Muslim Woman Defies Nazis in WWII France

Last updated on: September 15, 2014 at 8:20 am By George G. Coe

Here’s a riveting story about a Muslim woman who defied the Nazis in 1940 and paid for it with her life. Noor Inayat Khan, a French Muslim, fled to England in 1940 when the Germans occupied Paris. There, she joined Churchill’s Special Operations Executive (SOE)as a wireless operator. Her work supported the French underground. It was very dangerous because Germans often tracked their signals. Telegraphers, like Khan, did not survive longer than six weeks. She was murdered in Dachau in... Read more

Introduce Myths with Luke Skywalker & Obi-Wan Kenobi

Last updated on: September 26, 2014 at 6:20 pm By George G. Coe

Star Wars provides a great introduction to the study of myths. It has some of the classic elements of the hero myth. Here’s how I used the saga with my religion students. First, I asked them to create a ten panel story board of the Star Wars saga in groups of three or four. After about thirty minutes, I asked some groups to present their story boards to the class. After the presentations, I explained that the Star Wars story is based on elements of... Read more

The Hindu Pantheon: Awesome Image

Last updated on: September 10, 2014 at 7:35 pm By George G. Coe

Here’s a terrific image of the Hindu pantheon. Educator James Sturtevant found it in the middle of a 1955 Life Magazine that his mother gave to him. You can read more about its provenance from Sturtevant’s blog here. And if you click on the image, you can get a larger view. It’s really cool! Read more

The Cyrus Cylinder: Symbol of Religious Tolerance

Last updated on: January 3, 2015 at 3:43 pm By George G. Coe

British Museum director, Neil MacGregor, argues that the the Babylonian cylinder, discovered in 1879, stands with the American Constitution and the Magna Carta as one of the great documents of religious tolerance. In this twenty minute Ted Talk, MacGregor relates the story of the cylinder. Written in Akkadian script, it says that after Cyrus conquered most of the Middle East, he released the Jews and all the other people in captivity and allowed them to return to their countries and... Read more

Virtual Tour of Amazing Hindu Temple

Last updated on: September 1, 2014 at 11:20 am By George G. Coe

Take a virtual tour of India’s Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai and dedicated to the goddess Parvati and her consort Shiva. It was built early in the Common Era and almost destroyed in 1310 when the Islamic conqueror Malikkapur invaded. According to the Huffington Post where you can see some great photographs, “the temple has five entrances and is 847 feet long and 792 feet wide with a sacred pond in the center where adherents believe Indra’s Golden Lotus to... Read more

The Rebbe’s Legacy

Last updated on: September 1, 2014 at 8:37 am By George G. Coe

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, also known simply as Rebbe, died twenty years ago. He was the leader of the the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement and, according to this interesting clip from PBS Religion & Ethics he was probably the most influential Rabbi in modern history. Why? Because, according to Shmully Hecht in the New York Times, “He stood for the acceptance of all individuals, a belief in the importance of the individual act, and in the value of bringing together people... Read more

Yogi to the Stars Dies: Should Western Yoga Die Too

Last updated on: September 1, 2014 at 8:38 am By George G. Coe

B.K.S. Iyengar died last week. He was 95. He was the Hindu yogi who helped popularize yoga in the West. He taught some of the greatest stars of the 20th century, including the writer Aldous Huxley, designer Donna Karan, actress Annette Benning, and Bollywood star, Kareena Kapoor, to name just a few. According to the New York Times, “Mr. Iyengar’s practice is characterized by long asanas, or postures, that require extraordinary will and discipline. A reporter who watched daily practice in 2002 when... Read more

Important Religious Scholars: Short clips

Last updated on: August 25, 2014 at 9:41 am By George G. Coe

Who were some of the most important religious scholars? Who developed the “concept of the Numinous?” How did Eliade define the sacred and profane? Who was a 20th century German Protestant scholar and wrote widely about theology? See these short (most are less than two minutes) video clips about Rudolf Otto, Micera Eliade, Emile Durkheim, and Paul Tililch. Read more

Latino Muslims: Growing!

Last updated on: August 22, 2014 at 9:42 pm By George G. Coe

Here’s a fascinating clip form PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly about the conversion of Latinos to Islam. Did you know, for example, that Latinos are the fastest growing segment of Islam in the United States? They number about 250,000 and some say that they feel a cultural connection to Islamic Spain. In the 8th century, Muslims conquered Cordoba where they built a mulit-cultural society with Jews and Christians. Others says that they like the simplicity of Islam. Read more

Sharia Law in Indonesia Province

Last updated on: August 22, 2014 at 3:51 pm By George G. Coe

Banda Ache in Indonesia instituted Sharia law after the tsunami in 2004. The religious police who enforce the law gave reporter Kira Kay access to their daily routine. The clip above from the PBS NewsHour shows us what that law looks like in practice. Read more