December 10 is the date of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations 66 years ago. That important act was the result of many years of struggle against racism and colonialism, combined with the horrors of … Continue reading
The IRFWP reports with great sorrow that jihadists who overran Mosul last month destroyed ancient shrines and mosques in and around this northern Iraq city. Upon occupying the city, four Sunni and/or Sufi shrines and six Shiite mosques have been toppled … Continue reading
This Sunday, June 8, 2014, Israeli president Shimon Peres and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will visit Pope Francis at the Vatican. During their visit, the two Papal guests will pray for peace in the Holy Land. They will be joined … Continue reading
A key aspect of fostering positive interfaith relations includes knowledge. Test your knowledge of U.S. religions using this quiz from the Pew Research Group, and see how you do. You’ll see in the quiz some questions about such religions as … Continue reading
The greatest surprise in the new Pew study of U.S. Jews and Jewish identity, is not the 58 percent intermarriage rate (71 percent among non-Orthodox Jews), the fact that two thirds of U.S, Jews do not belong to a synagogue, … Continue reading
ANN ARBOR—The relationship between religion, spirituality and health has received considerable attention in recent years but the array of studies has fallen short of establishing solid explanations for why religion has both positive and negative effects on human physiology With … Continue reading
Merton, Griffiths, and Teasdale by Kurt Johnson, Robert Toth, and Adam Bucko Father Thomas Merton, Father Bede Griffiths, also known as Swami Dhayananda, and Brother Wayne Teasdale – in the lives and legacies of these three interspiritual pioneers we find peacemaking is … Continue reading
The true horizon of religious life is at the place where it can transform life in the world in good ways.Elizabeth Scalia in The Guardian offers a rich piece reflecting on lessons Americans (as the stuff of a world culture)…
Continue readingThe Interfaith Observer"In an unexpected reversal, the head of a conservative national Lutheran denomination has apologized after criticizing a pastor in Newtown, Conn., for taking part in an interfaith memorial service."Rev. Matthew C. Harrison Offers Apology for His Rebuke of…
Continue readingReligion and interfaith often are seen as limited to their own, quaint little corner in human affairs. But understanding the the mission of religion to express moral positions on political, and even military questions, shows a more integrated and holistic…
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