On the 2012 Election

First of all, vote. Even if you’re just going to write-in Mr. T and R2D2. There are people who died so that all of us could have the right to vote, so you should do it if for no other reason than that. (Though there are lots of good reasons to do it, especially this time around.) If you can’t find your polling place, this humorous and helpful website will guide your way. Additionally, make sure you bone up on your rights as a voter here, and report any fishiness at your polling place to Video the Vote (#VideoTheVote).

Second, on the subject of today’s election, I was among those interviewed for the recent Religion News Service piece “Buddhists Aim to Bring Mindfulness to the Ballot Box”, written by the great Dan Burke. It’s a really strong piece, and I hope you will take a look. Among other places, you can find the article at The Washington Post.

Third, I have a new interview over at Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly Online with Ven. Miao Hong, my buddy and University of the West colleague. In the middle of the summer, Ven. Miao Hong became President Obama’s historic first-ever Buddhist appointee to the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. In 2009, I wrote about this problem of the lack of a Buddhist representative on the Advisory Council for Religion Dispatches (you can read that article here). It may have taken three years to fix that, but at least it got fixed and with a friend of mine no less! (That said, if President Obama is not reelected, I’m not sure Ven. Miao Hong and her colleagues would continue on in their capacity as advisors.)