This article was co-authored by Peter Dziedzic and Nic Cable, active students in the interfaith movement at DePaul. Both Peter and Nic are regular contributors to this blog and serve in leadership capacities through DePaul Interfaith and University Ministry.
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Often, the American government is perceived to be a bulwark of obscurity and indecisiveness, an agent of mismanagement and intrusion. There are times, however, where we do encounter an initiative or program that truly emphasizes the humanity of all people, the narrative of our common struggle for freedom and social justice, and our fight for a better nation and a better world. Continue reading →
Dana Coffey is a Junior at DePaul University, pursuing a double major in Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies, and Theater Studies.
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A couple of days ago, my facebook newsfeed was filled with these status’:
“President Obama has decided that there will no longer be a “National day of prayer” held in May. He doesn’t want to offend anybody. Where was his concern about offending Christians last January when he allowed the Muslims to hold a day of prayer on the capitol grounds. As a Christian American “I am offended.” if you agree copy and paste no matter what religion you are” Continue reading →
This article was written by Peter Dziedzic, a sophomore at DePaul, who is pursuing a double major in Religious Studies and English. Peter is the co-President of DePaul Interfaith and member of the Executive Committee of the Better Together Campaign at DePaul University.
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As a human, an empathy-oriented and rationally-driven being, it is not hard to find myself disgusted with any number of prospects and situations in my life, my city, my country, or my world. When struggling with my own confusion in this quickening life, I turn to the words of J.M. Coetzee, “all creatures come into the world bringing with them the memory of justice.” We are weaned off of youthful idealism by the hard hammerings of a fast-paced and trying society, and decide that true peace is unattainable. We settle for injustice, for complacency, for a status quo of imperfection. Continue reading →
This blog post was submitted by Nicholas R. Lang, a senior at DePaul University. Nick serves as Media Intern for the Interfaith Youth Core and is a resident of the Vincent and Louise House on campus. He is also a co-founder and co-president of DePaul A.V. Club.
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On January 8th, I found out about the shooting of Representative Giffords the same way that most millenials probably did: through a Facebook status update.
At a sharp 3:00 P.M., Cormac Molloy was “shocked that someone shot rep. giffords!”
Initially, I sat unfazed, as the constant barrage of celebrity and semi-celebrity Facebook eulogies can leave even the most dedicated techie in a stupor. I didn’t know whom Giffords was, who shot her or what state she represented, and so I let the moment pass me by with a simple refresh. Continue reading →
This article was written by Peter Dziedzic, a sophomore at DePaul, who is pursuing a double major in Religious Studies and English. Peter is the co-President of DePaul Interfaith and member of the Executive Committee of the Better Together Campaign at DePaul University.
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The world is not at peace.
A decade into the millennium, hate crimes still plague our neighborhoods, acts of terrorism claim the lives of innocents at unsuspecting intervals, and fear and mistrust have kept our communities from attaining local and global harmony.
This past year was scarred by acts of religious intolerance, not only here in America, but also abroad. While we’ve been exposed to issues of Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism here in the United States – Qur’ans threatened and burned, mosques defaced and denied, bomb threats and deeply-etched swastikas at synagogues – we must also be aware of such issues abroad. Continue reading →
This blog post was submitted by Nicholas R. Lang, a senior at DePaul University. Nick serves as Media Intern for the Interfaith Youth Core and is a resident of the Vincent and Louise House on campus. He is also a co-founder and co-president of DePaul A.V. Club.
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When we talk about Islamophobia, we generally talk about such hate as a phenomenon very much in the present. The Park51 and Shariah law controversies have made Americans and our media hyperaware of the state of Islamophobia in 2010, as if we are experiencing intolerance anew.
However, while watching the Muslim-Christian episode of Morgan Spurlock’s late, great reality series, “30 Days,” I made an interesting discovery.
For those who haven’t seen the program, each episode more or less follows a similar format. People are made to live with each other for 30 days and at the beginning feel Very Different. By the credits, they find out that they Aren’t Really That Different. Continue reading →
This article was written by Peter Dziedzic, a sophomore at DePaul, who is pursuing a double major in Religious Studies and English. Peter is the co-President of DePaul Interfaith and member of the Executive Committee of the Better Together Campaign at DePaul University.
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The 20th annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Illinois began and ended in a way that solidified one of the great themes of interfaith engagement – we joined together in singing American folk songs, recalling the common narrative the binds our diverse religious and cultural backgrounds together, reminding us that among the many expressions of faith and spirituality, there is a thread that unites us as spiritual brothers and sisters. It unites our hearts in acknowledgement of the sacred mysteries and values of life, and turns our attention from fear and mistrust to joy and peace.
That thread is prayer.
We were introduced and exposed to expressions of prayer in a variety of traditions, ranging from Jews and Christians to Sikhs and Zoroastrians. Some sang, some spoke, some recited from holy scriptures, but in the varied means of prayer, we were united in our acknowledgement of life. Continue reading →
This blog post was submitted by Nicholas R. Lang, a senior at DePaul University. Nick serves as Media Intern for the Interfaith Youth Core and is a resident of the Vincent and Louise House on campus. He is also a co-founder and co-president of DePaul A.V. Club.
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When I heard about Tyler Clementi for the first time, I looked into the face of a stranger. I didn’t know his middle name or what he was really like, but when I heard that he had leapt off of a bridge to take his own life, I cried. When I heard about Tyler Clementi for the first time, I saw that many commentators and bloggers were confused by this sudden suicide, said that they couldn’t fathom the incredible loneliness that leads to such a drastic action. Continue reading →
This article was written by Peter Dziedzic, a sophomore at DePaul, who is pursuing a double major in Religious Studies and English. Peter is the co-President of DePaul Interfaith and member of the Executive Committee of the Better Together Campaign at DePaul University.
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The words that constantly reverberate through the energy-rattled and ticked corners of my brain, fresh from D.C. and IFYC’s Interfaith Leadership Institute, come from President Barack Obama’s address at Cairo University, “Faith should bring us together…Around the world, we can turn dialogue into interfaith service, so bridges between people can lead to action.”
I can think of no better call to action than the words above, and no better distillation of energy than the experience described below. Continue reading →
This article was written by Peter Dziedzic, a sophomore at DePaul, who is pursuing a double major in Religious Studies and English. Peter is the co-President of DePaul Interfaith and member of the Executive Committee of the Better Together Campaign at DePaul University.
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As I write this, I am putting together the last few essential tidbits for my weekend excursion to D.C. for IFYC’s Interfaith Leadership Institute. I am truly excited for this trip not only because I will be able to connect with my fellow DePaul students and brainstorm on how to utilize what we learn in D.C. on campus, but also because we will be exposed to the raw, bustling energy of the growing interfaith movement.
As the program states, we will be trained, as interfaith leaders, on how to mobilize, sustain, and integrate interfaith action and cooperation on our campuses. Our focus, when we come back, will be to promote and integrate our Better Together campaign on campus, because when we set aside our differences and collectively work for the attainment of a common, shared goal, we truly are better together. The Institute will be an exciting experience to gain the training that will be beneficial to integrating interfaith work in our student experience, and I fully intend to come back to DePaul ready to promote interfaith cooperation. Continue reading →
