 Rebranding Interfaith
by Rabbi Sarah Bassin
Inspired. Energized. Confused. Naïve. I had asked a Jewish audience to share a single word to capture their thoughts of my presentation on Muslim-Jewish relations. I had spent the last hour painting a picture of the broken communication between Jews and Muslims over the last 20 years – the public spats, the failed dialogues and the wounded relationships. I devoted the last portion of the session to envisioning a more positive paradigm and cultivating the tools to get us there.
Some people entered the session eager to acquire the skills needed to strengthen relationships with the Muslims who share their city. They had witnessed the breakdowns but refused to think of “Muslim-Jewish” as synonymous with “conflict.” They walked away from the session recharged. Inspired. Energized.
Others entered as skeptics, poised to dismiss interfaith work as a charming but ineffective effort to bridge an unbridgeable chasm of differences. The cycle of conflict exists for a reason and those who champion engagement with the other don’t understand the threat to their own community. Openness and vulnerability lead to exploitation. Interfaith activists are unrooted. Confused. Naïve.
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The Surprising–and Continuing–Influence of Swami Vivekananda
by A. L. Bardach
By the late 1960s, the most famous writer in America had become a recluse, having forsaken his dazzling career. Nevertheless, J.D. Salinger often came to Manhattan. While he no longer visited with his editors at “The New Yorker,” he was keen to spend time with his spiritual teacher, Swami Nikhilananda, the founder of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center.
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London 2012: How Do the Olympics Handle Religion?
by Michael Hirst
How do you cater for athletes of nine different religions at the Olympic Games?
The man charged with answering that question for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games ("Locog") is Reverend Canon Duncan Green, an Anglican priest who has been assigned to the committee as its head of faith services.
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Interfaith Social Media:
Interfaith Leadership in the Digital World
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Wednesday, May 9, 2012
10:00am U.S. Central Time
with Frank Fredericks
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 The ever-changing world of social media continually presents new challenges and new opportunities. This webinar will provide practical tools and insights into navigating the digital world and empower attendees to use social media to support their organizations and the work of building bridges for a better world.
Frank Fredericks is the founder of World Faith, Çöñár Records, and Co-Founder of Religious Freedom USA. Frank also works as an independent Online Marketing and PR Consultant, consulting non-profits, corporations, foundations, recording artists, and political campaigns on web issues ranging from viral video and social networks to SEO and advertising. Learn More...
New Report on Religious Migration
from the Pew Research Center
Faith on the Move, a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, focuses on the religious affiliation of international migrants, examining patterns of migration among seven major groups: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, adherents of other religions and the religiously unaffiliated.
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The Sharia that Muslim Americans Live
by Abdul Malik Mujahid
You might have seen a government-required sign at a McDonald’s restroom telling employees to wash their hands. Muslims do this as a part of living their faith, which is called Sharia in Arabic. The Prophet Muhammad also encouraged Muslims to wash their hands before and after eating. Muslim parents raise their children on many such manners.
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Latest from
State of Formation
Voices of Emerging Leaders
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Program Highlight:
Sharing Sacred Spaces
In 2012, religious and spiritual communities are coming together in partnership with the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions (CPWR) to visit one another’s Sacred Spaces, a program designed to engage religious diversity and widen participation in interreligious activity across the Chicago metropolitan area. Communities are asked to sign a pledge of solidarity, promising to stand shoulder to shoulder with people of all faiths in the face of religiously motivated hatred and violence.
Your support of the Council brings people together to work for a better world. Make a gift today!
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