I have not been able to post this week. I will do my best to update you later today.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Name Change!
Our name has changed! I think this name reflects the evolving vision of this site more accurately. Please be patient while I update the entire site to reflect this change. The URL will also change. I've got to take care of a few things before I can make that happen. So, bear with me, please.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Charter for Compassion
The Charter for Compassion is a wonderful endeavor being organized by an impressive group of scholars and religious activist. Voices from across the religious spectrum are blending in harmony in an effort to drown out hate and religious bigotry, calling people from all faiths to begin practicing compassion toward their fellowman. This mandate is based upon the idea that most of the world's major religions have some form of the Golden Rule as a guiding principle. The Charter for Compassion calls upon all these faiths to put this principle into action and thereby doing what religion is fundamentally designed to do: that is, make each of us better people and thus, create a better world for ourselves and our posterity.
Be sure to check out this site. Also, there is an opportunity for anyone wanting to participate in the writing of this charter to submit possible charters for review. I encourage everyone to get behind this wonderful venture; support it with your prayers and participation. Please, visit the site today!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Do Muslims/Islam get a bad rap?
I subscribe to a number of Google Alerts which notifies me of religious news based on my predetermined parameters. I get alerts for news related to all the major religions, including articles related to Muslims and Islam. One thing that I've noticed ever since setting these alerts up is that the overwhelming majority of Muslim related news is negative. If I were to base my opinion solely upon what the media considers newsworthy regarding Islam, I would definitely have to say that it is not a peaceful religion.
Obviously, I do not agree with this opinion. There are allot of good Muslims, both in the US and abroad. Many of whom have gone to great lengths to challenge this erroneous popular notion. You can no more judge Muslims by the actions of Jihadist as you can Christianity by the actions of right-wing anti-establishment isolationist who stockpile guns and spout anti-government propaganda.
One has to wonder what role the media plays in this anti-Islamic campaign. History abounds with the countless atrocities of the Christian religion. Millions of innocent people killed, martyred because their ideas or lifestyle somehow differed from that which was sanctioned by the church of the time. While I am myself a Christian, I feel no need to gloss over this dark and troubling time in my faith's evolution. Fortunately for Christianity, there were no airwaves or Internet where news can literally travel all the way around the world in the blink of an eye.
As a person who respects much of the world's sacred literature, I appreciate and honor the Koran as a book of life and instruction. While it may have its less comely parts (as a figure of speech), so does the bible or any number of ancient text used by many of the world's religions. We acknowledge that many of the stories and teaching contained in these books were crafted in different times where things now unacceptable were common place, such as slavery and the subjugation of women, among other things. However, it certainly doesn't negate the timeless truths that many of these sacred writings convey, including both the Bible and the Koran.
So, the question remains, does the media stimulate this anti-Islamic fervor? I think so. Peaceful Muslims meeting in Mosque around the world, practicing their religion while being respectful of others is just not newsworthy. Educated and perceptive people, however, should not be swayed by this negative propaganda. We shouldn't be ignorant of the fact that there are people, regardless of their religion, who will espouse hate and subject the world to violence, using religion as their excuse. We should not use their ignorance, however, to reject a huge segment of the world's population whose faith and practice is not threatening at all.
Obviously, I do not agree with this opinion. There are allot of good Muslims, both in the US and abroad. Many of whom have gone to great lengths to challenge this erroneous popular notion. You can no more judge Muslims by the actions of Jihadist as you can Christianity by the actions of right-wing anti-establishment isolationist who stockpile guns and spout anti-government propaganda.
One has to wonder what role the media plays in this anti-Islamic campaign. History abounds with the countless atrocities of the Christian religion. Millions of innocent people killed, martyred because their ideas or lifestyle somehow differed from that which was sanctioned by the church of the time. While I am myself a Christian, I feel no need to gloss over this dark and troubling time in my faith's evolution. Fortunately for Christianity, there were no airwaves or Internet where news can literally travel all the way around the world in the blink of an eye.
As a person who respects much of the world's sacred literature, I appreciate and honor the Koran as a book of life and instruction. While it may have its less comely parts (as a figure of speech), so does the bible or any number of ancient text used by many of the world's religions. We acknowledge that many of the stories and teaching contained in these books were crafted in different times where things now unacceptable were common place, such as slavery and the subjugation of women, among other things. However, it certainly doesn't negate the timeless truths that many of these sacred writings convey, including both the Bible and the Koran.
So, the question remains, does the media stimulate this anti-Islamic fervor? I think so. Peaceful Muslims meeting in Mosque around the world, practicing their religion while being respectful of others is just not newsworthy. Educated and perceptive people, however, should not be swayed by this negative propaganda. We shouldn't be ignorant of the fact that there are people, regardless of their religion, who will espouse hate and subject the world to violence, using religion as their excuse. We should not use their ignorance, however, to reject a huge segment of the world's population whose faith and practice is not threatening at all.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Buddhism for the Non-Buddhist Layman
Download Free Ebooks � Buddhism for the Non-Buddhist Layman
In keeping with the spirit of this blog, I just come across this free ebook that purports to explain Buddhism to the non-Buddhist in language that is easily understood. Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to read this so I can not substantiate its claims; but, I do have it on my agenda to do in the near future and will either append my opinion to this post or I will add another post about the subject. If any of you get the chance to read this, please update us in the comment section with your ideas about it. If your a Buddhist and either agree with or find fault with the manual, I would appreciate you writing an objective critique and we will post it here as a blog post under your name.
