Category: Interfaith
What Is the Unity of “Unity in Diversity”?
Notwithstanding the prizing of diversity, there IS some unified bottom line to interfaith dialogue. Nonviolent behavior is the basis for “unity in diversity.” Behavior is a category about which a... Read More
Inclusion and Dialogue During Ramadan
The holy month of fasting for Muslims, called Ramadan, is finally here and there has never been more media publicity about it. Have you noticed how even mainstream news publications are writing about ... Read More
Romantic Distance vs. Vexing Proximity: the difficulty of real up-close interfaith encounters
My research on interreligious dialogue and engagement has reinforced an old cliché: absence makes the heart grow fonder. When two people are distant from each other, it is easy to idealize each other... Read More
Charleston: #BlackLivesMatter This Ramadan
I logged onto Facebook Tuesday night, about to post a “Ramadan Mubarak!” wish for all my Muslim friends. And then, scrolling down my news feed, I saw it—the news that a white man had entered a b... Read More
On Irreconcilable Differences: My Interreligious Dialogue with Mormon Missionaries
Since I’m conducting field research on interfaith dialogue in Rome, I thought it would be an important part of my participant-observation to embark upon a dialogue. I met some Mormon sisters conduct... Read More
Pluralismo Vivo: The Interfaith Roads of Rome
It’s not easy to find clear examples of “interreligious violence” in Rome. The closest thing Rome suffers to religious violence are distant shrieks from ISIS across the Mediterranean Sea... Read More
Family, Like Faith, Is What You Make It
I have launched a campaign to have all of my loved ones move to New York City. Ideally, they’ll all move to Queens (one of the most diverse counties in the country!), but I’ll take any borough rea... Read More
To Post or Not to Post: Interfaith Activism Online
Oh, the internet. And the lingo—and dregs—of the internet. Trolls. Flame wars. Click-baiting. Recently, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with people about the value of social media. I’m... Read More