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FROM AP: AP Top Travel News At 10:11 a.m. EDT
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Muslim-Buddhist dialogue may be difficult, but it is becoming increasingly necessary as tensions between Muslims and Buddhists worldwide escalate. Dialogue focused around morality, ethics and values can be an extraordinary avenue for intercultural exchange.
We commit ourselves and call upon people of conscience around the country to join this growing movement of modern-day abolitionists committed to eradicating the horror of slavery, growing every day around the globe.
This is an issue of some import as we have entered an era where Buddhist thought is cited for various purposes within our culture. And so, who may speak for the tradition?
Consider the type of individual who attends an interfaith event at his or her local community center. Do we really expect to find uneducated, ignorant people at these events?
Akbar the Great, ruler of most of South Asia in the 16th and early 17th century, rejected bigotry and made unprecedented moves to help non-Muslims feel at peace in his Mughal empire -- actions antithetical to current violence against vulnerable religious communities around the world.
I can't deny that hearts are in the right places and heads are on the right side of this issue, but I ask of FEMEN: Please, slow down and make sure that your protests are respectful of whoever you're tying to help. There's no need to be patronizing or to exploit harmful stereotypes.
On April 21, 1863, as He was about to be exiled from Baghdad to Constantinople, Baha'u'llah stayed for 12 days in a garden in Baghdad, and it was here that He let members of the Babi community gathered know that He was the promised one they were expecting.
This long-overdue affirmation of secular students' place within an otherwise predominantly religious institution owes largely to precisely the kind of interfaith dialogue and collaboration that encourages mutual respect and solidarity between atheists and the religious, rather than scorn or derision.
When we start to really pray together with people of different religions we will lose our fears of each other and get to know and understand each other and grow in friendship.
I will light that candle for my father on Holocaust Remembrance Day not just to honor his memory, but in greater understanding that I, too, was there.
Many of the words at interfaith ceremonies seem to involve detailed explanations of the promises involved in a marriage. "For richer or poorer" does not seem to suffice in these ceremonies.
Since Hanukkah, the holiday of light, a year and a half ago, Tag Meir has been reacting immediately and with wide media exposure to all incidents of hate crimes in Israel, especially those committed under the slogan, Tag Mechir (Hebrew for "Price Tag").
When reading the Bible we don't need to choose between a literal reading and a rejection. Both are small-minded and spiritually deadening positions. The Bible is far too rich to be reduced to such a flat formula, and we are far too magnificent to allow ourselves to be so small.
Every time Gayle sees me, an Orthodox Jew, hair completely covered and bopping to Santana, she laughs and says to me, "There has to be a story behind you. I'd love to hear that." And now that I've read her book, I get where's she's coming from: Gayle Redlingshafer Berman has her own story to tell, and it's a doozy.
The common good is not about coming together under the guise of false unity where everyone downplays their difference, but it's about creating safe spaces where difference can exist while we work towards a society that is just for all.
But what does Harry Jackson do? He takes seeming acts of good will back to his congregants and proceeds to denigrate the faith, motivations, and general character of his fellow panelists.
