Who Is Mary? Christian and Muslim Perspectives
Islam and Christianity are different religions; that is true. But in both faith traditions Miriam/Mary is a revered figure and someone around whom we can have important conversations. So who is Miriam in Islam and Mary in Christianity? And where is the common ground?
We gathered an impressive and knowledgeable panel in the Washington D.C. area to share from their four different perspectives - and answer audience questions - to help us learn about each other FROM each other. Our hope is that this helps us to identify our common ground, have better conversations, become better listeners, and feel more at home discussing important topics with those who see things differently than we do.
We all encounter circumstances, people, and conversations that scare us. It is natural for our defenses to automatically kick into gear, preparing us to fight or escape at any cost. This is why I am amazed whenever I meet people who instead manage to pause their defense reactions long enough to engage their curiosity and seek to better understand their partner in conflict. This kind of dialogue is truly courageous.
If you’re excited about learning Nonviolent Communication in a way that can support your desire to address larger systemic inequities in addition to supporting personal change, join us for this new eight-week training course!
Sometimes we think we know what’s going on, but in reality we don’t. We assume the situation could only be as it appears on the surface, but if we look into it further, we may find we don’t know what we think we know.
Are you fed up with hate speech, inflammatory rhetoric, and uncivil discourse in politics and social media? You can help change the angry, polarizing climate by becoming a force for peace!
Here are some practical ways to catalyze peace with wisdom. We call them the 4 R's of civil discourse.
Who is Jesus? Both Christians and Muslims believe in Jesus and revere him highly. But how do Christianity and Islam differ in regard to Jesus’s identity? How do they agree? And how should Muslims and Christians relate to one another given these similarities and differences? In order to have open conversation about Jesus, we assembled this panel to help us understand his identity from the perspective of both faiths and address common questions.
So, what do Muslims believe about Jesus? That was one question on the minds of representatives of the Valley Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Reseda, CA, on a recent evening at a local mosque. It is indeed possible to have productive and respectful conversation with those who differ from us, and these two Reseda communities are showing us the way.
We’re not just peacemakers; we’re Jesus-centered peacemakers. Here’s how we do it and how you can get started.
In peacemaking, we often talk about this kind of thing on a large scale, but it actually applies to everyday relationships and conversations, and that’s what makes this book such a gem. The principles in Crucial Conversations empower us to both talk about the hard things AND maintain relationship. They give us the tools to “talk openly about high-stakes, emotional, and controversial topics.”
"To tell you the truth, I've done the normal, 'nice' interfaith stuff, and now I want something different," my Muslim friend said as he looked down at his coffee. "I want to start a group that takes seriously working for peace, compassion, and justice - we need to stand up for each other and really work for the good of our neighbor. I think you would agree - are you interested?"
Today is International Religious Freedom Day, and today we reaffirm our support for the protection of this right for all people, Christian, Muslim, or other.