The brutal attack on the the French satirical magazine and the murder of its cartoonists and others, eleven in all, puts Islam and freedom of the press in the spotlight? Is Islam to blame? Should newspapers censor satirical images about religion? These are some of the questions students may be asking. Here are some resources to help them answer those questions.   Vox: What Happened? The Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris New York Times: A Timeline of Threats of Violence... Read more

Studying Zen Buddhism? Here are two short clips, one about a day in the life of a Zen monk and one about a Zen temple of the Soto sect of Zen Buddhism. Read more

  Teaching Buddhism? Check out the Mogao Caves in the Dunhuang oasis of the Gansu Province in China, an important stop along the ancient Silk Road. The caves are a World Heritage site. According to UNESCO, “492 caves are presently preserved, housing about 45,000 square meters of murals and more than 2,000 painted sculptures.” Photographs of some of the murals and sculptures are stunning, especially those in Cave 302  from the  time of the Tang Dynasty. The National Geographic published a... Read more

According to this excellent and graphic story from Human Rights Watch, the civil war between the Christians and Muslims in the Central African Republic is spreading “like a deadly cancer.” The Seleka rebels who gained power in 2013 created a reign terror including “burning down village after village, firing randomly at civilians from their pick-up trucks, executing farmers in their fields, torturing anyone suspected of plotting against them, and murdering women and children.” The Central African Republic (the CAR) is... Read more

These animated videos about the Buddha, Zen Buddhism and Taoism, “distill Eastern thought into fun, bite-sized nuggets,” according to this review on Open Culture. They are part of de Botton’s School of Life curriculum.   Read more

The Asia Society in New York City will premiere a major new exhibit of Buddhist art from Myanmar in early February. According to the press release, you will see about 70 works of art from the 5th through the 20th centuries. The exhibit will be divided into three areas which include “images of the Buddha, lives of the Buddha, and devotion and ritual.” Some of the themes in the exhibit will include “state support of Buddhism, the effects of trade... Read more

Author Bruce Feiler (Walking the Bible) launches a new series with PBS this month called Sacred Journeys. Over six episodes, Feiler travels with contemporary pilgrims to important sacred sites like Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Lourdres in France, and Shikoku in Japan. He also visits the great Hindu festival Kumbh Mela in India and the the festival of Osun-Osgobo, which takes place every year in Osogbo, Nigeria. The series PBS site also includes educational resources with short clips about each religion... Read more

Today, my students in the United States discussed human rights and religious freedom during a video conference with students at a school in Ukraine. Our featured speaker,  a human rights officer with the U.S. Baha’i Office of Public Affairs in Washington, DC, spoke to us from New York. Her family fled Iran during the 1979 revolution. She discussed the history of Baha’i persecution and explained her efforts on behalf of that community. Face to Faith, an organization developed by Prime Minister Tony Blair to... Read more

Discover the many faces of  the Virgin Mary at this terrific new exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. It opened this week and continues until May, 2015. Called “Picturing Mary,” the exhibit is divided into six sections. It “presents images of Mary as Madonna and child, woman and mother, mother of the crucified, Mary as idea, as a singular life, and Mary in the life of believers.” Some of the artists include Fr Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, and Michelangelo.... Read more

Does the Islamic term “jihad” mean “personal struggle” or does it, as many Americans believe, mean “holy war?” In this excellent clip and story from the New York Times, Ahmed Rehab, a member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, promotes a non-violent definition of the term, calling it simply a “personal struggle.”  He and the Council started an ad campaign promoting that view. For example, posters on buses show young Muslims pursing simple jihads like exercise. That campaign  infuriates Pamela Geller,... Read more