Beyond Belief
Blessing the Barbecue
At around 2:30 Thursday afternoon a long line begins to form in the back of Pak Halal, a local Middle Eastern grocery store in the heart of Lenexa. One by one, customers who had driven from “as far as Omaha” await their turn at the butcher counter to place their order. Most people are in…
Look Who’s Coming to Dinner
Are you a non-Muslim interested in exploring the sacred month of Ramadan with local Muslim families? The Kansas City branch of the Dialogue Institute — a regional organization dedicated to increasing interfaith communication — wants you to join them at special dinners (and breakfasts) during the monthlong observance of Ramadan. The first dinner is set…
Of Faith and Loyalty
The office of Palestinian-born shop owner Munir Yameen is a warm and congenial space, adorned by a black-and-white photo of Yameen as a young man in uniform, a smattering of carefully framed verses from the Quran and the customary photos of children and grandchildren. But the most striking photo on display is of his grandson Tarik standing…
Meet the Young Filmmakers Going ‘Beyond Belief’
Above a shop in the Crossroads Arts District a group has assembled with video equipment to venture out for street reporting. “Where do you guys want to go?” Lisa Marie Evans asks the others. She lives in the space adorned with framed artwork that has a sophisticated balance of welcome and edge. “P & L,”…
See Me, Feel Me
Walking out of her school library this morning, Manasvi Chennareddy gushed about spending the past hour learning about the variety of religions from around the world. “I didn’t know about Sikhs, or that other religions existed,” said Manasvi, a sixth-grader at Harmony Middle School in Overland Park. “And now I know all of their practices.”…