Tag: Religion
“Stand together yet not too near together”: How Interfaith Dialogue Teaches Participants to Value Diversity
“Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart... Read More
The Mechanics of Personal Transformation via Interfaith Dialogue
My research on interfaith dialogue is driven by questions about people’s individual capacities for transformation and cohabitation with other humans. In previous articles (here and here) I demonstra... Read More
What’s “Religious” About Interreligious Dialogue?
Anyone who has embarked upon the study of religion immediately runs into a debate of the meaning of the very word religion. Definitions abound and debates rage about whether a general definition of re... Read More
Apply to Present at the 2015 AAR Annual Meeting: Interfaith Work for Racial Justice
American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting State of Formation Panel: Interfaith Work for Racial Justice At the 2015 American Academy of Religion & Society of ... Read More
The Difference Between Religious Diversity and Religious Pluralism
In a previous article I explored how “choice and safety” are the key ingredients in converting de facto religious diversity into religious pluralism, an environment more conducive to transformativ... Read More
What Exactly is “Mutual Recognition”?
The construct of “mutual recognition” is circulated frequently in the interfaith society: nearly every organization I approach as an ethnographic researcher names it as a primary goal. But... Read More
Ethnographic Filmmaking and the Scientific Study of Religion
What happens when a social scientist uses a camera as a tool in ethnographic fieldwork? For a decade prior to pursuing graduate school, I worked as a composer, film editor and documentary filmmaker. W... Read More
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