Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

“I am convinced that the kids from the most challenging circumstances are also the grittiest, the most determined. and have the biggest capacity for compassion," says buildOn's founder Jim Ziolkowski.

Watch Buddhist teacher and author Lewis Richmond explain a Buddhist approach to old age and read an excerpt from his book "Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser."

“Kindness is one of the gifts older people can bring to a society, because they have seen what happens when kindness disappears from the world. It’s not pretty.”

“The public and political impact of lived religion across the planet is huge,” says Shaun Casey, head of the new State Department Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives.

This Grammy-Award-winning artist’s new album, "spirityouall," includes his interpretations of classic African-American spirituals as well as songs he composed. Through all of them he hears the influence of his father, Robert McFerrin, Sr., who was an operatic baritone.

“To me, just being is a religious experience. Just being is holy.”

Watch Bobby McFerrin's recent performance of "Fix Me Jesus" in the Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis.

“Our main goal is not to cause any harm or additional stress to families,” says Nancy Spinner, head of genomic diagnostics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

"I’d like people to know that there are a lot of people in this country who are into dialogue, education, getting to know one another, trying to, trying to live together," says Rabbi Ron Kronish, director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Jerusalem.

"Priests generally do not talk about it. And most dioceses in the United States have no services, or very limited services, for victims of domestic violence," says Father Charles Dahm, who is leading a campaign in Chicago to change that.

Last year was the 75th anniversary of the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant near Palmyra, New York, a lavish outdoor theatrical production of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based on the Book of Mormon.

The primary goal of the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, New York "is to reach out to people who might be curious about what makes Mormons tick...It's really a non-threatening way to get some connection to this religion," says Brent Hanson, artistic director of the pageant.

Latin American liberation theologians, according to Rev Thomas Reese, SJ, say the pope may not use the words liberation theology, ”but he certainly talks the talk: his concern for the poor, his desire to empower the poor to take responsibility and to be part of the community—this is very important for him. He doesn’t use the word liberation theology, but his message is very close to it.”

When Sikhs began to restore their gurdwara in Oak Creek, “I saw the spirit of chardi kala, everlasting hope and optimism, in the community,” recalls activist Valarie Kaur.

"In more than 100 years of living and working in this country it was the first time the Sikh community entered national attention. It was the first time we stood in the national spotlight. It took a butchering for it to happen but it was a moment when the kind of love and support that was expressed was something that made Sikhs feel like they too were seen as fellow Americans."