Written November 2010. Today, Muslims are celebrating Eid al-Adha, the holiest holiday in the Islamic calendar. It is similar to Christians’ Easter celebrations, in that it is the most important holiday of the year, yet the worldwide festivities and preparations are less extensive than those during the month of Ramadan (which is similar to Christmastime …
Modern day prophets
The theme of this year’s Ignatian Family Teach-In is “Prophetic lives: Caminando juntos (Walking together).” This idea is taken from the words of Oscar Romero, the former archbishop of San Salvador who was murdered while saying Mass in 1980. During the brutal civil war, he advocated for the protection of the poor in his country, …
Muslims preserve Jewish shrine in Iraq
Here's a great 3 minute video from the New York Times about a Jewish shrine in Iraq that is preserved and worshipped in by Muslims. They hope to restore it in order for Jewish pilgrims to visit the crumbling site, which is considered to be the prophet Ezekiel's burial ground. The shrine is beautiful--it's ancient …
Addressing the “insensitivity” argument
Note: This post--and others down the pipeline--were intended for last Saturday (September 11.) Though I wanted them to correspond with the anniversary of the attacks, the pieces are still relevant, I hope. This first one addresses the "insensitivity argument" and the others will come later this weekend--I hope! Homework may once again get in …
NYT: American students study in the Middle East
Here's an awesome NYT article about the increase in American students studying abroad in the Middle East. I'm hoping to study abroad in Jordan during the second semester of my junior year. Yeah, I do think it would be awesome to live in a country that shares my name and pay with Jordanian dinar (like …
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