Interreligious Understanding

This kind of interfaith work might be compared to throwing a small stone into a pond: there is usually not a big splash but the ripples slowly proceed everywhere, bringing their important message.

If you took time to name a group that is still stigmatized but overlooked in the movement for mutual respect, are there any you would choose? One that comes to mind is the non-religious.

My Zen colleagues may object that it is a stretch to call Zen meditation "prayer," or to describe it as a method "to reach our divine nature." But we must never stop trying to find common ground.

In religious circles, tolerance, at best, is what the pious extend toward people they regard as heathens, idol worshippers or infidels. It is time we did away with tolerance and replaced it with "mutual respect."

We know religion has the power to do good. We know religion also has the power to inspire acts of terrorism and evil. We know something else. Religious affiliation in our world today is growing.

Religious faith has a major part to play in shaping the values which guide the modern world. It can and should be a force for progress. I also think that understanding our increasingly globalized world today requires an understanding of religion and people of religious faith.

What do Muslims and Mormons have in common? It turns out both want to take over the world. But when they are not too busy doing that, they tell jokes -- together.

for those closest to the ongoing interreligious movement, tolerance just won't suffice. Real intercultural harmony demands exposure, as well as respect, mutuality, and, ultimately, engagement.

The most important translation of our holy texts is the translation into daily life -- in acts of kindness, generosity, courage, humility, justice, self-control, respect, reverence, fidelity, and compassion.

We are imagining this package as a ready response kit that fortifies people of goodwill with religiously grounded knowledge helpful in standing firm when acts of religious hatred are looming.