It was a damp, rainy day when I witnessed the black iron gate that looms ominously over Auschwitz I. ‘Arbeit macht frei’, it pronounces: “Work will set you free.” I could not help but noti...Read More
I hear it in almost every congregation I visit: “We’re not sure it’s our role to get involved in advocating on issues. You know, separation of church and state.” But is that what our religious...Read More
A surprising amount of press leading up to the tenth anniversary commemorations of September 11th has been negative. Among the starker headlines, the Religion News Service released an article suggesti...Read More
I am on the planning committee of the International Political Camp at Agape Centro Ecumenico in the Italian Alps. Because I am always at a loss to describe exactly what Agape is to the uninitiated—a...Read More
Contrary to common assumptions, many Jewish and Muslim Americans enjoy warm relations. Yet we are only beginning to understand how and why this is so. A Gallup report released last week goes a long wa...Read More
As we enter the second week of Ramadan, hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world continue to fast as a prescribed spiritual practice in the Islamic faith tradition. Last year, as a part of an ...Read More
For the last several years, my work as an interfaith activist has been largely defined by a single question: “Wait — you do interfaith work, and you’re an atheist?!” That quest...Read More
Hinduism is hardly new to the United States. Swami Vivekenanda is thought to have first introduced it when he visited as part of the World’s Parliament of Religions at the Chicago World’s ...Read More
Last week when I saw this article about nearly 1/3 of the Chesapeake Bay being a “dead zone” this year, it felt like someone punched me in the gut. I made some kind of audible groaning sound and r...Read More
This week, we are fortunate to send along the first “Topic of the Week,” culled and compiled by State of Formation’s Special Projects Committee. With a new topic each week, we hope t...Read More