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…
Multi-Faith Relations in Rural Settings
Responding to Religiously Motivated Hate Crimes
by Bud Heckman
It has long been said by clever rabbis of lore that our “words make worlds.” That simple idea can be taken many ways and be to our detriment and to our benefit.
Obama’s Interfaith Vision and the Restlessness of Our Wretched Refuse
Many people are very discouraged by the current climate of anti-Muslim and anti-“other” rhetoric that so fills the airwaves. However, the larger reality is that we are progressing as a nation towards a more positive appropriation of our rich religious diversity. It comes with fits and starts, albeit. But don’t be fooled to think otherwise. It is the way human social progress works.
On Raising Hindu Americans in Detroit, Michigan
As a first generation American who grew up in India, it seems counter-intuitive, at first, to be writing about growing up Hindu in America. Reflecting on my experience as a parent raising two Hindu American teens, though, a 19-year old and a 13-year old, I feel emboldened to put ‘pen to paper’ and share my thoughts.
Navigating Life as Second-Generation Americans
I’m the daughter of second-generation Americans (SGAs). My four grandparents immigrated to the United States in the early twentieth century to escape desperate economic conditions and the grinding anti-Semitism they faced as Jews in Eastern Europe. Each settled in the Midwest United States and eventually in Omaha, Nebraska, where there was and remains a small but vibrant Jewish community.
Will We Become a Nation of Hybrids?
My traveling companions on the train from Rome to Milan were two extremely good-looking young couples in their late 20s and early 30s – two sisters and their husbands – on their way back home to New Jersey after a ten-day impulsive Italian vacation. They had stumbled on a travel deal too good to pass up: round trip tickets on the Emirates Airlines from New York to Milan for $480.
World Religions in America: The Second Generation
She looked the part of a fine arts major, with the gold spangle in her nostril, the streak of purple in her jet-black hair, and her bespoke clothing. Her diminutive form and high voice gave no hint of the feisty energy that would pour forth whenever she spoke up in the weekly meetings of the Student Interfaith Council at the University of Southern California. Born to Pakistani immigrant parents, she didn’t fit anybody’s stereotype of a Muslim woman.
Foundations Working Together for Interreligious Cooperation
A Catholic, a Muslim, and a Jew were sitting together in a meeting. Sounds like the start to a religious joke, right? Or, perhaps, it would be an ordinary interfaith dialogue. Either would be a fair guess, but this time it is actually the start to an interesting development – the recent gathering of representatives from among the many different foundations interested in interreligious cooperation.