Religion Gone Astray: What We Found at the Heart of Interfaith

Front Cover
SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2011 - Religion - 170 pages

Welcome to the deeper dimensions of interfaith dialogue--exploring that which divides us personally, spiritually and institutionally.

"We believe that interfaith dialogue holds the key to a healing that calls us back to purpose and to meaning. We have risked confronting aspects of our traditions usually hidden, and the consequences have been deeply life-affirming. We risk becoming vulnerable as we share awkward and even unacceptable texts and interpretations, but it is this very vulnerability that allows our dialogue to move forward."
--from the Introduction

Expanding on the conversation started with their very successful first book, the Interfaith Amigos--a pastor, a rabbi and an imam--probe more deeply into the problem aspects of our religious institutions to provide a profound understanding of the nature of what divides us. They identify four common problem areas in the Abrahamic faiths:

  • Exclusivity Staking Claim to a One and Only Truth
  • Violence Justifying Brutality in the Name of Faith
  • Inequality of Men and Women The Patriarchal Stranglehold on Power
  • Homophobia A Denial of Legitimacy

They explore the origins of these issues and the ways critics use these beliefs as divisive weapons. And they present ways we can use these vulnerabilities to open doors for the collaboration required to address our common issues, more profound personal relationships, and true interfaith healing.

 

Contents

CHAPTER
15
CHAPTER
51
CHAPTER THREE
81
CHAPTER FOUR
111
CHAPTER FIVE
139
CONCLUSION
159
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About the author (2011)

Imam Jamal Rahman is a beloved teacher and retreat leader whose passion for helping people deepen their spiritual lives and cultivate interfaith understanding has inspired audiences throughout the world. He has been featured in the New York Times, on CBS News, the BBC and many NPR programs. He is cofounder and Muslim Sufi minister at Interfaith Community Sanctuary, adjunct faculty at Seattle University and a former host of Interfaith Talk Radio. He is author of Sacred Laughter of the Sufis: Awakening the Soul with the Mulla's Comic Teaching Stories & Other Islamic Wisdom and Spiritual Gems of Islam: Insights & Practices from the Qur'an, Hadith, Rumi & Muslim Teaching Stories to Enlighten the Heart & Mind (both SkyLight Paths) and The Fragrance of Faith: The Enlightened Heart of Islam; and coauthor of Getting to the Heart of Interfaith: The Eye-Opening, Hope-Filled Friendship of a Pastor, a Rabbi & an Imam and Religion Gone Astray: What We Found at the Heart of Interfaith (both SkyLight Paths), among other books.

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