Tag: Islam
Laughable Beliefs
I believe that laughter is an important element of crossing any divide. But beliefs—of any creed—are often deeply serious. When is it okay to laugh about religion? Obviously, jokes designed to dis... 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
Reza Aslan’s Jesus
Reza Aslan has a remarkable ability to make ancient stories come alive. I have assigned his earlier books, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam and Beyond Fundamentalism, in und... Read More
Seeds of Compassion: The Bodhi Tree, Ramadan, and Survival of the Kindest.
Earlier this month, while many people around the world were celebrating the birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the man whose immeasurable compassion has touched the world, a few were planting bo... Read More
Recognising the Spirituality of Refugees
June 20th 2013 is World Refugee Day as designated by the UN. Many places have identified this week as World Refugee Week as well. As someone who has worked with refugees and internally displaced... Read More
Hate in Manchester, TN — Where Do We Go From Here?
Islamophobia in middle Tennessee is becoming a real problem. In the past several years, two mosques have been firebombed: one had swastikas drawn on its walls, with “White Power” written on the si... Read More
How shall we then live? Responses to Tragedy
When I was a young girl I used to ask my elders: why our lives were seemingly so enriched (comfortable) compared to others? Why did we have security, shelter, enough to eat, peaceful living conditio... Read More
It’s Time to Let Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs Join the Military
This piece was originally published on The Daily Beast. The rash of hate crimes following the Boston Marathon bombings reminds us of the major challenges religious minorities face in this country. Las... Read More