Category: News
On Taking a Selfie with Pope Francis
Recently I attended an audience with Pope Francis with the International Council of Christians and Jews. It was my second audience, as I had also gained access to the Vatican’s elaborate reception r... Read More
Domestic ‘Terrorism’ Depends on the Perpetrator
In the past years our country has witnessed a wave of domestic terrorist acts mainly perpetrated by white supremacists and right-wing extremists; not Islamist terrorists. Just to highlight a few of th... Read More
Searching for the Buddha’s Climate Change Policy
On May 14, I joined some 130 Buddhist leaders, teachers and scholars representing over 60 major Buddhist schools and ethnicities in Washington D.C. for the first White House U.S. Buddhist Leaders Conf... 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
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
The First Step is the Hardest: A Review of “But I Don’t See You as Asian: Curating Conversations About Race”
The days after the recent grand jury verdict in Ferguson, Missouri, many preachers were faced with a choice: do I talk about Ferguson or not? For many clergy that choice was complicated by a lingering... 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
The Crisis of Spirituality
The current plight of the Rohingya refugees adrift at sea is painful to watch. Even more painful as a Muslim is the fact that three Muslim countries have refused them entry and assistance, instead cho... Read More