A relative of a Palestinian victim cries out outside a hospital in Gaza City on Monday.

Eboo Patel
On Faith
Washingtonpost.com

I spent much of the weekend communicating with Muslim and Jewish leaders on the recent crisis in Gaza. Here was my basic question: “Have you reached out to leaders in the other community to find a solution to the conflict?”

Here was the most common answer: “I’d love to talk to people in the other community. Can you give me the phone numbers of folks who agree with our position? If they’ll appear with us at a media event, or put their name on our press release, that’s even better.”

That’s a perfectly understandable instinct, but it doesn’t lead to a solution. It’s just a continuation of the logic that has led us here.

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Arsalan Iftikhar
The Economist

The editor and lawyer on the institutionalization of anti-Muslim sentiment and the difference between European and American Muslims. LISTEN HERE.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson

President elect Barack Obama almost certainly knew that he’d take some heavy flack from gay rights and abortion rights groups for picking mega preacher Rick Warren to give his inaugural invocation. Warren backed the anti gay marriage Prop 8 in California to the hilt and rails against abortion. But Obama picked Warren for shrewd political and apparently heartfelt personal reasons. A tip of that came back in mid-August when he traipsed to Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California to talk to his evangelical flock.

At the time Warren reportedly had to arm twist some of his more recalcitrant members into accepting Obama’s appearance. But accept they did. Or at least they didn’t publicly grouse about it. But Obama also did his part to make the sell. He flatly said that he’d do more than any other presumed liberal Democrat had done in recent times to get an ear from evangelicals even if that meant breaking bread with preachers who were hardnosed opponents of gay rights and abortion.

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Anderson talks to his panel about Rick Warren’s invitation to Barack Obama’s inauguration and the controversy behind it.

Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda says he is God, and his followers believe him.

Patrick Oppmann
CNN Miami

He tells his followers he is God.

But Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda’s wife disagreed and was awarded a $2.2 million divorce judgment.

It may seem unusual for a church leader to claim he is divine and then go through a messy, public divorce, but De Jesus’ church has always been, well, unique.

His followers, many of whom are Hispanic and have left the Catholic Church for his take on Christianity, believe that he is both the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and the anti-Christ. Dozens of his followers in South Florida and in Latin America have had 666 –the number associated with the anti-Christ—tattooed on their bodies as a sign of their beliefs.

De Jesus tells the people who believe in him that there is no sin and that they are members of a “super race.”

One of those believers was De Jesus’ second wife Josefina Torres. But Torres told CNN in an interview that after five years of marriage she began to see through her husband and spiritual leader.

“It was like seeing a magician perform and then going backstage and you learn how he does the trick,” Torres said in Spanish.

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Sandra Samuel holds Moshe Holtzberg at the Mumbai airport in India on their way to Israel on December 1.

Eboo Patel
Executive Director, Interfaith Youth Core

He reminds me of my son.

That was my first thought when I saw the picture of Moshe Holtzberg — 2 years old, dark eyes, full lips — wearing a green shirt, clutching an orange ball and wailing “Dada.”

My almost-2-year-old son just learned how to say “Dada.” He walks around the house and claps his hands and repeats “Dada” in his own peculiar toddler rhythm. When I leave for work in the morning, he sometimes reaches for me and wails “Dada” with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

But not like Moshe’s sadness. His parents are gone to God. They are not coming back. They were ripped from Moshe by terrorists who perversely believed that Islam is a totalitarian faith, a faith defined by destroying diversity. Mumbai, the city they attacked, is defined by its diversity — a masala of cultures that included Moshe’s family of Hasidic Jews from Brooklyn.

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Saudi monarch King Abdullah has called on Muslims to have a honest internal dialogue of Islam after recent events.

Octavia Nasr
CNN Arab Affairs Editor

Saudi Arabia’s monarch is the custodian of Islam’s two holiest shrines, and the host of the yearly pilgrimage called “Hajj” one of the five pillars of Islam.

On this holy occasion for Muslims which brings hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world to pray and cleanse their souls, King Abdullah’s message is about cleansing the Islamic house.

He said this week in a televised address, “Division, ignorance, and fanaticism are obstacles threatening the hopes of Muslims. And terrorism, which has been threatening the whole world and is attributed to Muslims alone, is caused by acts of fanatics who pretend to be Muslims but in fact represent no one but themselves.”

