In the wake of the Boston Bombings, Eboo Patel, public intellectual and director of the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), has proposed, in a recent article on HuffPo, that this explosive violence resulted partly from a failure of interfaith dialogue.With the caveat that “interfaith programs are not a miracle solution,” he offers three ways that this work can help:First, “interfaith helps harmonize people’s identities.” Patel goes on:“In America, just about everyone is some sort of hyphenated hybrid of race, religion and ethnicity/nationality… Religious extremists try to separate people’s various identities and pit them against each other.”Patel suggests that the Tsarnaev brothers might have been less vulnerable to extremism if they “had been involved in discussions with people from other backgrounds about how their faith identity was mutually enriching with their nationality and citizenship.”Continue Reading… … Read More
Imam Hargey defends his position on interfaith marriage
http://www.youtube.com/v/7HBknbHp3R4?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata See original article here: Imam Hargey defends his position on interfaith marriage
Arianna Huffington: Newtown Massacre: What We Don’t Need Is a ‘National Conversation’ — We Need Action
On Sunday night, President Obama spoke at an interfaith service for the victims of the horrific elementary school shooting. Not surprisingly, it was a poignant and moving speech. But the sad, horrible, tragic fact is that none of what we are witnessing is surprising. Shocking, yes, but not surprising. Mass shootings have become a defining feature of modern America. Yet on the issue of gun violence, President Obama has shown a gift for eloquent rhetoric but no follow-through. What we need now is not another national conversation but action — starting with a ban on the sale of weapons that are only good for mass murder. Will the president lead the way? Will Congress act? Or will we succumb to the fatalistic conventional wisdom that says we’ll never be able to prevent this from happening again — and again and again?Read More…
More on Newtown School Shooting
Obama: "Surely We Can Do Better Than This”
“Newtown, you are not alone,” Obama says at an interfaith vigil. “We'll have to change.”
Obama speaks at a vigil held at Newtown High School for families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
Image by Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama sought to bring comfort to the people of Newtown and across the country Sunday night, speaking at a vigil to honor the 27 lives lost in Friday’s shooting, but also called for national soul-searching — and action — to prevent future massacres.
“We as a nation are left with some hard questions,” Obama said in a somber speech at Newtown High School after meeting with the families of the dead and the first responders who rushed to the scene of the carnage.
“We can't tolerate this anymore,” he said, traveling for the fourth time of his presidency to a community torn by gunfire, but also referencing smaller acts of violence in cities and towns across the country. “These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.”
Noting that every generation is judged by how well it cares for the ones following it, Obama said the country is failing at keeping its children safe.
“If we’re honest with ourselves, the answer is no,” he said. “We’re not doing enough, and we’ll have to change.”
On Friday, speaking through tears and pausing to compose himself, Obama called for “meaningful action” after the shooting, and many in his party and across the country called for the immediate proposal of legislation to strengthen gun control. Obama didn't specify what steps he will take Sunday, but forcefully said he will “use whatever power this office hold to engage my fellow citizens…to prevent tragedies like this.”
“Are we prepared to say that such violence visited upon our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom,” Obama asked, in a sign that he will take up such legislation, even without mentioning the word “gun” in his speech.
Closing his remarks after reading the first names of the 20 first graders who were shot dead, Obama called for the nation to come together — to stop acts of violence.
“Let us find the strength to carry on and to make our country worthy of their memory,” he said, as sobs echoed through the auditorium.
LIVE: Obama speaks at Newtown vigil for victims’ families
President Obama is speaking at 7:00 p.m. at an interfaith vigil for the families of the victims of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Twenty-seven people — 20 children and seven adults including the shooter himself — died at the school while the…
