There is no them - there is only us, celebrating our common humanity
Whatever your spiritual path, chances are that the primary tenets of your faith include universal love, acceptance, and compassion. Yet three thousand years after Moses, twenty-five hundred years after the Buddha, two thousand years after Jesus, and fifteen hundred years after Muhammad, we are still divided by our differences. Religious intolerance, discrimination, even persecution and violence make up the not-so-golden rule.
The Interfaith Alternative shows us how we can celebrate each other without fear of losing our own identity. It illuminates the path to creating a nurturing spiritual community that honors and includes all religious languages-an alternative to Jews worshiping only with Jews, Christians with Christians, and Muslims with Muslims. In doing so, it demonstrates that through coming together in a mutually supportive environment we can concentrate on our shared desire to remake the world into a compassionate, loving place.
At its core, Interfaith is about community and justice. Once we truly embrace diversity, we embrace our common humanity. A powerful antidote to the current climate of fear and mistrust, The Interfaith Alternative argues that it is not how we encounter the sacred, but what we do about it that counts-there are positive alternatives to religious lines in the sand.
Steven Greenebaum is an Interfaith minister whose experiences directing choirs of different faiths and denominations have helped him to understand the profound wisdom of many spiritual traditions. Steven has dedicated his life to working for social and environmental justice. He is the founder of the Living Interfaith Church in Lynnwood, Washington.
THERE IS NO THEM. THERE IS ONLY US, CELEBRATING OUR COMMON HUMANITY
¿embracing the vision of The Interfaith Alternative could bring about a startling new paradigm which might at last nudge us towards our mutual goal of world harmony, beginning one community at a time...right here, right now.
¿ Dilara Hafiz, co-author of The American Muslim Teenager's Handbook
Whatever your spiritual path, chances are that the primary tenets of your faith include universal love, acceptance and compassion. Yet three thousand years after Moses, twenty-five hundred years after Buddha, two thousand years after Jesus and fifteen hundred after Muhammad, we are still divided by our differences.
The Interfaith Alternative shows us how we can celebrate each other without fear of losing our own identity. In doing so, it demonstrates that if we come together in a mutually supportive environment, we can share, learn from and celebrate our diverse spiritual paths and concentrate on our shared desire to remake the world into a compassionate, loving place.
At its core, Interfaith is about community and justice. Once we truly embrace diversity, we embrace our common humanity. A powerful antidote to the current climate of fear and mistrust, The Interfaith Alternative argues that it is not how we encounter the sacred, but what we DO about it that counts ¿ Muslim, Jew, Christian, Humanist, Buddhist or Bahäi; we are all called to change the world.
Our way or no way¿ is no longer an inviting principle. Steven Greenebaum offers an enlightening alternative which is about ¿inclusion¿ and not ¿exclusion. ¿ Wesley Yamaka, retired United Methodist clergy
This book ¿ invites our spiritual traditions to reclaim the centrality of ¿orthopraxy¿ -- acting with compassion to build a world of justice and peace. Steven Greenebaum is Karen Armstrong with a pastor¿s heart .
¿ John Heagle, Catholic priest, counselor, author of Justice Rising: The Emerging Biblical Vision
Reverend Steven Greenebaum is an Interfaith Minister with Masters Degrees in Mythology, Music and Pastoral Studies. His experiences directing Jewish, Methodist, Presbyterian and Interfaith choirs have helped him to understand the profound wisdom of many spiritual traditions. Steven has dedicated his life to working for social and environmental justice through a multitude of forums. He is the founder of the Living Interfaith Church in Lynnwood, Washington.
I'm a devoted Methodist, but I'm also a devoted hiker, and in the latter capacity have noted that many trails will take you to the mountaintop as long as you keep going up. This book is a timely and useful challenge to all people of faith to think about what it means to live in a pluralistic world.
-- Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth and The End of Nature
The Interfaith Alternative is a bold call to concrete action and mutual respect for spiritually-minded people from all faith perspectives. I believe embracing the vision of The Interfaith Alternative could bring about a startling new paradigm which might at last nudge us towards our mutual goal of world harmony, beginning one community at a time...right here, right now.
---Dilara Hafiz, co-author of The American Muslim Teenager's Handbook
The Interfaith Alternative is a book for those who seek some honesty in religious circles. The “our way or no way” is no longer an inviting principle. Steven Greenebaum offers an enlightening alternative which is about “inclusion” and not “exclusion.”
---Wesley Yamaka, retired United Methodist clergy
This book is both challenging and inviting. It challenges religion’s current obsession with orthodoxy (being ‘right’), and invites our spiritual traditions to reclaim the centrality of ‘orthopraxy’ (acting with compassion to build a world of justice and peace). Steven Greenebaum is Karen Armstrong with a pastor’s heart.
---John Heagle is a Catholic priest, counselor, and the author of Justice Rising: The Emerging Biblical Vision (Orbis Books, 2011).
