Refugee stories are part of our common history. Prophet Muhammad was a refugee. Jesus was a refugee. Mary, his mother, was a refugee. Joseph, too. Moses was a refugee. Abraham was a refugee. Rejecting the most vulnerable among us is an affront to the prophets. How would Muhammad himself approach a refugee crisis? I answered…… Continue reading A Prophetic Call To Welcome Refugees – Muhammad’s Example
I sometimes think about the glories of “Islamic Spain,” or Al-Andalus. Starting around 711 and ending in 1492, Muslim rulers maintained a spirit of convivencia, a Spanish term meaning “living in togetherness” or “coexistence”, which allowed for an unprecedented level of interfaith engagement on the European continent. While Al-Andalus may represent the pinnacle of cooperation among Muslims, Christians…… Continue reading The Other Al-Andalus – When Muslims and Christians Flourished Side By Side in Sicily
The following short collection lists eight of the most important monuments in the world in terms of interfaith dialogue and interfaith relations. By the term “monument” I refer to a building or structure created to commemorate a person, event, or social bond which has significance in regards to improving relations between the Abrahamic faiths. The eight monuments documented here…… Continue reading The 8 Most Important Interfaith Monuments in the World
Thanks to what RTE should be on YouTube for filming this discussion and writing up the following short description about Dr. Boyle’s book. *** United Ireland, Human Rights and International Law Dr Francis A. Boyle Professor of International Law, University of Illinois During the past three decades, international legal expert Francis A. Boyle has dealt with…… Continue reading The “Irish Famine” Constituted Genocide – A Discussion With Dr. Francis Boyle
In 2003, Nelson Mandela visited Ireland when we hosted the Special Olympics. As part of his visit, he travelled to NUI Galway to receive an honorary degree. The Corrs played at an event after the ceremony. Nelson Mandela was, quite literally, first on the dancefloor. He rolled out his trademark dance – known as the…… Continue reading Video: When Nelson Mandela danced to an Irish tune in Galway
By Craig Considine George Washington’s birthday, celebrated annually on Febr. 22nd, is an opportunity to reflect upon his exemplary character and the example he set for future generations of Americans. While much is known about Washington’s military service and political career, less is known about his attitude towards religious freedom and his relationships with Muslims.…… Continue reading U.S. President George Washington – A Friend of Muslims in His Midst
On Monday I visited the Dover Rug Company in Natick, Massachusetts for an interview with CEO Mahmud Jafri, who happens to be a very down-to-earth and insightful man. Mahmud is a successful businessman who happens to also be a proud Bostonian, American, Muslim and Pakistani. When I was entering the Dover Rug building, I noticed a…… Continue reading Norman Rockwell’s “Golden Rule” Painting
You can read more about the life of Akbar the Great in my Huffington Post Religion article, “Finding Tolerance in Akbar, the Philosopher-King”
Akbar the Great, ruler of the Mughal Empire during the late 16th and early 17th century, was a true pioneer of interfaith dialogue. Akbar’s desire to build interfaith bridges is clear in a letter he wrote in 1582 to King Philip II of Spain” “As most men are fettered by bonds of tradition, and by imitating…… Continue reading Akbar the Great a Pioneer in Interfaith Dialogue
Michael Francis Considine, my great-grandfather, was born on September 4th, 1884 in Ennis, County Clare (Ireland). He was born to Michael Considine (born in 1861 and died in 1936) and Bridget O’Loughlin Considine (Ni Larkin; born in 1851 and died in 1909). Michael Francis later lived with his family in Kilmoon Parish, Lisdoonvarna, which he would later…… Continue reading Amazing photographs of Irish forefathers
The Jesuits, members of a religious order of Christianity founded in the 16th century, have entered the public spotlight after the election of Pope Francis I, himself a Jesuit. In reading more about the their philosophy, I stumbled across an interesting story about one of their missions to the court of Akbar the Great of…… Continue reading Pope Francis I, Akbar the Great, and the Jesuits
George Washington’s birthday, celebrated annually on Febr. 22nd, is an opportunity to reflect upon his exemplary character and the example he set for future generations of Americans. While much is known about Washington’s military service and political career, less is known about his attitude towards religious freedom and his relationships with Muslims. Looking closely at…… Continue reading George Washington Was a Friend of Muslims
