“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...
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...
“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...
It is the first thread in our tapestry of connections. In August 2018, both of us—eager for a safe space to discuss how multifaith communities can cultivate...
With this issue, we welcome the Graduate Theological Union community to The Interfaith Observer. This edition brings together the richness of the GTU with its strong commitment to education in a diverse ecumenical and interfaith context that has developed over 50 years, with the electronic journal that has emerged more recently covering the many dimensions of the interfaith encounter. With more than 300 contributors to date, TIO offers thoughtful reflection, news of local, regional, and global interfaith events, and articles on the personalities, organizations, and key events that have made up the history the interfaith movement.
It all began for me in the early 1990s with a simple posting on an e-mail group list – a list of holy days during the coming month observed by different religious groups from Adventists to Zoroastrians. That monthly listing brought together two great interests of mine, interreligious dialogue and the emerging power of electronic communication.
The proliferation of ‘interfaith resources’ is an embarrassment of riches. Googling the matter draws more than 5 million items in under half a second. And most at the top of the list are sectarian products – that is, interfaith resources created by this, that, or the other faith tradition – even when it is not obvious. So how do you find the best resources available?
Who was not stunned by the recent events in Norway, as news of the bombing in Oslo and the subsequent massacre of some 69 young people at a camp on an island nearby broke on the world? As details followed, it appeared that the man responsible for the attacks believed he was fighting for a "Christian Europe" against Islam, Marxism, and multiculturalism.