His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama will be 90 years old on July 6, 2025. Celebrations of this auspicious event have already begun. I am not aware that the Dalai Lama has any particular health problems other than growing more frail. He may have a few years left. But his passing, when it comes, will not just be a sad day for Tibetan Buddhists. It will set off a messy power struggle between the government of China and Tibetan Buddhism... Read more
The crusade to enshrine the Ten Commandments in U.S. public schools reached a couple of landmarks in the past few days. Last week a panel of three federal appellate judges found Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law unconstitutional. A few hours after the Louisiana ruling was announced, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a nearly identical bill into law in Texas. This week lawsuits to stop the Texas bill are being filed. And many of these lawsuits are being filed by religious people, including... Read more
Intrinsic and extrinsic are the two orientations measured in the Allport Religious Orientation Scale. Also called the Intrinsic/Extrinsic Scale (I/E), the Religious Orientation Scale was published in 1967 by psychologists Gordon Allport and J. M. Ross. Rather than measure beliefs or practices, the ROS measures attitudes, intentions, and motivations. The scale explains how different people following the same religious tradition can follow it so very, well, differently. The scale proposes that people connect with, or orient themselves toward, religion in... Read more
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has stopped Oklahoma’s plan to fund a Catholic charter school. I wrote about St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School nearly two years ago, when Oklahoma announced the state would subsidize a school providing sectarian religious instruction with taxpayer dollars. As explained in the earlier post, for a very long time such funding would have been considered an obvious violation of the U.S. Constitution. And it still is, apparently, but just barely. Justice Amy... Read more
Pope Leo XIII is in the news, more than a century after his reign ended. Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, told reporters that the new Pope Leo XIV’s choice of a name is a “direct recall of the social doctrine of the church and of the pope that initiated the modern social doctrine of the church.” And that would be Pope Leo XIII. Pope Leo XIV has since told his Cardinals that he plans to address the... Read more
Catholicism in China poses a formidable problem for the Vatican. The late Pope Francis is warmly remembered for his deep, sincere faith and compassion. But the Holy Father has also been accused of abandoning the Catholic Church in China. This criticism is about an agreement made between Pope Francis and the People’s Republic of China regarding the ordination of Chinese bishops. After looking into the matter, I found myself somewhat more sympathetic to Pope Francis’s position than most of his... Read more
Religion in public schools has been a hot topic in the U.S. for decades. It might surprise you to learn that many of the lawsuits challenging religion in American public schools have been filed by religious people. Yes, there are religious people who want less religion in public schools, not more. If you assumed otherwise, please keep reading. Today, school districts throughout the U.S. are doubling down on introducing religion into public schools. For example, last year the Texas State... Read more
On March 28 an earthquake struck central Myanmar and was felt in several Asian countries. It destroyed many religious and historic sites, according to news reports. Since Myanmar is home to many revered Buddhist temples and shrines, I’ve been trying to determine which have been damaged or destroyed. Information has been sketchy, however. As I write this the reported death toll is in the thousands and keeps going up. It may be a few days before there is a final... Read more
Mahabodhi Temple — one of the world’s most sacred places — is now the site of a growing protest movement. Mahabodhi Temple is believed to mark the place where, about 26 centuries ago, the Buddha sat in meditation and realized enlightenment. Today the temple is claimed by both Buddhists and Hindus. Since 1949 the temple has been administered by a joint committee of Buddhists and Hindus, but this arrangement seems now to be entirely breaking down. The protests have not... Read more
The Dalai Lama escaped Tibet in March 1959, 66 years ago this month. March 1959 was a pivotal time in Tibetan history. At the beginning of the month the young Dalai Lama was emersed in studies for his final exams in Buddhist teachings. As far as anyone can tell, on March 1 he was giving no thought to leaving Tibet. But on March 31, he crossed the border into India, seeking refuge. This began his long exile from Tibet, which... Read more
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