Orthodox Christian Concerns: A Lament for Our Millennial Daughters

Last updated on: January 26, 2015 at 2:56 pm By Guest Contributor

By Jennifer Nahas. What is best about the Orthodox Church—holding true to early teachings and traditions—also presents its greatest challenge: making sure tradition doesn’t trump appropriate treatment of others. While many prize the richness of the Orthodox Church, our traditions can lead to exclusion of some from fully participating in the community of Christ. It’s a fine line, preserving ancient rites without marginalizing particular groups, within a patriarchal structure, and is ripe for discussion, particularly as it pertains to women.... Read more

Sikhs in the Rose Parade

Last updated on: December 22, 2014 at 12:57 pm By Guest Contributor

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By Simran Jeet Singh. New Year’s Day will mark a new era for a marginalized group of Americans. On January 1, 2015, American Sikhs will host their first-ever float in the Rose Parade. The first Sikh pioneers came to North America by way of the west coast in the late 1800s, and of the nearly one million Sikhs who have settled in North America, an estimated 250,000 reside in the state of California. The presence of a Sikh float in our... Read more

Diwali: Hearing Earth’s Cry

Last updated on: October 20, 2014 at 5:05 pm By Guest Contributor

By Anantanand Rambachan. On the occasion of Diwali 2014, I want to share a reflection on one of the central narratives associated, in the Hindu tradition, with this festival. This is the narrative that connects Diwali with the celebration and rejoicing over the return of Rama to his home, after a lengthy exile, and his defeat of the oppressive and tyrannical, Ravana. Citizens welcomed him by lighting thousands of lamps, even as over one billion Hindus do today throughout the... Read more

“Real” Islam and the Secular State

Last updated on: September 15, 2014 at 12:07 pm By Guest Contributor

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By Mark E. Gammon. In his address to the nation on Wednesday night, President Obama laid out a strategy for dealing with the Islamic State (ISIS, or, alternatively, ISIL) that was predicated on two basic propositions. As many Twitter users put it succinctly: “The Islamic State is neither Islamic nor a state.” Both of these assumptions are open to debate, but for those with more than a passing interest in religious ethics, the first deserves special scrutiny. The president of... Read more

Presidents, National Prayer, and 9/11

Last updated on: September 9, 2014 at 4:49 pm By Guest Contributor

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By Christine Wicker. American presidents routinely call for six national prayer days each year; three are coming up to commemorate 9/11. That’s far more than the great majority of American presidents would have approved. But as the number has increased, a change has occurred that wouldn’t have surprised early Baptists or Quakers at all. The thunder that once accompanied such proclamations has been stilled. The great Jehovah, dispenser of blessings and punishment, now seems more like a benign uncle we’re... Read more

Narendra Modi and the Dawoodi Bohras: A Relationship of Profound Ambivalence

Last updated on: September 3, 2014 at 11:45 am By Guest Contributor

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By Abdeali Ujjainwalla. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s ascendency to Prime Ministership in India has re-ignited the debate among the Dawoodi Bohras who are overwhelmingly Gujarati either as resident in the state, or resident elsewhere but with ancestral roots to the state. While most discussion tend to revolve around the 2002 Gujarat carnage where many Bohras were victims of violence and Modi was accused of abetting the violence, this brief article focuses instead more on the present by asking two... Read more

Quashing Jewish Dissent on Israel

Last updated on: July 13, 2014 at 10:06 pm By Guest Contributor

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By Shalom Goldman, Duke University. A New Yorker cartoon of a few years back shows Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Looking at Moses, one Israelite says to the other, “Well, he’s alright, but I wish he were a little more pro-Israel.” The leadership of American Jewish community organizations never has to worry about such criticism. For the officials of the self-described “major” American Jewish groups, “strong on Israel” is the first qualification of leadership, and “pro-Israel” means one thing: justifying and defending... Read more

Religion, Revelation, and the Rolling Stones

Last updated on: May 27, 2014 at 5:15 pm By Guest Contributor

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By Shalom Goldman, Duke University What do the Rolling Stones have to do with religion? Aside from the usual answer—that they are a religion in their own right for many rock and roll fans—they now find themselves in the midst of another kind of religious controversy. Surprisingly, it is a controversy that places, albeit briefly, Orthodox Jews and advocates for the Palestinian cause on the same side of an argument. The controversy arose when the Rolling Stones announced in March... Read more

“Death Is Not Final”: LIVE DEBATE with Dr. Eben Alexander, Author of “Proof of Heaven”

Last updated on: May 7, 2014 at 3:05 pm By Guest Contributor

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TODAY (May 7, 2014) at 6:45pm Eastern In partnership with FORA.tv, Patheos presents an Intelligence Squared debate: “Death is Not Final.” If consciousness is just the workings of neurons and synapses, how do we explain the phenomenon of near-death experience? By some accounts, about 3 percent of the U.S. population has had one: an out-of-body experience often characterized by remarkable visions and feelings of peace and joy, all while the physical body is close to death. To skeptics, there are... Read more

Together Fighting Hatred and Intolerance

Last updated on: April 28, 2014 at 5:11 pm By Guest Contributor

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By Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg I am the son of Holocaust survivors. Most of my family perished in the Holocaust, either in the crematorium or shot dead on the street. I am still deeply disturbed by the tattooed number from Auschwitz on my father’s arm and remember my mother looking twice her age from her experience at the camp. Like many children of Holocaust survivors, I never had grandparents. I became a rabbi as a concept of never again.... Read more