Auburn Seminary, Millennials, Moral Vision, and Movement-Building

by Valarie Kaur

“We need to have an ‘American spring’… nonviolent change where people from the grassroots get involved again.”  – Former Vice President Al Gore, August 2011

We’re hungry for a movement. Faith and moral…

The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue presents its

Call for Submissions for Issue 9: Women, Feminism, and Inter-Religious Dialogue

Women have played pivotal roles in transforming communities and conflicts, upending theories and traditions, and building bridges of understanding where others have thought it impossible. Given the dynamic landscape of female involvement in numerous…

This post originally appeared in The Good Men Project

You’ve probably never listened to—or heard of—Paul Mauriat and his Dynamic Orchestra. And, really, this is okay. Musically, you’re not missing anything. But, let’s be realistic: we are always missing something.

Paul Mauriat, a classically trained French composer, died at 81, releasing over 120 records in a career that spanned almost a half-century. He…

As people return from vacation and I peruse Facebook to check out their photos, I also notice a phenomenon that until recently didn’t bother me. Pictures of food. Pretty food. Gross food. Interesting looking food—you name it, you can view it. I have to say that I am guilty of this as well. I haven’t done it recently, but I did once take a picture of my favorite burrito at La Taqueria in the Mission in San Francisco, because it is that good.

Yet this year these pictures I…

from Huffington Post

Note from the editor: “Every day, my Hindu-ness makes me a better American because… ” This opening sentence presented the essay challenge that the Hindu American Foundation posed to the next generation of Hindu Americans. …

Corruption and black money one among of the biggest problem to the world. UN accounted money before the state and the god is not healthy food to life. Modern dirty culture has been developing in the world not able to control by the state and divine culture forced to social activity jump in to the action in the name Anna hazre hunger strike to stop corruption in India (greatest democracy country).

Strike – now and then common, but what happened in India – media like – T V, newspaper,…

I hear it in almost every congregation I visit: “We’re not sure it’s our role to get involved in advocating on issues. You know, separation of church and state.”

To these anxious congregation members, I can easily explain the facts and related details (see note below), usually ending with an earnest appeal for them to get involved and advocate on issues like health care, childhood hunger and global warming. But often, it’s clear that they are not convinced. It’s not that they don’t…

by Michael Vicente Perez

from Huffington Post

With the anniversary of 9/11 fast approaching and the awareness that terrorism is still a real threat for the United States, we should consider what we might do differently to make our country a safer place.

Looking back on the last 10 years, one thing is clear: the violence of terrorism cannot be defeated with more…

Source:

http://www.rimanews.com/read/20110826/39304/kasus-anand-krishna-saksi-jpu-kembali-mangkir

 …

A surprising amount of press leading up to the tenth anniversary commemorations of September 11th has been negative. Among the starker headlines, the Religion News Service released an article suggesting that “Interfaith Understanding Remains Elusive 10 Years After 9/11.”

To be sure, last summer’s…

State of Formation is a community conversation between young leaders in formation. Together, a cohort of seminarians, rabbinical students, graduate students and the like – the future religious and moral leaders of tomorrow – will work to redefine the ethical discourse today, particularly as it is used to refract current events and personal experiences. This initiative is…

A growing global population has lead to increasing demands for food. Farmers around the world rely, at least in part on phosphorus-based fertilizers in order to sustain and improve crop yields. But the overuse of phosphorus can lead to freshwater pollution and the development of a host of problems, such as the spread of blue-green algae in lakes and the growth of coastal ‘dead zones’.



A further issue is that phosphorus comes from phosphate rock, a non-renewable resource of which…

State of Formation's staff committed to increasing the diversity of the site and have decided to continue welcoming potential nominees. We are beginning our Fall 2012 and look forward to your nominations and self-nominations, which will be accepted through September 30, 2012.

Nominees should be currently enrolled in a seminary, rabbinical school, graduate program, or another institution for theological or philosophical formation -- or up to three years in the…