Losing My Faith, Reclaiming My Religion
If there is one thing you would like to see change in your faith or ethical tradition over the next ten years, what would it be? What role would you want to play? The one thing I would most like to see change in Judaism over the next ten years is for Judaism to stop [...]
What Does Deuteronomy Have To Do With Choosing a President?
Are you sick of it yet? The barrage of commercials, of cable tv pundits talking incessantly, and of news and social media being obsessed with every little political sound bite? Alas, with the Presidential campaign season officially beginning with the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, and with each side planning to spend hundreds of millions [...]
Is Rooting for Tim Tebow Kosher?
As an observant Jew (as well as a San Diegan who views the Denver Broncos as a rival), I have frequently found myself wondering how I ought to feel about Tebowmania. For those who might have gone on hiatus from American culture over the past few months, Tim Tebow is a quarterback for the Denver [...]
What’s a Human Life Worth?
I tend not to comment in print about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. No matter what I might say, it will invariably alienate some as being too sympathetic to Palestinians and others as being too pro-Israeli. But the recent prisoner swap with Gilad Shalit in Israel has provoked something in me that I feel bears mentioning. For [...]
Should Clergy Advise Couples To Have Extra-Marital Affairs?
A couple weeks ago, the New York Times Magazine’s cover story, entitled “Infidelity Keeps Us Together” described the efforts of popular sex columnist, Dan Savage, to adopt a more tolerant attitude towards sexuality in marriage. Far from a full-fledged polygamist, Savage’s contention is threefold: 1) each partner in a marriage should try their best to [...]
Bin Laden and the Holocaust
So how should I feel about the death of Osama bin Laden? The immediate euphoria that broke out late Sunday night and into Monday reminded me of the Song of the Sea, Exodus 15:1-21, when Moses, Miriam, and the rest of the Israelites spontaneously extol God for drowning the pursuing Egyptians in the Sea of [...]
Why A Crucifix Cannot Be A Secular Symbol
Is a menorah no more than an ornate candelabra? Are Tibetan prayer beads little more than a bohemian bracelet? Is a crucifix just a symbol of secular Western values? Shockingly, in a recent decision, the European Court of Human Rights answered the last question in the affirmative. The court, in Lautsi and Others v. Italy, [...]
Egypt, Revolution, and Faith: Is Self-Determination a Sin?
Like many, I have been riveted by the protests taking place in Egypt over the past week. I have been glued to TV, radio, and internet coverage of the demonstrations taking place in Cairo, Alexandria, and elsewhere in Egypt, cheering on the courageous individuals willing to stand up to their autocratic regime and demand democracy. [...]
A Blessing for Tucson (and the rest of us)
Like many of you, I have struggled to figure out how to respond to the travesty in Tucson. I was shocked at the carnage, sickened by the loss of life, and outraged at both the perpetrator and the system that allowed such an obviously unstable individual to be left to his own devices. Despite this, [...]
Josh
Josh Ratner is a 37 year-old rabbi in Connecticut. Josh is originally from San Diego, California, and spent time working as an attorney for five years prior to commencing rabbinical school. Josh presently lives in Woodbridge, CT, with his wife (Elena) and three children (Dimitri, Elijah, and Gabriella). Josh is particularly interested in sustainability and other environmental issues, particularly from an interfaith perspective.
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Contributing Scholars
HusseinHussein Rashid is an academic and activist. He received his PhD from Harvard University, and his broad research project involves the representation and self-representation of Muslims in America. He has published on Islamicate musics in America, and has delivered talks on the Muslim-American blogistan and Muslims in graphic novels. He has taught at Hofstra University, Fordham University, Harvard University, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and Virginia Theological Seminary. He works in New York’s interfaith communities, teaching at Quest: A Center for Spiritual Inquiry. He has appeared on CNN, NPR, Fox News, CBS Evening News, and Russia Today. He is an Associate Editor at Religion Dispatches, and blogs at islamicate.
He is known for his teaching, research, public communication skills, media engagement, and use of Web 2.0 technologies. You can find out more about him at http://www.husseinrashid.com/
Recently, he turned his consultancy into an L3C. islamicate L3C specializes in improving conversations around religion generally, and Islam specifically. We work in education, media, and policy.
Daniel HallAs a staff member of the Soka Gakkai International-USA Buddhist Association, Daniel directs awareness raising initiatives centered on the U.N. Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. In May 2012, he completed a Master of Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California and has since conducted research in this area as an independent scholar. His research interests include faith diplomacy, media and religion, and the role of transnational non-state actors in global affairs. In 2013, Palgrave Macmillan will publish his article titled "Pope John Paul II, Radio Free Europe and Faith Diplomacy" as part of a new volume on religion and public diplomacy.
Bhikshuni LozangBhikshuni Lozang Trinlae, B.Sc., Ed.M., (भिक्षुणी लोजाङ् त्रिन्ले) is presently a doctoral student in practical theology at Claremont Lincoln University, where she is conducting research in formal vajrayana meditation practice. She was ordained a novice Buddhist nun in Mysore in 1991; took full-ordination Bhikshuni precepts in 1998 in Bodhgaya, India; and is also a priest in the Buddhist vajrayana tradition (Drukpa Kagyu and Gelug lineages primarily).
A summa-cum-laude graduate in physics, she earned her master's degree in education from Harvard University, where she also studied Tibetan language in the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies. She taught science and English in India and in Tibet while undertaking contemplative training in vajrayana Buddhism. After teaching Buddhism in Taiwan in the mid-1990's, she founded Mahaprajapati Hermitage in Sagarmartha Mt. Everest National Park in Nepal, where she completed ten years of cloistered, intensive, vajrayana retreat, including two great approaching retreats (शतलक्ष मन्त्र इष्टदेव पुरश्चरण/བསྙེན་ཆེན།). Bhikshuni Lozang is also a trained chaplain and certified instructor in relationship education.
More details of her present research, and hermitage, including texts and photo album, can be found at bhikshuni.insightdeliverysystems.com,
research.insightdeliverysystems.com, and mahaprajapativihar.insightdeliverysystems.com.