Multifaith families and religious tolerance!

Extracts: Ramadan in a multi-faith family:

"Ilana Alazzeh was born in San Francisco to an Israeli mother and Palestinian father. She currently attends Smith College in Massachusetts, where she stays active in community service and interfaith work, regularly speaking on panels regarding Islam and religious pluralism...."

"When my Israeli mother celebrates Ramadan, she always incorporates her heritage into the holiday. For example, while my Pakistani step-father is downstairs making pancakes, she will loudly sing Hebrew songs from her childhood to wake us up for Suhoor. Although she has converted to Islam, she still keeps her Jewish customs alive."

"Once, my mother’s father came to visit during Ramadan. He is a small, mischievous and comical man, a Palmach war veteran of Israel. Unlike my mother, he refused to celebrate Ramadan. He would begrudgingly come to the masjid with us, and even though he knew Arabic, he only spoke in Hebrew or English. While we were inside doing our night prayers, he would smoke outside with my step-grandmother: a Southern Baptist African American who converted to Judaism. It certainly wasn’t the traditional picture of Ramadan."

"But even though my grandfather did not celebrate with us, he did respect the holiday. I remember him giving my younger brother a clap for teasing me with food when I was fasting. Even though he wasn’t fasting with me, he honored my decision."

"I’ll never forget the night during Ramadan that my puzzle of a family and I piled into our van to see the Christmas lights. We sang Jewish, Christmas and Dawud Wharnsby songs. (Watch the YouTube video “We’ve scanned the sky Dawud Wharnsby.”) My family of different cultures and religions were all celebrating together, enjoying each other’s company and acknowledging our diverse faiths. Although our coexistence was rough at times, it was built out of respect and real love."

Continue reading: Ramadan is truly a month of diversity and spirituality, The Saudi Gazette, Tuesday, 01 September 2009 - 11 Ramadan 1430 H

U.S. Views on God and Life Are Turning Hindu ~ Newsweek

We Are All Hindus Now

By Lisa Miller NEWSWEEK
Published Aug 15, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Aug 31, 2009

"America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that's the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan—nation, either. A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity." continue reading

on the same shelf:

• Newsweek says “We Are All Hindus Now”August 18th, 2009 - 11:02 am ICT by sampurn
• We are all Hindus now, so let's say 'Om': Newsweek, ZOPAG.com

Whatever has happened to Hell?

Note: Visualization of spirituality / secularism with a different mindmap, as depicted by Susan White in the following. Read the note by Dr. Kumar, below on this mindmap.

by Dr. Sehdev Kumar Editorial. SouthAsianObserver.com

Extract: In the spirit of emerging Gaia consciousness - the earth consciousness - an Australian artist, Susan White portrays Seven Deadly Sins in a modern version: Indifference replaces Anger; Sucking Up Envy; Self-Effacement Pride; Celibacy Lust; Dieting Gluttony; Workcoholism Sloth, and Squandering Avarice, all watched by the all-seeing eye of Gaia rather than of God.

Yet despite all, on life’s slippery slopes, at some tortuous moments, hell does become an unbearable reality for all of us in one form or another. The Pursuit of Happiness seems so often an illusion; we are tormented by the meaninglessness of life, and by its frailty, and by its unexpected twists and turns. Sweet fragrance turns sour; youth slips away; innocence becomes icy; spring seems far, far away. One then looks towards the door on Dante’s Inferno, and reads a sign: “Abandon all hope ye who enter here”.

Life without Hope! Could this be the meaning of Hell? continue reading

On the same shelf:

The 7 Deadly Sins Sampler ~ Daniel Born

Pride • Envy • Anger • Sloth • Greed • Gluttony • Lust

Ten Things You Can Do to Build Religion-Labor Partnerships

by Kim Bobo
Partnerships between the religious community and labor community are growing at an unprecedented pace. In 2001, seminary and rabbinical students worked directly for labor unions as part of the Seminary Summer program. An emerging network of labor coalitions around the country is systematically reaching out to people of faith in support of critical labor issues. Hundreds of cities participate in the Labor in the Pulpits program every Labor Day. The national AFL-CIO leadership has consistently met and worked with national religious leadership and has urged it's regional staff and affiliates across the nation to build partnerships. continue reading

Quality of Life -- Spiritual Thoughts Re-Visited

"Spiritual well-being is considered by some to be the most significant dimension of quality of life, and may also be the least well understood. Until recently, the concept of spirituality was considered to be faith-based or religious in nature. Although religion may well be a part of the spiritual dimension of quality of life, there are many other aspects of this dimension to be considered. Spiritual well-being encompasses uncertainty, religiosity, the meaning of illness and suffering, the purpose of life, transcendence (lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience) and hopefulness. It is not difficult to see how a diagnosis of cancer can lead to self-doubt and conflict with one's beliefs. In contrast, some will find meaning and solace through reliance on their strong spiritual foundation." continue reading: From the desk of the Laura Hilderley, R.N., M.S., Member, Rhode Island Cancer Council, Inc. December 2001 Quality of Life

Solar eclipse scares Indian mothers-to-be

By Harmeet Shah Singh, CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- While many now recognize the scientific explanation for a solar eclipse, the phenomenon is still marked with tradition and sometimes suspicion in Hindu-majority India. continue reading