For the record, we are looking for authors of various religious persuasions that can speak definitively on their faith. To reiterate, the purpose of this site is to take an eclectic approach to faith in an effort to improve interfaith relations as well as invoke interfaith dialog. (While this is a blogging community, the potential for discussion is greatly enhanced by our comment feature via Disqus. If you do not already have a Disqus account we encourage you to open one now. It is free and will help take our ability to discuss topics introduced here to the next level.) Faith, regardless of our varying religious persuasions, is the one thing we have in common. All of us who hold some form of religious belief have some structure to it, regardless of whether its rigorous or casual. If interested in participating in this group effort, please check out this page for more information. We really do want and need your help!
In keeping with the spirit of this blog, I just come across this free ebook that purports to explain Buddhism to the non-Buddhist in language that is easily understood. Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to read this so I can not substantiate its claims; but, I do have it on my agenda to do in the near future and will either append my opinion to this post or I will add another post about the subject. If any of you get the chance to read this, please update us in the comment section with your ideas about it. If your a Buddhist and either agree with or find fault with the manual, I would appreciate you writing an objective critique and we will post it here as a blog post under your name.
For the record, we are looking for authors of various religious persuasions that can speak definitively on their faith. To reiterate, the purpose of this site is to take an eclectic approach to faith in an effort to improve interfaith relations as well as invoke interfaith dialog. (While this is a blogging community, the potential for discussion is greatly enhanced by our comment feature via Disqus. If you do not already have a Disqus account we encourage you to open one now. It is free and will help take our ability to discuss topics introduced here to the next level.) Faith, regardless of our varying religious persuasions, is the one thing we have in common. All of us who hold some form of religious belief have some structure to it, regardless of whether its rigorous or casual. If interested in participating in this group effort, please check out this page for more information. We really do want and need your help!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Freedom for All
I recently stumbled across an excellent blog by the name of In My Lifetime. BK Hipsher, an Episcopal priest as well as a PhD candidate at Winchester University, UK, is the author. Back on November 17, she published a post entitled What if... I meant to get around to sharing this earlier but have been busy of late trying to get some things sorted out on my blog so my posting has been delayed a bit.
The post refers to the many demonstrations around the country against Proposition 8 in California and numerous other anti-GLBT initiatives that succeeded around the country this past election. Hipsher was amazed that so many people were moved to get out of their lazy chairs and demonstrate for justice, equality, and religious pluralism. Obviously, the issue at hand really hit the participants where they lived and thus blasted them out of their complacency and behooved them to become involved. According to the post, demonstrations took place in 300 major cities throughout the US .
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It is so easy for us to become passionate about the things that directly affect us. Let someone assault our religious freedom, our freedom to of speech; watch the NRA pundits pour millions of dollars into lobbying against any thing they deemed a threat. We are so prone to act when it affects us. But, Hipsher asked the question, what if we would react with the same fervor against any incidence of injustice in our world? The examples are overwhelming; one such example she mentions is the fact that 43 million people in this country do not have health insurance and thus, limited to no access to quality health care.
The point here is that we should be consistent, willing to fight for those who consistently can not fight for themselves. The millions of children in this country who are considered to be food insecure. The marginalized, mentally ill, and those who have no voice. At the end of Hipsher's post she states that she hopes "that one day we grow up and realize that until all of us are free, none of us are free. Until all of us have access to civil rights, none of us do. Until all of us have health care, none of us do. Until there is justice for ALL, there is no justice." There is absolutely nothing I can add to that but a hearty AMEN!
The post refers to the many demonstrations around the country against Proposition 8 in California and numerous other anti-GLBT initiatives that succeeded around the country this past election. Hipsher was amazed that so many people were moved to get out of their lazy chairs and demonstrate for justice, equality, and religious pluralism. Obviously, the issue at hand really hit the participants where they lived and thus blasted them out of their complacency and behooved them to become involved. According to the post, demonstrations took place in 300 major cities throughout the US .
.
It is so easy for us to become passionate about the things that directly affect us. Let someone assault our religious freedom, our freedom to of speech; watch the NRA pundits pour millions of dollars into lobbying against any thing they deemed a threat. We are so prone to act when it affects us. But, Hipsher asked the question, what if we would react with the same fervor against any incidence of injustice in our world? The examples are overwhelming; one such example she mentions is the fact that 43 million people in this country do not have health insurance and thus, limited to no access to quality health care.
The point here is that we should be consistent, willing to fight for those who consistently can not fight for themselves. The millions of children in this country who are considered to be food insecure. The marginalized, mentally ill, and those who have no voice. At the end of Hipsher's post she states that she hopes "that one day we grow up and realize that until all of us are free, none of us are free. Until all of us have access to civil rights, none of us do. Until all of us have health care, none of us do. Until there is justice for ALL, there is no justice." There is absolutely nothing I can add to that but a hearty AMEN!
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