michael trice, Author at Religica

After Christchurch: Creating Sacred and Safe Spaces

On March 15th, 2019 a shooter used the Facebook social media platform to broadcast the massacre of 50 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand. How do I write about hate without honoring it? Turn hearts and minds to the community, the families, and friends that are left behind. Honor the fallen. Leave the shooter unnamed. […]

As battle is joined over Bears Ears border, tribal leader speaks of fencing in the flow of spirits across a vast, ancient land

By John Breslin, Special to Religica Battle is now joined, at the grassroots level and in the courts, over the future of two large tracts of land spread across southern Utah. Five First Nation tribes of the south west – the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, Mountain Ute, and Uintah and Ouray Ute – combined to support […]

What is Creation Speaking to Your Soul this Earth Day?

What is Creation Speaking to your Soul? It is about more than picking up trash on the side of roads and trails. It is about more than signing petitions, or giving to the Sierra Club. Not that those things are bad, or useless, or too trivial. Creation needs allies, and any who would publicly demonstrate […]

The Beauty and Power of Hospitality

While many of us are all too familiar with the image of the Islamic terrorist, a few know that the Islamic tradition contains many spiritual treasures, the foremost of which being the call to hospitality. I have experienced this beautiful hospitality many times when visiting Dearborn (Michigan), home of the largest Arab American community in […]

Am I a bad Muslim?

Am I a bad Muslim? This is a question I frequently ask myself when I realize that I don’t finish all my fasts as part of Ramadan. I’m not afraid to go out on a short skirt if I feel confident. I don’t pray five times a day. Most of all, my girlfriend and I […]

Of Cakes and Garbage Heaps

Suprapto and his wife Kartini were Javanese Christians who moved into a neighborhood in Jakarta where all of the other residents were followers of Indonesia’s majority religion. Wanting to become friends with her neighbors, Kartini baked cakes and took them to the families on either side of their tiny house. But their gifts were thrown […]

Supreme Court splits over prison execution, debates over religion clauses springing up across country

By John Breslin, Special to Religica In Alabama last month, triple murderer Domineque Ray was put to death. A convert to Islam, Ray’s execution followed a last minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court that included a request to allow his Iman to be by his side as he died. The Supreme Court, by a […]

We Are One

One week after the attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 50 dead and dozens more injured, the New Zealand television station, 1 NEWS, broadcast this video. Click on the link below to watch it. Thousands disperse after honouring Christchurch mosque attack victims – ‘We have shown NZ is unbreakable’ Source: 1 […]

Who Are You?

As an ordained pastor in The United Methodist Church, I am today a pastor without a pulpit. I serve in a judicatory role, covering the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area, which includes ministries across Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and even a small part of Canada. This means that while I lack a pulpit, I nevertheless have […]

Interfaith Work Advances Women’s Dignity on a Global Scale

March is Women’s History Month and March 8 is International Women’s Day – a time for celebration! I am Chair of the Women’s Task Force at the Parliament of the World’s Religions and many are still basking in the glow of the recent 2018 Parliament in Toronto where over 8,000 people came to celebrate our […]