Religion

BANGOR, Maine – “Howdy sir!, Where are you hauling that big cross off to?” I rhetorically called out to a man walking down Maine highway 1A with a full sized Jesus cross slung over his shoulder. “To Mexico!” he responded, as he momentarily halted his hike to shake my hand. To Mexico. Why is it [...]

It could be said that America is the land were religions come to get weird.This is the birthplace of Mormonism, the land where Pentecostals speak in tongues and dance with snakes, where the ISKON cult first took hold, and the nation where Jehovah Witnesses frolic freely from door to door in search of converts who [...]

Israel on Shabbat The country of Israel becomes a ghost town every Saturday morning. The streets are devoid of people, most every business is closed down, and all is quiet. Not even taxis are on the prowl. As I walked with Chaya through the silent thoroughfares of Eilat, I watched with interest as an empty [...]

Abraham or Ibrahim’s Cave of Birth Urfa. This is the place where it all began. All three major monotheistic faiths trace their roots to the very same place: the cave where Abraham was born and the nearby pools where he began smashing idols. Urfa is the fourth most sacred city in the world to Muslims, [...]

Golbasi Park Home of Abraham, Sanliurfa, Turkey Walking through Golbasi Park near Abraham’s Dergah, Chaya and I were approached by a young man who greeted us with a big, “Hello, where are you from?” This is normal here in Sanliurfa in the east of Turkey, a city that lays just on the lee side of [...]

Good Friday in Honduras A large procession of pious Hondurans, curious tourists, and men haphazardly dressed up in impromptu biblical getup moved through the cobble stone streets of Copan Ruinas today. They clogged the thoroughfares of the town with celebration and good cheer. For it is Good Friday across the Christian world, and the Stations [...]

Salah-The Muslim PrayerSalah, the Muslim process of formal prayer, is a time-honed practice that is meant to interweave Islamic religious belief within the very fabric of the practioner’s life. Five times a day the prayer is performed in a specific way and is always done while facing the Kaaba of Mecca. Salah is one of [...]

The Breaking of the Fast: A View of Ramadan from the InsideMeknes, MoroccoOctober 3, 2007Homepage: “Mr. Wade, would you like to wash your feet?” Abdel asked me with a smile from ear to ear, as I was sitting upon his couch leafing through an old Moroccan English teacher’s manual.“No, Abdel, I think my feet are [...]

The Breaking of the Fast: A View of Ramadan from the OutsideMeknes, MoroccoSeptember 26, 2007Homepage: North Africa Page: A large and simmering clay tagine dish full of chicken and vegetables was placed down in front of me at a quaint little sidewalk restaurant in the Moroccan city of Meknes. As the westerner that I am, [...]