Which Is the Better Story @Image Journal’s Good Letters blog

“There’s a scene early in Ang Lee’s majestic Life of Pi film in which the main character watches everything he loves die. Pi is floating in a vast, murky sea as the ship carrying his family and their zoo animals… Read More

Recapturing Innocence With Ang Lee @TheHighCalling

The sound of a baby’s laughter. A six year old’s wide-eyed wonder on Christmas morning. The moment you first believed. Who doesn’t want to relive innocence like that? For Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee, recapturing innocence in life,… Read More

9/11 Lessons in Civil Religion @NJShorePatch

Inter-faith messages remind Monmouth County residents who they are. In Jean-Jacque Rousseau’s model of civil religion, the state is unified and strengthened by public displays of faith that refer to deity, point to the afterlife, draw attention to the… Read More

Jersey Shore Faithful to Commemorate 9/11 Anniversary @NJShorePatch

Sacred remembrances dominate the weekend calendar. Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have excluded clergy from the 9/11 10th anniversary ceremony at the memorial site in New York City, but there are plenty of opportunities here at the Jersey Shore for sacred remembrances. Here are… Read More

Muslims Brave Violent Storm to Attend Friday Prayers @NJShorePatch

Whatever the weather, local Muslims meet for prayer at the Islamic Center of Ocean County. “Open the gates of mercy for all of us,” Imam Maqsood Qadri prayed as congregants trickled in for Friday afternoon prayers at the Islamic… Read More

Globetrotting toward a Spiritual Center and a Sense of Shared Humanity @NJShorePatch

 Dean Fengya’s accidental adventure evolved into a business with a spiritual core. If you’ve driven the stretch of Route 88 where Point Pleasant Beach meets Bay Head, you’ve probably noticed Dean Fengya’s colorful collection of ceramic pots at… Read More

High School Social Studies Classes Confront Islamophobia @LaceyPatch

I’ll be dealing with some of the issues raised in this lecture in my next NJ Shore Patch column. I didn’t have the opportunity to do so in this article. Lacey Township High School is attempting to break… Read More