The opening week of 2017 saw the publication of a remarkable book, Letters to a Young Muslim, written by Omar Saif Ghobash, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to Russia. Letters is a series of reflections about Islam explicitly addressed to the author’s teenage son but also, implicitly, to the entire Muslim Ummah, or worldwide community.
The book doubtlessly will stick in the craws of Americans who persist in believing, contrary to both evidence and common sense, that Islam is a monolithic cult of hatred and violence. It will also infuriate ISIS thugs besotted by their violence-soaked vision of a resurrected caliphate.

There’s no finesse, no gradation of virtues or vices, no gray moral zone, no room for compassion or letting-live, in either the Islamist or Christian zealot world.

Across the contemporary far right, perhaps no sound carries further than the chorus of moaning that emanates from the “Manosphere.” ...............

Donovan is emblematic of DiBranco’s theory that misogyny is a predominant force within the contemporary far-right, one that is uniting leaders of varying movements, opening them up to new audiences and vice versa.

By the grace of God, Rev. Dr. Barber, along with local, state, and national NAACP leaders, has helped to lead the fight for voter rights, just redistricting, health care reform, labor and worker rights, protection of immigration rights, and reparation for women survivors of Eugenics, release of the Wilmington Ten and educational equality.  Rev. Dr. Barber has been arrested three times for civil disobedience as he stood for educational, economic and equal justice.

My last post, addressed to white, Christian Trump supporters and calling for dialogue about common ground, brought an overwhelming response, including emails from a number of conservative readers. As I read and responded to emails, I noticed some things that have led me to respond and continue the conversation............

Still this leaves me wondering. While the conservative folks who emailed me did not vote for Trump in the primaries, obviously a lot of conservative Christians did. How do conservative Christians explain Christian support for Trump in the primaries (particularly when there were many other candidates who demonstrated a much more authentic Christian identity)? And why aren’t more conservative Christians calling out Trump’s ongoing bad behavior?

Five years ago, I was marching in Washington D.C. in a very different kind of women’s march. I was a self-described social conservative and evangelical Christian then, joining other young, conservative interns to participate in the March for Life to “protect” the rights of the unborn and “save” future generations of women from the “scourge” of abortion and Planned Parenthood....................
After much introspection and research, I embarked on a new spiritual path, one that was not at odds with my growing social consciousness and that viewed my pursuit of justice and social activism as a mitzvah, or commandment.

New York City’s interfaith activists are getting ready to show President Donald Trump that they’re willing to stand in solidarity with their Muslim neighbors..............

The Nusantara Foundation, a Muslim interfaith advocacy organization run by Imam Shamsi Ali, and the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, a non-profit dedicated to strengthening inter-ethnic cooperation, are helping to organize the event. FFEU is spearheaded by Rabbi Marc Schneier and the hip-hop artist Russell Simmons. Women’s March organizer Linda Sarsour will also reportedly be at the event.

Repairers of the Breach, Inc. is a nonpartisan and ecumenical organization that seeks to build a progressive agenda rooted in a moral framework to counter the ultra-conservative constructs that try to dominate the public square. Repairers will help frame public policies which are not constrained or confined by the narrow tenets of neo-conservatism. Repairers will bring together clergy and lay people from different faith traditions, with people without a spiritual practice but who share the moral principles at the heart of the great moral teachings. Repairers will expand a “school of prophets” who can broadly spread the vision of a nation that is just and loving.