From The Huffington Post

Take one comedian, mix in a beauty queen, throw in some bigots and an exploding crow and you’ll open an unorthodox window into the past year for Muslims in America.

It’s been a tough year, so let’s start with the crow.

One of the stupendously stupid protagonists of the British film Four Lions wires a crow to explode by remote…

From State of Formation

I thought I would burst! I stared with wide eyes as her hands came toward my mouth with a piece of bread the size of my fist, soaked in a honey-peanut butter mixture. As I opened my mouth to beg – “please, I can’t eat another bi-ghrrr…” – her small hand found its target and I did burst…with laughter.

Looking back I’m surprised that peanut butter didn’t come out of my nose. Watching her veiled head, and those of her…

From State of Formation

Last December, I had the opportunity to attend the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia. The Parliament seeks to promote harmony, reconciliation, and understanding in the world through both intra-religious and interreligious dialogue. In short, it sustains a collective hope that religion will truly be a purveyor of peace and not a conduit for violence and fundamental extremism in its various forms.…

From Patheos

I was invited to participate in Patheos’ Blogger Roundtable on Brent Landau’s Revelation of the Magi, a translation of an ancient Syriac document that recounts the legend of the magi who visit the baby Jesus. I finished the book with two thoughts. One, I was more interested in Landau’s scholarship about the story than I was in reading the story itself. Landau’s Introduction and Conclusion place the text in its historical, literary,…

From The Huffington Post

Wearied by the decline and fall of trust relations in most sectors of society, many have had to seek energy from beyond the headlines. Politics, economics, religion, commerce and family life are zones where trust is so broken that for many the temptation to feel defeatist or to grow cynical is almost overwhelming. From “beyond the headlines,” then, can one find some alternatives to denial, indifference or…

Polarized debates around migration, national identities and integration of Muslims in today’s society are increasing in Europe and North America.

The UN Alliance of Civilizations has invited two prominent personalities for a conversation on these issues: the New York Times journalist Roger Cohen, and the Philosopher and Muslim Scholar Tariq Ramadan.

The discussion will…

From State of Formation

I have been studying intercultural communication now for several years, ever since I recovered from a traumatic immersion experience that left me yearning for answers. I have discovered that in many ways, intercultural practice is a constant struggle to navigate the tension between human commonality and cultural difference; between human distinctness and the possibility for union despite this distinctness. The ambiguity of…

From The Huffington Post

A figure stands alone in the desert, cradling his infant son. His followers, his brother, and his sons are now dead, except for his eldest who lies in their ragged tent, deathly ill. He has not had a sip of water in three days, since the tyrant Yazid ordered his family to be starved or slain.

He cries out, holding his son aloft, “Do none of you have children of your own? If you show mercy to my son, and give him but one…

From The Huffington Post

It is fashionable in interfaith discussions to advocate “tolerance” for other faiths. But we would find it patronizing, even downright insulting, to be “tolerated” at someone’s dinner table. No spouse would appreciate being told that his or her presence at home was being “tolerated.” No self-respecting worker accepts mere tolerance from colleagues. We tolerate those we consider inferior. In religious circles,…

by Seth Wax

from State of Formation

Over the past week, the recovery and clean-up of the forest fire in the Carmel region of Northern Israel that charred acres, burned property, and killed 42 people has gotten underway. It’s been particularly interesting for me, having just…

by Jason A. Kerr

from State of Formation

Some years ago, a new high school was built in my hometown. At the old high school, Mormon students had been permitted to leave campus during the day for religious instruction (“Seminary”) at a small building across the street. With the tacit aim of putting a stop to Seminary, many in the community advocated for the new school to be a…

by Jason A. Kerr

from State of Formation

Some years ago, a new high school was built in my hometown. At the old high school, Mormon students had been permitted to leave campus during the day for religious instruction (“Seminary”) at a small building across the street. With the tacit aim of putting a stop to Seminary, many in the community advocated for the new school to be a “closed…

by Elizabeth Bonney

from State of Formation

The topic for my seminar class on the evening of November 8th was “Forgiveness and Reconciliation.” We sat around the table that night discussing the various theological perspectives on the topic, commenting on the many theories proposed by top scholars in the field, and…

by Michael J. Altman

from State of Formation

It seems like everyday a new story emerges from the hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables recently released by WikiLeaks. In the wake of Cablegate, WikiLeaks has found its site shutdown, its…

by Chris Stedman

from the Huffington Post

“‘Thou shalt not’ might reach the head, but it takes ‘Once upon a time’ to reach the heart.” So said Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass, in a 2007 interview with The Atlantic. He might be right, but I can’t help but…

StateofFormation.org

Current American discourse on religion and ethics is primarily defined by established leaders—ministers, rabbis, academics and journalists. There is an entire population of important stakeholders without a platform: the up-and-comers.

To remedy this, the Journal of Inter-Religious…

Current American discourse on religion and ethics is primarily defined by established leaders—ministers, rabbis, academics and journalists. There is an entire population of important stakeholders without a platform: the up-and-comers.

To remedy this, the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue, Hebrew College, Andover Newton Theological School, and the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions have joined forces to create…