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Our next “Meet My Religious Neighbor” open house is on Saturday, September 2nd, from 6-8pm. It will be held at the home of one of the members of the Hindu Cultural and Educational Center at 2513 E. Porter Ave in Des Moines.  (This Hindu community does not yet have its own temple.)

From 6-8pm the community will perform bhajans (devotional hymns), accompanied with music and dancing.  (Participants will have the opportunity also to dance!) At the end of the bhajan service, a light meal (prasad) will be served.

 

 

NOTE THAT WE HAVE PUSHED THIS BACK ONE WEEK TO SAT, 8/12

“Meet My Religious Neighbor” continues on Saturday, August 12th with an open house at the Sikh Temple in Johnston, Sikhs of Iowa Khalsa Heritage, Inc. (SIKHI). The open house will last from 10am until 1pm.

From 10am – 12pm visitors can tour the Temple and learn about Sikh beliefs, practices, and culture. From 12pm – 1pm visitors can join the members of the Temple for their congregational prayer (aardas) and meal (langar). The meal is free vegetarian meal that is served to all regardless of caste, class, or creed.

Visitors are advised to dress modestly and bring a head covering (scarves for women, kerchiefs for men). There are some kerchiefs and scarves available at the Temple.

SIKHI is located at 4820 NW 59th Ave in Johnston.

 

Join us on Sunday, July 2nd between 12:30 – 4:00 pm for the next open house in our Meet My Religious Neighbor series. This open house will be held at Tu Vien Hong Duc, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple at 5906 SW 9th Street in Des Moines.

The open house begins at 12:30 with a Vietnamese meal. After that, we will have an opportunity to tour the temple and its statue park and to talk to the temple’s head monk. Participants are then invited to remain for the dharma talk (“sermon”) at 2:00 and chanting meditation at 3:00.

 

Below you will find supplementary resources for The Comparison Project’s 2015-2017 theme of Theologies of Death and Rituals of Dying. These resources come from students in Prof. Knepper’s Fall 2015 Comparative Religions course, Spring 2016 Philosophy of Religion course, Fall 2016 Comparative Religions course, and Spring 2017 Philosophy of Religion course.

The Fall 2015 Comparative Religions course examined theologies of death and rituals of dying in Tibetan Buddhism, the “cult” of Santa Muerte, and Christianity.

The Spring 2016 Philosophy of Religion course also examined Tibetan Buddhism and Catholic Christianity, but also studied Jainism and Secular Humanism.

Join us on Saturday, June 3rd at 8:30 pm for the next open house in our Meet My Religious Neighbor series. This open house will be held at Ezan: Islamic & Education Center, a Bosnian mosque at 6202 Douglas Ave in Des Moines.
Participants can watch the congregants of Ezan perform their sunset prayer (maghrib) around 8:30pm and their night prayer (isha’a) around 11:00pm. In between, we are invited to join the congregation in their Ramadan break-of-the-fast (iftar).

Parking at the mosque is limited. Participants should instead park across the street in the Merle Hay Mall’s SW lot.