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The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew-- Three Women Search for Understanding By Ranya IdlibySuzanne OliverPriscilla Warner ( Free Press )
Release Date: 2007-06-05
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $14.00
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Product Description
"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 www.thefaithclub.com
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 Highly recommended!
These women come together after 9/11, initially to write a book for children that would teach understanding and respect for their respective religions. Movingly, it is entirely in their voices, drawn from their weekly conversations, their journals and their reflections. They grow in sensitivity, caring and honesty with each other, and I felt as though I made their journey with them.
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 A Book Full of Misconceptions & Falsehoods ( krnrsnthl )
This book was written by three well intended women of different faiths; however, each of the women was not only ignorant of the other's religions but of their own, too. They write mostly about their own feelings and perspectives. Unfortunately, their perspectives are very limited. All three are totally uneducated in the field of religion. They modify their viewpoints and religion to fit the needs of this book. I bought the book because of the rave reviews and I am shocked that so many people fell for this nonsense. You will learn nothing factual about any of the religions in this book. It is only pure dribble.
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Down-to-Earth, yet Profound ( bkace )
As someone who considers myself Omni-religious (altho I do belong to one specific church, I can be found at many many others), I think this is an exceptional book about three women -- good friends, who take a long hard look at one another's faith systems, personal religious beliefs and the realities of their life experiences as these experiences relate to or are affected by... religion.....
As the three women authors themselves realized -- this book was not what they had started out to create in the first place. But they certainly achieved and recieved much more in the bargain, by staying together and discussing their belief systems, their concerns and their joys -- and in the process, enlightening and inspiring one another (and the reader).
The book is revealing, profound, and as the discussions continued, the kid gloves come off and feelings. emotions, epiphanies, disagreements, anger, confusion -- all come to the surface.
As a child who was raised as a (First Generation Italian) Roman Catholic, as a toddler I always thought that only Italians could be ROMAN Catholics and all the "other Catholics" were "just plain Catholics" (LOL). As a 13 yr old, who was raised in a Jewish-Italian neighborhood of the Bronx,(back in the Pre-Ecumenical days), I caused my mother to hit the ceiling one day when I went up to her and said "I want to remain Catholic but I also want to become Jewish and I want to be Mitzvahed".
I could never understand why people I repected would favor their religion and say that everyone else was going to hell. So I was VERY happy when the First Ecumenical Council was convened. And many churches now, so it seems, have carried this ecumenism forward and have never looked back. "The Faith Club" is another continuing facet of Ecumenism - an ongoing person-to-person, one friend to another, hearts and souls bared, no holds barred, frank, sometimes very emotional, heart wrenching discussion.
As I read the book, I could identify very much with Suzanne's feelings towards her Catholic religion -- once I realized how little I identified with it (altho I am forever grateful for the beautiful rituals and the ambience of my Bronx neighborhood church, St Lucy's) I too became baptised and confirmed as an Episcopalian (one week before my birthday-- a great gift!!!), and I never looked back.
AS a child of a non-practicing Moslem father, I find great insight and comfort in Ranya's love and knowledge of her religion -- none of which was demonstrated by my Dad. But I owe my Dad a great deal -- because of HIS brand of secular ecumenism, I am able to converse (to a limited extent) with my Middle East neighbors in their language and understand some of their customs, and this too is a way to open the doors of communication -- with a smile.
I also thought Ranya, whose family had lost so much, had the coolest head, the sharpest mind, and was the most "worldly-wise" of the three; I had the utmost respect for her knowledge base.
Because of the many tensions and problems inherent in all of our daily lives today, I feel we need to reach out more to try to understand one another, to opening up constructive dialogue -- and there should be MORE discussion groups like the one that Priscilla, Ranya, and Suzanne have now made so famous.
This book made me wonder -- "How would I have fared in the middle of such discussions?" Would I have been turned off by Priscilla's temper? Would I have been upset by Suzanne's embarassment of being seen in a Temple? (I whave always loved being part of a Temple service). If I had been subjected to Ranya's coming-out-of-nowhere withering attack on my principles, would I have shrunken into the sofa cushion?
These three women bared their very souls and dared one another to reach into their hearts and souls and lay it all on the table, despite temper tantrums, or personal travail, and I think we are all the better for having read this book.
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 Read this book.
This book is worth your time. It is an honest open discussion about the three faiths. From if you want to learn more, to those who think you know it all, this is a great place to start.
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Faith Club
I found this book to be wonderfully readable with a huge message that needs to be shared by millions. It is such a profoundly simple way to move to peace. Not only do they share their personal experiences they give guidance as to how each of us can use their model and transform the world!
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