"Welcome to the Faith Club. We're three mothers from three faiths -- Islam, Christianity, and Judaism -- who got together to write a picture book for our children that would highlight the connections between our religions. But no sooner had we started talking about our beliefs and how to explain them to our children than our differences led to misunderstandings. Our project nearly fell apart."
After September 11th, Ranya Idliby, an American Muslim of Palestinian descent, faced constant questions about Islam, God, and death from her children, the only Muslims in their classrooms. Inspired by a story about Muhammad, Ranya reached out to two other mothers -- a Christian and a Jew -- to try to understand and answer these questions for her children. After just a few meetings, however, it became clear that the women themselves needed an honest and open environment where they could admit -- and discuss -- their concerns, stereotypes, and misunderstandings about one another. After hours of soul-searching about the issues that divided them, Ranya, Suzanne, and Priscilla grew close enough to discover and explore what united them.
The Faith Club is a memoir of spiritual reflections in three voices that will make readers feel as if they are eavesdropping on the authors' private conversations, provocative discussions, and often controversial opinions and conclusions. The authors wrestle with the issues of anti-Semitism, prejudice against Muslims, and preconceptions of Christians at a time when fundamentalists dominate the public face of Christianity. They write beautifully and affectingly of their families, their losses and grief, their fears and hopes for themselves and their loved ones. And as the authors reveal their deepest beliefs, readers watch the blossoming of a profound interfaith friendship and the birth of a new way of relating to others.
In a final chapter, they provide detailed advice on how to start a faith club: the questions to ask, the books to read, and most important, the open-minded attitude to maintain in order to come through the experience with an enriched personal faith and understanding of others.
Pioneering, timely, and deeply thoughtful, The Faith Club's caring message will resonate with people of all faiths.
For more information or to start your own faith club visit
Autorentext
Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner
Inhalt
Preface
CHAPTER ONE In the Beginning
CHAPTER TWO A Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew Walk into a Room . . .
CHAPTER THREE The Abrahamic Family Feud
CHAPTER FOUR The Crucifixion Crisis
CHAPTER FIVE Stop Stereotyping Me!
CHAPTER SIX Could You Convert?
CHAPTER SEVEN Oh, Where Are You, God?
CHAPTER EIGHT Ranya's Madrassah
CHAPTER NINE The Promised Land
CHAPTER TEN Prayer
CHAPTER ELEVEN Rituals
CHAPTER TWELVE Intimations of Mortality
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Conversations with a Priest, an Imam, and a Rabbi
CHAPTER FOURTEEN A Day of Atonement
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Happy Holidays
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Facing Our Communities
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Awakenings
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Faltering Faith
CHAPTER NINETEEN From Here to Eternity
How to Start a Faith Club
More Faith Club Questions
Bibliography
Acknowledgments