Category: Popular Culture
Sikh Prof. Prabhjot Singh Was Not The ‘Victim’ of a Hate Crime
This article originally appeared on Religion Dispatches Recently, my close friend Dr. Prabhjot Singh was assaulted in an apparent hate crime near his home in New York City. Although many headlines pro... Read More
A Vegan Patriot Celebrates Thanksgivukkah: Conservation, Abundance and Oil
On Nov. 27, I will proudly drive to New York for Thanksgivukkah, powered by vegetable oil that I collect and filter through Patriot Earth Fuel, a (very) small business I operate in Boston. This year, ... Read More
The Silent Streets: 50 years after shouts rang out in Jackson, Mississippi
“Oh God, the heathen have come into your inheritance; they have profaned your holy temple.” Psalm 79:1 “I helped create this,” stated Reverend Ed King as we ate lunch at the Ma... Read More
Jesus and the Moneychangers in the Scrovegni Chapel
In the summertime I visited Padua and went to the Scrovegni Chapel, dated 1305. In the past 40 years the frescos have begun to crumble, and curators have researched atmospheric problems in order to co... Read More
5774: The Year of Tangerine Teshuvah
Recently, I bought a tangerine. It was an accident, really. I didn’t mean to buy a tangerine. I meant to buy an orange. They look pretty similar, especially when you’re in a rush and you k... Read More
Lessons Learned while Teaching Buddhist Monks
Teaching Cambodian Buddhist monks is mostly the same as teaching Cambodian children. There are less discipline problems and the monks can’t play games—even educational ones. Also, because I am... Read More
Secularism and Pluralism: Two Movements for Equality
As a humanist working in multifaith education, I sometimes feel tension between secularism and pluralism. Much of the new atheist movement is aimed at instituting and enforcing secularism in our commu... Read More
The Parable of Miley Cyrus
On August 25, 2013, a young woman attempted to spread her wings, and the world rejected her. I didn’t personally watch MTV’s Video Music Awards (“VMAs”), but I observed my friends and other re... Read More