Der Spiegel writes: Six years after Sept. 11, 2001, America and its Muslim immigrants seem to be on surprisingly good terms. They get along, they discover common interests, and it almost seems as if America’s latest immigrants want to prove to everyone that they are the better Americans.
Today’s headlines report that the Burmese military has rounded up 100 Buddhist monks in midnight raids, this after growing dissent in Myanmar culminated in large protests headed up by thousands of monks. Read on for more information about the monks, who are calling for democratic reforms, and their place in history as a religious movement standing against tyranny.
Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement—began at sundown yesterday. Jews today are fasting and praying as God decides each person’s fate in the coming year. One of the metaphors that comes out of this is that of “writing the book of one’s life.” Those of us that contribute to blogs regularly have come to know many of the virtues and pratfalls of perpetually and compulsively scribbling. Jim Sollisch finds, as a writer, that the metaphor goes deeper than God writing out our fate for the year: it’s about the life we ourselves write, as the characters who have to make choices.
The sacred month of Ramadan is a time of giving and doing good for Muslims, but up until recently that generosity of spirit was not readily apparent to non-Muslims. Now, American Muslims are reaching out to their communities to help day laborers, raise money for homeless shelters and organizing nonviolent protests as well as interfaith activities.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has directed the departments chaplains to purge their libraries of all religious books which are not on list approved developed
The signing of a declaration between a group representing Muslims and a leading Christian body in Norway, which supports the mutual right to convert between faiths without harassment, is the first pact of its type in the world, the two bodies have announced.
Scholars for years have focused on what Christians have thought and sad about Jews throughout history. It is not a pleasant story. Very few scholars have asked an equally interesting question: what do classical Jewish texts say about Chritianity? Peter
Schäfer has published a new book, Jesus in the Talmud, that examines this question.
Some 30 Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostal and Evangelical theologians and church representatives meet to articulate what a common code of conduct on religious conversion should look like from a Christian viewpoint
The opening prayer at the U.S. Senate usually doesn’t generate a lot of controversy. But on July 12, 2007, when chaplain Rajan Zed of Reno, Nev., became the first Hindu to deliver an opening prayer in the U.S. Senate, he was interrupted by Christian protesters….
The Washington Post/Newsweek “On Faith” blog devoted last week to hearing from twenty-two Muslim scholars and leaders from around the world to answer three questions on violence, religious freedom and women’s issues. The editors of the blog, Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham, summarize the resulting dialogue.