Christianity

For American Jews, interfaith weddings are a new normal – and creatively weave both traditions together

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Martedì, Maggio 28, 2024

The groom’s mother read and explained the seven blessings of a Jewish wedding; the bride’s mother read from the Quran and then provided an English translation.

Key Points:

The groom’s mother read and explained the seven blessings of a Jewish wedding; the bride’s mother read from the Quran and then provided an English translation.
The bride and groom sipped from the same cup of wine, as one does at a Jewish wedding.
My friend’s interfaith wedding might seem unusual, but it is part of the American Jewish normal.
In my research on interfaith families, I’ve seen ceremonies combine traditions in a wide array of ways.

A meaningful canopy

Sometimes the Jewish wedding canopy, called a chuppah, is simply a beautiful piece of cloth, or combined with floral arrangements.
At interfaith ceremonies, the chuppah is often a way to weave another culture into the wedding.
When Jews marry people from India – be they Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or even another Jew – they will sometimes use a sari or a shawl with distinctively Indian embroidery to make the wedding canopy.

Getting creative

Other rabbis allow another clergy person to offer a reading or take another role in the ceremony – sometimes to picturesque effect.
No matter who performs the ceremony, couples often find creative ways to incorporate their traditions into the wedding day.
Often, families will include food from the non-Jewish culture, whether it’s elaborate Italian American dinners or Chinese wedding banquets.

Tough conversations

Atmospheric Scientist Katharine Hayhoe to Receive Dickinson College's Rose-Walters Prize for Environmental Activism

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Lunedì, Maggio 13, 2024

CARLISLE, Pa., May 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Katharine Hayhoe, award-winning atmospheric scientist whose research focuses on understanding the impacts of climate change on people and the planet, will receive The Sam Rose '58 and Julie Walters Prize for Global Environmental Activism at Dickinson College.

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CARLISLE, Pa., May 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Katharine Hayhoe, award-winning atmospheric scientist whose research focuses on understanding the impacts of climate change on people and the planet, will receive The Sam Rose '58 and Julie Walters Prize for Global Environmental Activism at Dickinson College.
This annual $100,000 prize is awarded to individuals or organizations significantly impacting responsible action for the planet and its people.
Recognized as a United Nations Champion of the Earth, Hayhoe calls climate change "one of the most pressing issues we face today."
The Rose-Walters Prize has previously honored climate advocates including Elizabeth Kolbert, Mark Ruffalo, Bill McKibben and Lisa Jackson.

Sermons for Spiritual Empowerment: New Christian Book Focuses on Biblical Sermons

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Lunedì, Aprile 22, 2024

Christianity, Collection, Learning, Sermon, Jesus, Bible, Book

NEW YORK, April 22, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Christians and non-Christians may be more alike than realized, including navigating challenges during their lifetime. From ebbs and flows of personal relationships to burdens of societal expectations, the human journey may be unpredictable. Experiencing these uncertainties herself, Author Camilla (Denise) Moore offers a unique approach to resilience in her new book, "Sermons for Your Soul."

Key Points:

Experiencing these uncertainties herself, Author Camilla (Denise) Moore offers a unique approach to resilience in her new book, "Sermons for Your Soul."
"I pray my readers faith will increase as their worries decrease through the messages of God's love displayed in these sermons."
Additionally, readers may use Moore's writings as a devotional tool as the scriptures embedded in the sermons may be studied and discussed.
"I pray my readers faith will increase as their worries decrease through the messages of God's love displayed in these sermons."

The Anglican Communion has deep differences over homosexuality – but a process of dialogue, known as ‘via media,’ has helped hold contradictory beliefs together

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Martedì, Aprile 23, 2024

In the past six months, hundreds of congregations voted to leave the United Methodist Church over same-sex marriage and whether LGBTQ+ people should be clergy.

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In the past six months, hundreds of congregations voted to leave the United Methodist Church over same-sex marriage and whether LGBTQ+ people should be clergy.
With over 80 million believers in 160 countries, the Anglican Communion has been grappling with LGBTQ+ issues since the 1970s.
It is a long-standing process for navigating disputes called the “via media,” or middle way, which has thus far succeeded in holding together people with contradictory beliefs.