Columbus Day. A day where many Americans celebrate the ‘discovery’ of America. Why do we glorify it? For us thinking people, we realize that Columbus didn’t discover anything. In fact, he stumbled across a civilization, which he wrote about in his famous diary: They… brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many…… Continue reading The Stupidity of Celebrating Columbus’s ‘Discovery’
The world can easily be turned upside down. Old cultures and civilizations can be uprooted at the flick of a switch. Do you ever wonder about previous cultures? Do you ponder their origins and what made them tick? What happened to them? Did we learn from them? Sometimes you have to get lost to be…… Continue reading Video: Native Nature
To be a member of the Know Nothing Party, one had to be ‘a native born citizen, a Protestant, born of Protestant parents, reared under Protestant influence, and not united in marriage with a Roman Catholic’. In addition, members of the Know Nothing Party had to take a pledge to prevent ‘the insidious policy of…… Continue reading Déjà vu and the Tea Party
I just had a Twitter conversation with a presumably white, southern man who had argued that the real definition of the Confederate flag is pride in the confederacy and states rights and only these two things. I told him that he needs to be careful with such bold definitions because this was his subjective interpretation. He proceeded…… Continue reading What Does the Confederate Flag Mean?
We can gain a sense of young Benjamin Franklin’s thoughts on religion in A Witch Trial at Mount Holly, which raised the concern of his Puritan parents that he held ‘erroneous’ religious opinions. Franklin was not himself an emphatically religious man; while he believed in God, he did not subscribe to one particular creed. What we do…… Continue reading Benjamin Franklin’s Case for Pluralism
Muslim Americans are often harassed and forced to defend themselves against controversial verses in their holy text – the Qur’an. One of these verses is Surah 9:5 (the ‘kill the infidel’ verse). I am not a Muslim, but I still have concerns over how ‘experts’ say Muslims kill because the Qur’an tells them to (Representative…… Continue reading An easy way to debunk a common myth (‘kill the infidel’) of Islam
WE SHOULD THEREFORE… Declare war on Heart Disease Attack McDonald’s and then all fast food chains Declare war on Cancer Attack Marlboro and then all cigarette companies Declare war on Air Safety Attack Boeing Declare war on Automobiles Attack Ford, Mercedes, and Honda so to make sure we are fighting around the world Declare war…… Continue reading Graph that puts the ‘threat’ of terrorism in perspective
An inviting path, under the shade of a gigantic tree and the shadow of a bird flying above. The bird chirps, as another one sings. The aura is over me. * There’s an opening ahead, where the water, crashing at the falls eliminates the silence. There, on a small cliff, I stand, embracing the mist, which, ever…… Continue reading Poem: Spirit at Hemlock George
In his book The Cube and the Cathedral, George Weigel turns to Joseph Weiler’s ‘Christophobia’ theory to discuss the ‘European problem’ (or the struggle for cultural and moral supremacy between atheistic humanists (secularists) and Christians). ‘Christophobia’, which resists any acknowledgement of the Christian sources of Europe’s democracy, has eight key features, as outlined by Weigel,…… Continue reading Religion: Meet Christophobia
This archive documents my writings from the ‘Journey into America’ book and documentary project. The writings here are my own personal opinions and don’t necessarily reflect the overall message of ‘Journey into America’. Most of these entires are ‘notes in the field’, but you may also find published articles. In addition, included here are short…… Continue reading My diary: 1 year, 100 cities, 75 mosques, and one question…
Note: Christian Smith of the University of Notre Dama recently wrote an important piece in Footnotes of the American Sociological Association on the importance of taking the sociology of religion seriously. Essentially, Smith wonders ‘why, when it comes to religion, do so many sociologists suddenly stop being sociological and become ideological and ignorant?’ The…… Continue reading Religion: The science of the sociology of religion
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