by Lidiia Batig
In 2013 the history of Ukraine changed dramatically. Communities had been betrayed by state power, by their own politicians, and even their president.
Seeds of Interfaith Peacebuilding in Ukraine
Building a Shared Israel: One Child, One Family, and one Community at a Time
by Vicki Garlock
Long-term conflicts require long-term solutions. With over 1,750 children in grades preK-12 at six schools across Israel, Hand in Hand is becoming an important player in the Middle Eastern peace process.
Expect Miracles in Ajmer
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
In the heart of the city sits a sprawling central mosque and the burial site, Dargah, of the revered Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishty – responsible for bringing Sufism to this part of the world hundreds of years ago.
Elizabethtown Initiating a Major in Interfaith Leadership
Inspired by a national call from Interfaith Youth Core founder Eboo Patel, Elizabethtown College is the first in the United States to offer a major in interfaith leadership studies (ILS). The major, confirmed by Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core to be the first, is heavily supported by Patel, who has been a member of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships.
Interreligious Perspectives at GTU
As the Graduate Theological Union moves to include representatives of more of the world’s great religious traditions, the framing of issues from an interreligious perspective is already common in the research and writing of students in the masters and doctorate degree programs. Students today, while fixed often in particular religious traditions, also desire to explore how some of the same theological, ethical, historical, and cultural issues are dealt with by other religious traditions and movements. Here are just a few examples of recent master’s level students who engaged in interreligious research and comparative analysis. Miriam Attia’s MA dissertation was entitled “Ethical Concerns in Jewish and Christian Theologies of Suffering” and tackled a subject that tests and challenges all theological and wisdom traditions with the question: “how does one explain the existence of evil in a world influenced or controlled by the Sacred (theodicy)?”
Living the Gandhi Dream in Ahmedabad
The Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, in the west Indian state of Gujarat, was a bold experiment initiated by Mahatma Gandhi to find a way to make the spiritual practical. How does one take spiritual principles, apply them genuinely to everyday life, and then convey those principles to the neediest of children, so that the next generation might grow up with an innate sense of what it means to “love all and serve all.”
From Bozeman, Montana, to the World
American Academy of Religion Opens Door to Interreligious Studies
It all began when I sat next to Prof. Barbara McGraw at an Interfaith Youth Core conference in Chicago in 2009. We were both impressed by the energy and passion of the religiously diverse young people gathered to talk about models of interfaith cooperation. Having helped launch the IFYC in my younger days and now learning the ropes of academic life in my position at Andover Newton Theological School, it struck me how powerful it would be to combine the scholarly depth of the academy with the passion of the interfaith movement. Barbara looked at me and suggested simply, “what about starting a new area at the AAR (American Academy of Religion) focused on interfaith work?”
Seminarians Go Online to “Make Interfaith”
In Rabbinic Judaism, Torah is considered as much a process as a sacred text. By studying, analyzing, and debating the significance of its contents, rabbis and their disciples are said to make Torah.
Learning About Interfaith Every Which Way
As with so much mainstream media, stories about religious education usually shine a bright light on particular problems – science versus creationism in the classroom, lawsuits over textbooks, prayer in public schools, renting space to religious groups, upset atheists – so many problems, so many conflicts.