Category: Interfaith
#Martin: Do the Right Thing. Put on the Hood.
On 26 February, exactly one year ago today, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman. February is a month dedicated to black history, black pride, and black liberation. It was chosen bec... Read More
The ‘Hindu’ Identity by Prashant Parikh
Hariḥ Ōm and Namaste (customary greeting of Hindus). This being my first post on ‘State of Formation’, I would like to express my great pleasure in being amid this crowd of intellectu... Read More
“At the Margins of Sovereignty: An Expansion of the Implications of Political Theology,” by Stephen Padilla
Within recent decades, the ranks of liberalism’s critics have grown considerably to include many who still subscribe to the American democratic experiment. Instead of advocating for a radical change... Read More
Hillary and Michelle: Urban Dancing and the Metaphysics of the Home
“If you can’t control your own house, how will you be able to control the White House?” – Michelle Obama, 2007 presidential campaign speech The word “economy” descends from the ancient Gr... Read More
Knowing the Religious Other
I am giving a talk this weekend (here) on employing sacramental mediation as a model for interfaith reconciliation, encounter, and learning. Interfaith encounter involves knowing the religious other... Read More
To The Ashes, To The Soil, I Gladly Return
This “lapsed Catholic”/retired Hindu monk/bhakti-yogi/radical seminarian gladly received ashes on his forehead at the culmination of our annual Ash Wednesday retreat at Union Theological S... Read More
Welcoming a New Pope
In an unprecedented event in the past 600 years, Pope Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger Benedict XVI announced his retirement from the supreme prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. This historical situation... Read More
Ash Wednesday in Flux: Between Continents, Between Calendars, Between Identities by Michael Collins
To walk through the streets of Amman—not many sidewalks to speak of here—or to sit in the minibus crammed with commuters can be disorienting. Now imagine those commonplace activities with ashes on... Read More