Getting to Know Our Neighbors

By Nancy Agafitei

 

About five years ago, I was visited at the library by Saadia, one of the Muslim ladies in our community who used the library with her young children. She came with a request to hold a book fair at the library. She wanted to display books that informed people about her faith, and to offer short talks that addressed topics of current interest about Islam. I think she expected me to decline, or at least debate, her request. For me, though, it was a simple choice -- public librarians are all about giving people access to all kinds of information. I got out the calendar and booked a room for them on a Saturday afternoon.

Faith Behind Bars

By Alex Hannaford

Source: Texas Observer

 

Thomas Whitaker grew up in his parents’ devout Christian faith, but after eight years on death row, he’s rejected the religion he followed for 27 years. In fact, he’s rejected any belief in a divine power at all. Whitaker was sentenced to death in 2007 for organizing the murder of his family in order to collect an inheritance of $1.5 million, prosecutors said. Fueled by what they described as an “irrational hate,” he paid his roommate, 21-year-old Chris Brashear, to carry out the shooting of his brother, mother and father. Whitaker’s dad was the only one who survived.

Quba Islamic Institute Rebuilding

By Bishop Michael Rinehart

 

As you may recall, on February 13 a fire was started at the Quba Islamic Institute in Houston. Christians and Jews rallied around leaders at Quba, who eventually asked for the charges to be dropped. 

Lent from an Atheist's Perspective

By Shannon Smith

 

This year, as Lent comes to a close, I am writing a confession. This year, Lent was a fulfilling and spiritual experience for me. For millions of Americans who participate in Lent in some form or the other, I am sure this is not news. They experience Lent by fasting or giving up something else of value, each year for the sake of a higher power. Not so for me. The reason why observing Lent was a confession for me, is that I'm not a Catholic, or even a Christian. I am a proud atheist.

Muslim Memories of Christmas

By Saadia Faruqi

 

Today is Christmas Day, and I want to take this opportunity to wish my friends and colleagues a very happy Christmas. Some among my circle express surprise, even shock, at my supposed participation in this very non-Muslim tradition each year. These are the people who don't know me, I suppose. These are the people who don't know what Islam is truly about. Christmas to me and countless other Muslims is a very positive, joyous occasion for a number of reasons. Here then, are a few of them:

Finding Common Ground in Grief

By Saadia Faruqi

Source: State of Formation

 

 

The last month has been a roller coaster for me personally. A friend, who became a friend only through interfaith dialogue, was grieving. Her younger sister had suddenly been taken to the hospital with several imminent health concerns, and finally after about three weeks of ups and downs, hope and despair, she passed away. I don’t need to explain how my friend felt; grief translates across boundaries of geography, culture and faith. What was interesting to me was how I felt, and how I reacted to this illness and death. How, even in the midst of grief and pain, I could learn an interfaith lesson.

 

No! Houston Council Don't Read Those Sermons!

By Marty Troyer

Source: Houston Chronicle

 

Restricting equal rights continues to be the media story embraced as definitive of Houston’s Christian community. Systemically disenfranchised communities such as people of color, women, immigrants, the physically disabled, and people who have been ostracized based on sexuality are all protected by #HERO, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance passed this summer. And yet the some Christians feverishly protest its implementation.

Was Being Brown Michael Brown's Problem?

By Pastor Keion Henderson

 

It was a warn sunny day in July of 1999. The city was Fort Wayne, a medium sized town in the northeastern corner of Indiana. My mother saw me off and wished me well, as I drove due east to visit a college in an effort to ascertain a basketball scholarship. Paying for college was not even an option. If it were not for this great nation, and it’s commitment to higher education, I would have never been able to attend. 

 

Why Study Religions If You Don't Want to Convert?

By Amy Nolan-Smith

 

Are you the type of person who loves to explore other faiths? Do you ask questions of every person regarding their culture and practices? Do you find music from a choir, the call of the adhan and the cantor's recital of the Torah equally inspiring and pleasing to the ear? I know I do, and sadly, I am often perceived negatively because of it.

