Tag Archives: interfaith

How to Teach Religion Today – Example: Purim

photo of poster called Spring Rules!Matt, the Jewish father in an interfaith family with two young girls, shared with me this story:
His mother, the girls’ Jewish grandmother, asked if he would raise the girls Jewish. “Yes,” he said, “but it won’t look like the Jewish I was raised with, or the Jewish you, Mom, were raised with. It will look like the Jewish they will be raised with.”

Now more than ever we need models for teaching religion to today’s youth in ways that lay the foundation for a new form of religious identity in a safe, loving, and just world. And I mean World. Education is no longer a singular ethnic communal concern. Today we must consider how we fit with others on our shared planet. How are we —the grown ups in the room— supposed to do that?

Religious and secular educators need good examples of lessons that work. Continue reading How to Teach Religion Today – Example: Purim

“Minefields & Miracles” Reviewed

“You don’t really know someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”

MMFnlcoversmallTo read Minefields and Miracles: Why God and Allah Need to Talk by Ruth Broyde Sharone is to walk in the shoes of a serious and accomplished interfaith activist. Readers will see the difference that one person can and is making in this world. I happen to know Ruth and I can tell you that conversations with her are as inspiring as her memoir, if not more. Continue reading “Minefields & Miracles” Reviewed

“Life of Pi” ~ An Evolutionary Religion Teacher’s Dream on Screen

Poster for the movie, Life of Pi. How many literary characters can you name who embrace three religions? 

In Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee and based on the winning novel by Yann Martel, we meet Pi, a Hindu-Christian-Muslim. Since most religions build their ideologies around stories, this film prods us to consider the ways in which faith, story, and life converge both on and off the screen.

Continue reading “Life of Pi” ~ An Evolutionary Religion Teacher’s Dream on Screen