This year’s pilgrimage to Mecca takes place on the heels of a series of terror attacks in Mumbai against Western and Jewish interests. There are allegations that a Pakistani group with links to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden is behind the attacks.

And the King’s message coincided with news from Guantanamo Bay that five detainees, charged with planning the terror attacks of 9/11/2001, told a judge this week that they’re ready to admit their guilt. All five, including the 9/11 alleged mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, said so in front of family members of some of the 9/11 victims.

The Saudi King knows the world is watching and just as he called for interfaith dialogue among all religions earlier this year, he now says, “Today we need an honest dialogue within Islam itself.”

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Hajj pilgrims at Mercy Mountain.

Arwa Damon | BIO
CNN International Correspondent
 
To Muslims, the holiest place on earth is a black-draped, square shrine called the Kaaba in the central courtyard of the vast Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca. According to the Quran, it was built by Prophet Abraham on God’s command. A goal for devout Muslims is to make a pilgrimage here at least once in a lifetime – following the same rituals carried out by Prophet Mohammed centuries years ago. This pilgrimage is known as the Hajj.

I stood staring at the famous al-Haram mosque, seeing it in person for the first time, and mesmerized by the river of pilgrims swirling around the Ka’aba, through the courtyard, into all visible streets, and as far as the eye could see.

As the call to prayer rang out at sunset, the pilgrims formed perfectly straight lines in unison. And prayed.

People from all corners of the globe and all walks of life prayed in perfect harmony, united here for the single purpose of completing the Hajj. It is a breathtaking sight.

The beautiful spirituality of it aside, covering the Hajj as a journalist is challenging to say the least. While in Mecca, we regularly miscalculated timings and found ourselves stuck in corners during prayer time, when literally human walls are formed blocking the streets. Getting anywhere requires extreme navigation and “crowd weaving” skills, not to mention while carrying (or lugging around) heavy TV equipment because, for example, one of us had the ‘brilliant’ idea to go live from Mount Mercy at Arafat.

It is at Mount Mercy that Prophet Mohammed delivered his final sermon some 1400 years ago, asking God to forgive the sins of his followers. The moments spent at Mount Mercy define the Hajj for Pilgrims, who spend the day from sunrise to sunset praying for the same forgiveness. Those that have performed the Hajj before say that it is there they felt closest to God, and upon completion were given a second chance at life, a chance to be better individuals – spiritually elevated. The pilgrims dot the hillside, covering it in a blanket of white.

As the sun rises we can clearly see them, arms outstretched, some crying, as they pray. The sea of pilgrims spills down and extends as far as the eye can see.

We failed miserably in our attempt to leave before the pilgrims and found ourselves caught up in the masses, schlepping our gear for hours, sweat pouring, abaya (overgarment) itching, and a headscarf that refused to stay put. These moments reminded me of producer Mohammed Tawfeeq’s words: “you have no idea what you’re getting us into”. He has obviously covered the Hajj before.

Still, it’s an experience like no other. Where else can one encounter such a huge crowd of people from all over the world, the vast majority of whom return home with peace of spirit?

Leonard Pitts Jr.
Miami Herald columnist

I was crammed into a middle seat. The guy in front was practically in my lap, and I had my arms drawn in tightly as I pecked furiously on the keyboard. God glanced over. ”What are you working on?” He asked.

”A column,” I said. “About you, in fact.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Oh? What did I do now?”

”Well, not you per se,” I admitted. ‘It’s about this atheist group, the American Humanist Association. They stirred up folks in Washington, D.C., recently by running a billboard on the buses. It said, `Why believe in a god?’ ”

God was curious, so I passed Him the computer. Just then, the plane lurched violently. The guy next to me spilled his drink and muttered a curse. God paid no attention. When He finished reading, He passed the computer back. ”That’s not about me,” He said. “It’s about defending their right to free speech.”

”Sure,” I said. “What else would I do?”

God shrugged. “Why not just answer their question?”

“What do you mean?”

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Cara Degette
Editor of Colorado Confidential

Focus on the Family is poised to announce major layoffs to its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire today. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.

Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of the ministry.

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