 

Things A Christian Can Learn During Ramadan

By Rev. Nell Green
Source: ABP Blog

 

Ramadan begins on June 28th. Ramadan is the month when people who follow Islam fast from the time the sun comes up until it goes down. They do this for 30 days. Sometimes my Muslim friends laugh at me because they say I keep up more than they do about when Ramadan starts and ends. I admit, I pay attention to it. I think this month when Muslims fast from sun up to sun down is pregnant with possibilities not only for them but for me. Why?

God is Not Interested in Party Politics

By Daniel Johnson

 

If one watches the antics of the group known as Westboro Baptist Church you come away with a few conclusions: (1) They are a bunch of religious nuts. (2) There must be people who agree with them. (3) They must be Republicans.

 

Lessons of Easter and Passover

By Tim Neeley

April was a commemorative month for two of the major religions of the world. Jews commemorated the event of Passover, while Christians celebrated Easter. But the fact that they coincide in time each year is in no way their only similarity. In fact, both holidays have much in common with each other, and both can be a source of wisdom for the world.

Why We Aren't Going to Church Anymore

Source: My Houston Magic

 

Many people donned their Sunday bests of hats, flowery pastel dresses, and linen or seersucker suits to attend church on Easter Sunday. But it is getting harder and harder to fill those pews even on Easter, the busiest Sunday of the year because, according to a Pew study, the only religious group in the U.S. that is growing is the religiously unaffiliated.

Man's Rejection of God: Who's Responsible?

Source: The Paper



 

Religion, if it's for the betterment of humankind, is a good thing. It reaffirms our sense of right and wrong - our moral compass that pulls us back on track when we stray. While there is good and bad in all religions, Christianity seems to come under attack more than most. Mahatma Gandhi was quoted as saying, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” This is a sad indictment of the Christian community as a whole, but is it true?

A Celebration

By Rev. Nell Green
Source: ABPnews

She is young, energetic and smart. She wants to study genetics. Her English is broken, but she is absolutely determined to make it perfect. She realizes that coming to the US was a chance in a lifetime. He is a gifted and talented musician. He writes music, plays multiple instruments, and sings beautifully. He is never without a smile. His heart’s desire was to experience at least once an Easter Sunday in a church with a choir and orchestra.

Lent is More Than Just Fasting

By Jonathan Powers

 

Lent is here again, and Catholics like myself are looking forward to a season of spiritual reflection and prayer. For many, Lent is a time for repentance, for others an opportunity for helping others through charity. At the same time, it has become a question for those who don't believe fasting is the way to earn God's love. Is fasting all there is to Lent? How does one strike a balance between extremes?

Religious Freedom, Anyone?

By Saadia Faruqi

Today is religious freedom day in the United States, a day celebrating the anniversary of the passage of the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom by President Thomas Jefferson in 1786. This piece of legislation effectively accomplished two things: it prohibited taxing people to pay for the local clergy, and it protected the rights of the public to express their religious beliefs without suffering discrimination. While two centuries ago most Americans were of the same faith, mostly Christian, in today’s America this concept of freedom of religious speech on an individual level becomes even more important.

The Vocal (Christian) Minority

By Felicia Woodard

We all say the same thing. Not all Christians are alike. Not all religious people are alike. I believe it and I know it. There are wonderful people in my life that prescribe to various religions and they are kind and selfless - warm, giving, individuals, as well as progressive thinkers. Yet, why is it that rhetoric such as those in the image to the left are so prevalent when defining Christians and Christianity today?
 

The Consequences of Public Prayer

By Ramona Siddoway 

I read with interest about the Supreme Court deciding the fate of prayers in New York public meetings. This case centers on a suit brought in Greece, NY and the overtly Christian prayers offered at the beginning of the Town Hall meetings. At first an informal complaint was registered and as a result 4 of 12 meetings were opened with prayers from other faiths. But the feeling of being on the outside still persisted with those who were in the minority of this dominant Christian group.

 

Sis, Tata or Mum Nell

By Rev. Nell Green
Source: ABP Blog

 

They call me “Tata”. That is what many francophone people call their aunts. I am not their aunt, however. They are Senegalese after all, and I am American.  However, we would all say that race, nationality, language nor culture changes the fact that we are family.