdate, is offering a kids’ program! The theme for the first-ever family festival in Toronto this November is “Plant an Interfaith Garden.”
by Vicki Garlock
Everyone loves stories, and most of us are familiar with the idea of Bible storybooks as a point of entry for kids being raised in the Judeo-Christian traditions.
by Vicki Garlock
The interfaith movement is all about bringing people together. Most of the time we focus on adults, and social justice issues. Don’t get me wrong. I fully support any and all interfaith efforts. But we need to do more, and we need to do it better.
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 Vicki Garlock
Toward a Global Ethic – An Initial Declaration put forth by the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 1993 provides important guidelines for achieving a sustainable and just world. But if we hold any hope of transforming those principles into reality, we absolutely have to start with kids
by Paul Chaffee
Interfaith Made Easy may initially inspire caustic remarks like “then it can’t be much about interfaith.” A closer look by either novice or seasoned interfaith activists is likely to inspire awe and appreciation.
by Vicki Garlock
There are plenty of kids’ books out there for most of these holidays, but as the number of interfaith and multicultural families rises, so does the need for books that explore multiple traditions.
by Susan Katz Miller
This time of year, many interfaith families are preparing to feast on latkes, light Hanukkah candles at the Thanksgiving table, and then move on to making Christmas cookies. But beyond holiday celebrations, is it a good idea to raise kids in two religions?
by Vicki Garlock
Interfaith engagement serves as a near-constant reminder that the central teachings of the world’s belief systems are more similar than different. This is especially true when working with kids. For centuries, adults have taught important life lessons through stories, handed down from generation to generation.
by Vicki Garlock
Kids love to explore. And a quick look at any summer camp guide will support that claim. Last summer, kids in our area could attend Camp Explorer, Camp Eco-Explorer, Camp Adventure, Camp Discovery, Camp Run Wild, Camp Invention, or Nature Adventures, to name just a few!
by Vicki Garlock
Once creation, in all its splendor, has been spoken, dreamed, resurrected, danced, and cracked open into existence, we can turn out attention toward creation care. Since all the major faith traditions emergbed when people lived in harmony with the land, stories highlighting our connection with nature are readily found in the sacred texts and narratives of the world’s religions.
by Vicki Garlock
While numerous creation stories center on how the entire world came to be, others focus on particular aspects of creation. Many stories center on celestial features. How did we get night and day? Why are there clouds? Why is the appearance of the moon constantly changing? Why does the sun appear to move across the heavens?
by Vicki Garlock
I often tell people that I have the easiest interfaith job in the world because I work with kids. It’s easy to assume that kids are too young to wonder about life’s “big questions,” but my experience suggests the opposite. Kids frequently have lots of thoughts about how the world came to be, about the nature of the Divine, and about how one might begin to understand and connect with the Great Mystery.
by Vicki Garlock
The oldest, most common myth in human history is the creation story. These tales – hundreds of them from around the world, help transmit cosmological truths from generation to generation, regardless of whether they are taken literally or symbolically.
by Vicki Garlock
The recent celebration of Purim – one of the most entertaining holy days in Jewish culture – provides an opportunity to reflect on the ever-present, but somewhat elusive nature of the divine feminine. Queen Esther, the heroine of Purim, is never described in terms of divinity, but her role in the miraculous deliverance of her people...
by Vicki Garlock
Empowerment comes in a dizzying array of forms. It might involve building a water well, playing in a rock band, practicing martial arts, or owning a scooter. But what happens when one person’s empowerment triggers another’s moral outrage?
by Vicki Garlock
Some decades ago a friend of mine, a college senior way back then, was attending a conference at a large, distinguished university of “pre-faculty” students, collegians who hoped to pursue a higher-education vocation in the next few years. The three-day gathering culminated in a large banquet, some final comments on the benefits of professordom from several university presidents, and a question & answer session.