Controversies in the Anglican Communion

For decades, diverging points of view over homosexuality and rumors of schism have both confused and polarized believers in the global Anglican Communion.
This is part of a larger struggle within the Anglican Communion to renegotiate imbalances of power and authority left over from the colonial era of the British Empire.
In the 21st century, these churches still have most of the money in the Anglican Communion, but congregational numbers are dwindling.
That is the orthodox Anglican position.” Views like these carry great weight in the Anglican Communion, even today.

But they remain within the Anglican Communion.
The Episcopal Church in the U.S. has ordained openly gay bishops – most controversially Gene Robinson, former Bishop of New Hampshire, in 2003.
In 2016, the primates – the most senior leaders of the Anglican Communion – voted to suspend the Episcopal Church from decision-making on Anglican governance and policy for three years.

The via media

Despite such heated conflicts, the Anglican Communion holds together through the via media.
Via media was first mentioned by English reformers who broke from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century.
It is this Church of England that eventually spread globally with the British Empire to become the Anglican Communion.
In the 19th century, via media became a way of thinking about internal, rather than external, challenges, such as resolving debates over how to interpret scripture.

Holding together

It is this understanding of via media, I argue, that is holding the Anglican Communion together thus far.
Instead, it seeks to include people with deeply held but contrary beliefs within the same church through common worship and life.
The Church of England, for example, made plans for negotiations between people holding differing viewpoints before the Synod meets again in July 2024.

Lisa McClain is affiliated with her local Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Idaho. She is a professor of Gender Studies and a member of the international think tank The Inclusion Crowd as a gender expert.

Pioneering industrial refrigeration engineer, Dr Forbes Pearson, dies at 92

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Lunedì, Marzo 18, 2024

GLASGOW, Scotland, March 18, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Stephen Forbes Pearson was the first child of Stephen H Pearson, an engineer from Northumberland, and Gladys Stewart, from Glasgow. Forbes was born in Pollokshields, Glasgow, on 25 June 1931 and attended school at Paisley Grammar and then Kelvinside Academy. He was a precocious child who loved learning and absorbed facts easily, particularly about the natural sciences. In infant school, he was reprimanded for arguing with a teacher who had told the class that the earth was a sphere. "No, it's an oblate spheroid" he said. Despite a bout of pleurisy as a teenager that required a lengthy recuperation, he enjoyed playing rugby as a front row forward, where he reckoned his short legs and stocky body gave him a particular mechanical advantage.

Key Points:

Forbes was born in Pollokshields, Glasgow, on 25 June 1931 and attended school at Paisley Grammar and then Kelvinside Academy.
He spent undergraduate summer vacations working in the Rolls Royce factory at Hillington and the Tecumseh compressor factory in Michigan.
They also shared a love of language and a rather coarse sense of humour that sometimes took others by surprise.
As Chief Engineer for Sterne his work was divided between design of products, such as industrial compressors and heat exchangers, and design of industrial refrigeration systems.

God Is Ready And Willing To Be Seen And Known By His Children

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Lunedì, Marzo 11, 2024

Amazon, Religion, Salem Media Group, Multimedia, Xulon Press, NFL, Imperial Noble Consort, Western Illinois University, University, Christianity, Tourism

ANTHEM, Ariz., March 11, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Author David J. Tipton encourages readers to stop allowing church service to replace a relationship with Christ in The Great Business ($23.99, paperback, 9781662888465; $9.99, e-book, 9781662888472).

Key Points:

The Great Business is about how we might change the focus of our lives from mere religion, service, and ministry works, to Christ Himself.
In this change of focus, looking unto Jesus, I believe we will begin to see and know the living Savior," said Tipton.
Due to his father's job, Tipton moved constantly throughout his childhood, eventually attending Western Illinois University and the Evangelical Institute.
Tipton married Sally, his high school sweetheart, and the couple share four grown children.

How online Ramadan content has brought Muslim ideas around faith, worship and community into the mainstream

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Venerdì, Aprile 5, 2024

They were also confined to Muslim online spaces, such as what people refer to as “Muslim Twitter”.

Key Points:

They were also confined to Muslim online spaces, such as what people refer to as “Muslim Twitter”.
This increased visibility allows Muslim ideas around faith, worship and community to be heard and more widely engaged with.

Everyday interactions

But the question speaks profoundly to the curiosity that Ramadan practices often elicit in everyday interactions that people who are not Muslim have with those who are.
For the past three years, the BBC has run an eponymous podcast, Not Even Water, which explores experiences of Ramadan and debunks misconceptions.
It is also spurred by local residents noting the heightened buzz of activity in mosques on Ramadan evenings and on social media.
This is often taken as an opportunity to showcase good relations with Muslim communities or to acknowledge their “contributions”.

