Religion versus Spiritualityby Joseph McCann
from the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue
Nowadays, people commonly say: “I am not religious—but I am spiritual.” These are not new ideas. The distinction between “Spirituality” and “Religion” has been around for a long time, though the meanings have changed.
“Spirituality” begins as a distinction between the spiritual moral realm and the moral realm of fleshly desires, for example, when Paul the Apostle advises the early Christians to go into training, to subdue their lower desires in favor of heavenly things. But Paul was a Jew and that was a Jewish distinction. Confusion soon arose with the Greek distinction between soul and body, which was not the same thing at all. Then a political perspective arose in the Middle Ages between the responsibility of the Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. Some of the Reformers pointed to a contrast between the experience of religious oppression in the established churches and the spiritual and personal faith of the children of God. Our contemporary notions of the spiritual reflect undertones from this conceptual history.
“Religion” too is a western European idea, rooted in the notion of “binding people together” with their family, their country and their gods. It came to refer especially to the opening of the human to the transcendent, that is, to that which goes beyond the individual, including whatever is “the other,” “the certain,” “the sacred,” and “the holy.”
Click here to download the full article (pdf)
Ramadan: A Month-Long Spiritual Gym
by Imam Abdullah Antepli
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. This is the month in which the Holy Qur’an started to be revealed to prophet Muhammad. So Ramadan marks the historical birth of Islam as the youngest sibling of the Abrahamic family. Ramadan has been primarily a joyful celebration of this birth in prayerful and devotional ways for the last fourteen hundred years by Muslims of all different backgrounds.
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Why the Buddha Touched the Earth
by John Stanley and David Loy
In one of Buddhism’s iconic images, Gautama Buddha sits in meditation with his left palm upright on his lap, while his right hand touches the earth. Demonic forces have tried to unseat him, because their king, Mara, claims that place under the bodhi tree. As they proclaim their leader’s powers, Mara demands that Gautama produce a witness to confirm his spiritual awakening. The Buddha simply touches the earth with his right hand, and the Earth itself immediately responds: “I am your witness.”
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Jews and Muslims in America: more in common than we think
by Joshua M. Z. Stanton
Contrary to common assumptions, many Jewish and Muslim Americans enjoy warm relations. Yet we are only beginning to understand how and why this is so. A Gallup report released last week goes a long way to explaining this unexpected trend, which shows that the two diverse communities have more in common than is often thought.
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Upcoming Opportunities:
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Training for Interreligious Organizing
September 18, 2011
Islamic Foundation, Villa Park, IL.
What skills do religious communities need to a make a difference?
- Learn the tools of effective organizing
- Develop an action plan for your community or organization
Presenters include:
Michael Gecan, Industrial Areas Foundation
Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
Kim Bobo, Interfaith Worker Justice
Michael McConnell, American Friends Service Committee
Youth Organizer from the Interfaith Youth Core
Learn More...
Equipping Religious Leaders
for Interreligious Work
 September 14, 2011
10:00am U.S. Central Time
Alon Goshen-Gottstein
Executive Director 
Elijah Interfaith Institute
Alon Goshen-Gottstein is the director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute and lecturer and director of the Center for the Study of Rabbinic Thought, Beit Morasha College, both in Jerusalem. He was ordained a rabbi in 1977. Projects of the Elijah Interfaith Institute include the bi-annual meeting of the board of World Religious Leaders, the Educational Network, as well as the Jewish and the Muslim Theology of the Religious Other. Learn More...
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