This spring, Paul Idiaghe is set to graduate from Whitworth University’s six-year-old engineering program. As a writer of poetry, an international student from Nigeria and a self-identified “unconventional person,” Idiaghe has struggled to fit into the private, predominantly white, Christian university.

I must begin with my standard disclaimer about Quakers and Quakerism.  We are a non-creedal group, so there is no set of beliefs that are required to be a Quaker. Beliefs on a topic like the existence of hell will typically range the full spectrum of belief found in the larger society.   

These may not be the end times, but they sure are crummy times in so many ways. So, it is more important than ever that we find diversion, find amusement, find relief. And I do not recall a time in recent memory when it has been harder to do that.

Because I write about faith, people often ask me what religion I am.  Sometimes I stumble over my answer. I admit I worry what people will think when I say “I’m a Buddhist.” It sounds so … trendy, which I am not. At the garden store Buddha’s statues have become as popular as St. Francis.

The first Black woman to be ordained in the Episcopal Church, who was also a trailblazing lawyer, civil rights activist and writer, will be honored on the U.S. quarter next year.

Are there any rules, customs or traditions in the Hindu religion or culture that specify you "must" remain friends with someone who has been helpful to you, no matter what?