Digital tools

During COVID lockdowns, social media users introduced the hashtag #myopeniftar to connect people breaking fast in isolation.
Digital advertising, documentation and online streaming have allowed it to maintain its momentum and reach wider audiences.
The Ramadan Lights display in central London, which was introduced in 2023, is another salient example of how digital tools have been central to a project’s growth, despite the tension and contestation it has also triggered.
Digital tools and social media in particular have allowed these counterpublics to promote their Ramadan messages to a broader audience including non-Muslims.

Khadijah Elshayyal receives funding from the ESRC Laura Jones receives funding from the ESRC in her current role. She has previously received funding from the Jameel Education Foundation for her PhD research on Ramadan.

Transformative Journey Navigates World Religions and Christianity

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Giovedì, Marzo 7, 2024

The book emerged from my desire to share this transformative odyssey, offering readers a comprehensive lens to navigate world religions and Christianity.

Key Points:

The book emerged from my desire to share this transformative odyssey, offering readers a comprehensive lens to navigate world religions and Christianity.
Bisaso shares his inspiring story of seeking the creator through exploring diverse belief systems to motivate readers to take their own journey of transformation and discovery.
His thought-provoking book navigates the gamut of world religions and Christianity through a clever, informative "5-level criteria."
The book emerged from my desire to share this transformative odyssey, offering readers a comprehensive lens to navigate world religions and Christianity.

FRC Publishes New Edition of Hostility Against Churches Report Indicating a Doubling of Attacks

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Martedì, Febbraio 20, 2024

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Family Research Council (FRC) today released the newest edition of its Hostility Against Churches report, updated to include hostility incidents from calendar year 2023.

Key Points:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Family Research Council (FRC) today released the newest edition of its Hostility Against Churches report, updated to include hostility incidents from calendar year 2023.
FRC identified 436 hostility incidents in 2023—more than double the number identified in 2022 and more than eight times the number identified in 2018, the first year for which FRC collected data.
Notable findings in this report include, but are not limited to:
Over the past six years (2018-2023), FRC has identified 915 acts of hostility against U.S. churches.
In 2023, at least 436 acts of hostility against churches occurred in the United States, more than double the number identified in 2022.

Mungiki, Kenya’s violent youth gang, serves many purposes: how identity, politics and crime keep it alive

Retrieved on:

Domenica, Febbraio 11, 2024

Kenya has scores of youth gangs known for their violence and links to the politically powerful.

Key Points:

Kenya has scores of youth gangs known for their violence and links to the politically powerful.
None is more infamous than the Mungiki movement, with a past membership estimated to be at least a million.

What gave rise to Mungiki?

The early 1990s witnessed the first bout of politically instigated inter-ethnic conflict intended to diminish Kikuyu influence in local politics.
Mungiki emerged as a Kikuyu youth movement, defending the dispossessed: women, migrants and landless youth.
At this time the grouping also opposed the autocratic and corrupt government of Daniel arap Moi, a Kalenjin.
In the 1997, 2002 and 2007 parliamentary and presidential elections, leading politicians mobilised violent youth militia in support of their campaigns.
In Nairobi’s shantytowns, Mungiki activists and militia competed with other militias like Kamjesh, and the Taliban in Mathare Valley.

What are the group’s practices and beliefs?

Mungiki operates primarily in urban neighbourhoods where it combines vigilante, welfare, cultural and criminal activities.
It reaches back into Kenya’s pre-colonial and colonial history for the origins of its beliefs and practices.
The values underlying these practices continued during Kenya’s anti-colonial struggle in the 1940s and 1950s, in the liberation movement known as Mau Mau, which was predominantly Kikuyu.
These values, although modified and expanded, still form the core of Mungiki’s practices and beliefs.

Why was it banned?

Throughout its existence, the organisation has resorted to violence to recruit and keep members.
At the political level, national and local leaders may see the popularity and persistence of the movement as a threat to stability and their own hold on power.

Though banned, it hasn’t really gone away, has it?

He made public his conversion to Christianity in 2006, and on his release in 2009 he declared the movement finished.
It has a moral appeal to young men and women for stressing “clean living”, without loose sex and alcohol.
Kenyan politics are still violent, the domain of elderly, entitled men, and ridden with mistrust and corruption.

Bodil Folke Frederiksen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.