Justine Valinotti

Poet, essayist and blogger

Like most other transgender people, I have experienced discrimination, shame, rejection and even hostility for living in accordance with my true self.

Wayne Meisel

Director of Faith and Service, C.F. Foundation

Anyone reading the religion section or blogs and posts knows that there has been a lot written about why Millennials don't go to church. Rather than ask for an explanation, my question is: why isn't the church reaching out, and supporting, and loving on the Millennials?

Imam Abdullah Antepli

Muslim Chaplain, Duke University

It has been an incredibly rewarding and humbling 10 years for the Anteplis. Only a decade later, that broke graduate student and his family have not only established themselves successfully and put their roots in this beautiful country, but more importantly, we feel more at home here in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world.

Fr. Edward L. Beck

Roman Catholic Priest

In his 1965 address to the United Nations Pope Paul VI said, "If you wish to be brothers, let the weapons fall from your hands. One cannot love with offensive weapons in his hands." That goes for all weapons.

Satpal Singh

Chairperson, World Sikh Council - America Region

For centuries, women have been looked down upon in almost all cultures, societies and countries. We forget, or ignore, that women are children of the same God as men.

Neale Donald Walsch

Writer

It is as Einstein said: We cannot solve a problem at the same level and with the same energy that created the problem. We cannot end killing with killing, violence with violence, hatred with hatred. Yet neither can we look the other way as despots commit despotism.

Kathy Freston

Health and Wellness Activist, Author

I was delighted to learn about this rich tradition of incorporating vegetarian diets into spiritual practice, but I admit that it first surprised me. It certainly is not something most Christians in America know about.

Lorna Byrne

Author, #1 International bestseller, 'A Message of Hope from the Angels'

I would ask everyone to pray for Bashar al-Assad. I am being told that he is the key to resolving this crisis.

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg

Author, 'Surprised By God: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Religion'; Editor, 'The Passionate Torah: Sex and Judaism'

Every year on Rosh Hashana, Jews worldwide read about Abraham and Sarah's casting out of Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness. And every year, I have felt profoundly uncomfortable with it.

Andre E. Johnson

Author, 'The Forgotten Prophet: Bishop Henry McNeal Turner and the African American Prophetic Tradition'

We do not need to glorify, deify, magnify or edify the March on Washington, but call it what it was: a people's prophetic movement that stood up to the powers that be on the day and held the nation accountable.

Rebecca Levey

Blogger, Co-founder of KidzVuz.com

I believe in the power of brisket. I believe that when I combine sour cream, eggs, cottage cheese and noodles into a kugel, I honor my grandmother.

Charles J. Reid, Jr.

Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas

Let's not lose sight of the grotesque reality of chemical weapons. But what about military intervention? Can we make things better? War is evil. Assad is evil. But what is the likelihood of some targeted cruise missile strikes actually improving things? In the words of the philosophers, what is the reasonable likelihood of success?

Rabbi Joseph Meszler

Rabbi, Temple Sinai, Sharon, MA; Author, Witnesses to the One: the Spiritual History of the Sh'ma (Jewish Lights)

Before you say you're sorry, stop doing the bad behavior. Trying to apologize while still doing the wrong thing is like trying to bail water out of your basement without fixing the leak.

Ariel Gros-Werter

A 20-something Manhattan Jew

Our attachments can be obstacles: the stuff we keep that clutters our physical and mental worlds, the slight we can't ignore that distracts, a grudge against an acquaintance that keeps us from enjoying companionship, rude comments that make us angry. All these stand in the way of engaging in our lives and realizing possibilities.

Andrew Luisi

Interfaith Activist

India has taught me that there are endless paths to reach the same destination. Hindus believe in many deities, but ultimately and regardless of the deity they choose to worship, they believe that they will be lead to the same truth.

Rabbi Ben Greenberg

Rabbi of BMH-BJ: The Denver Synagogue in the Mile High City

We live out our lives in intricate webs of human interaction and connection. The journey towards forgiveness and reconciliation with others is not a minor detail of this auspicious season. It is at the very heart of what the Jewish High Holy Days are all about.

Levi Ben-Shmuel

Speaking for a wiser life

My son Jacob has been playing the Spice Girls 1996 hit "Wannabe" a lot lately. In a flash, the connection between the song and preparation for Rosh Hashanah came to me a few nights ago.