2011-03-14T00:22:58Z Muslim interfaith activist Eboo Patel looks at how religion divides us and unites us. tag:onfaith.washingtonpost.com,2011:/onfaith/eboo_patel/642 Copyright (c) 2011, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2011-03-14T00:22:58Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-03-13:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/03/the_rss_feed_for_this_blog_has.html

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Washington Post editors 2011-03-14T13:42:17Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-03-11:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/03/america_testifies.html

By Eboo Patel and Samantha Kirby. We know why Rep. Keith Ellison cried during yesterday's King hearings. He cried because an American hero, Salman Hamdani, was suspected as a terrorist because of the simple fact of his faith. Hamdani was a first responder in New York on September 11th and sacrificed his life for his fellow Americans. His actions were those of a hero, but in the days after 9/11, you couldn't say "Muslim" without...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-03-08T15:35:36Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-03-07:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/03/i_wish_people_were_more.html

I wish people were more familiar with the name Salman Hamdani than the name Faisal Shehzad. Salman Hamdani was a first responder on Sep 11, 2001 and gave his life to save his fellow Americans. American Muslims are frustrated that we continue to be associated with the villains that we have already expelled from our community rather than the heroes who we are trying to inspire our children to emulate. Unfortunately, Representative Peter King's hearings...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-03-04T21:35:45Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-03-04:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/03/that_shameful_hateful_night.html

By Eboo Patel and Samantha Kirby. This week, lauded Christian Dior designer John Galliano was fired for anti-Semitic comments he uttered in a private conversation in a Parisian bar. He addressed those at his table with things like: "I love Hitler'' ''People like you would be dead'' and "Your mothers, your forefathers'' would all be ''gassed.'' John Galliano is gone. Christian Dior wasted no time in firing him - it doesn't matter how talented someone...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-03-02T20:00:47Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-03-02:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/03/shahbaz_bhatti_murdered.html

This morning, Shahbaz Bhatti, minister of minorities and the sole Christian in the Pakistani government, was shot to death. Mr. Bhatti had recently campaigned to reform a blasphemy law in Pakistan which calls for the death of those who speak against the Prophet Muhammad. Undoubtedly, some will say this is Islam. It's not. It's murder. Plain and simple. The Prophet Muhammad made it a clear priority that people of other faiths and traditions would feel...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-02-22T01:52:38Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-02-21:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/02/egyptian_movements_american_mo.html

Princeton, NJ There's an electric energy amongst the hundred or so student interfaith leaders gathered at the Coming Together conference at Princeton University: people their age, doing the things they do, just accomplished what most experts and analysts considered impossible as recently as a month ago. This is the new generation of American idealists. Each one is worth more than a thousand armchair analysts. Those guys specialize in pondering the present, convincing us how similar...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-02-17T19:36:34Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-02-15:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/02/dreaming_of_a_different_world.html

Today's guest blogger is Nico Lang, an intern at Interfaith Youth Core and a senior at DePaul University. Lang co-founded the Queer Intercollegiate Alliance and is the Change Coordinator for LGBT Change's The Faith Project. In middle school, I learned first-hand the ways that media diplomacy can profoundly affect our lives. Growing up queer in a community hostile to difference, watching "Will and Grace" every week with my NASCAR-worshipping stepfather ended up being a formative...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-02-14T20:13:23Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-02-14:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/02/think_jan_25_not_sep_11.html

In this Feb. 4, 2011 file photo, anti-govermnent demonstrators pray in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill, File) A few years ago I did a cable television interview on the youth bulge in majority-Muslim countries. It's a huge group, I told the anchor, and they have the potential to make a really positive contribution to the world. The images played on the screen during my interview were of young people doing training exercises...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-02-07T21:44:58Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-02-04:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/02/from_selma_to_montgomery_from.html

A Muslim holding the Koran (top L) and a Coptic Christian holding a cross are carried through opposition supporters in Tahrir Square in Cairo February 6, 2011. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez Today's guest blogger is Mustafa Abdullah, the associate organizer for CHANGE: communities helping all neighbors gain empowerment in Salem, North Carolina. He was an Interfaith Youth Core Fellow from 2009-2010. In the midst of revolution in Egypt, and with lessons from Martin Luther King Day...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-02-02T21:39:57Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-02-02:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/02/the_egyptian_revolution_an_int.html

Today's guest blogger is Frank Fredericks, executive director of World Faith, co-director of Religious Freedom USA, and president of Çöñàr Records. Seeing the Egyptian protests on American media may lead you to believe that this is an Iranian-style revolution, with a probable result being an Islamic regime. However, when you look at the details of what is happening on the ground, this is an interfaith movement. Since 2006, I have been frequenting Egypt, spending a...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-02-01T16:32:30Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-01-31:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/01/mr_president_seize_this_moment.html

An anti-Mubarack protestor watches the rally below from atop a bill board in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, Egypt on February 1, 2011. Protestors hoped to draw more than a million people to pressure President Hosni Mubarack to step down. ( Photo by Linda Davidson/ The Washington Post) Aren't these the scenes George Bush dreamed of? Democratic chants in Cairo's Liberation Square. Youthful organizers strategizing with respected international diplomats. Protesters and police officers shaking...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-01-28T14:28:00Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-01-27:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/01/the_youth_of_the_middle_east.html

Egyptian women demonstrate outside the Lawyers' Sydicate in Cairo on January 27, 2011, demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, 82-years-old, who has held on to power for more than three decades ever since the assassination of his predecessor Anwar Sadat was gunned down on October 6, 1981. (AFP PHOTO/MOHAMMED ABED) Davos, Switzerland Young people are upending the Middle East. They have both the numbers (approximately 2/3 of the Middle East is under 30)...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-01-25T16:21:27Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-01-25:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/01/todays_guest_blogger_is_hesham_1.html

Today's guest blogger is Hesham A. Hassaballa, a Chicago doctor and writer. He is co-author of the Beliefnet Guide to Islam, and his newest book is Noble Brother, the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry. Barely half a week into his new term as Governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley immersed himself in controversy by uttering these words at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church: "There may be some people here today who...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-01-14T22:22:00Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-01-14:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/01/open_letter_to_my_christian_fr.html

Today's guest blogger is Peter Hong, who pastors New Community Covenant Church, a series of urban, multiethnic churches in the heart of Chicago. Made up of people from all walks of life, New Community is passionate about bringing shalom, God's holistic peace to the world, through ministries of mercy, compassion and justice. Tolerance I am a Christian. Even more, I am a fundamentalist, but being a fundamentalist doesn't make you a terrorist. In a world...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel 2011-01-13T15:27:46Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2011-01-13:/onfaith/eboo_patel2011/01/american_gospel_1.html

"Gabby opened her eyes for the first time. She knows we are here. She knows we love her. And she knows we are rooting for her." That's when Obama shifted into American Gospel during his speech in Tucson. I usually turn to American artists and activists and preachers when I need American Gospel - Woody Guthrie, Walt Whitman, Bruce Springsteen, Martin King, John Coltrane, Jane Addams. Obama showed that he could do American Gospel...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Eboo Patel