The Quest for Original Buddhism

Last updated on: May 22, 2025 at 4:14 pm By Barbara O'Brien

There are multiple views about “original Buddhism.” The historical Buddha lived, we believe, about 26 centuries ago. He lived in what is now northeastern India, and in time his disciples spread his teachings throughout the Indus Peninsula and beyond. Today, Buddhism is a global religion made up of many schools, denominations, sects, sub-sects, or whatever you want to call them. And these can be very different from one another, in doctrine and practice. So it’s natural to wonder how much... Read more

Florida Embeds Christian Nationalism in School

Last updated on: May 30, 2024 at 2:26 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The Florida Department of Education has been directing middle school and high school teachers to work Christian nationalism into their lessons. This is according to journalist Judd Legum in his substack column Popular Information, “Florida educators trained to teach students Christian nationalism.” The aim, it appears, is to teach children that only Christians are real Americans. It is also part of a larger plan to sidestep the Constitution and allow conservative Christianity to dictate U.S. laws and policies. Judd Legum... Read more

The Appeal to Heaven Flag and Why It’s Controversial

Last updated on: May 23, 2024 at 4:01 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The Appeal to Heaven Flag, also called the Pine Tree Flag, is a bit of genuine Americana flown during the American Revolution. It’s in the news now because a U.S. Supreme Court justice, Samuel Alito, displayed it beside his New Jersey beach home. And this has become a scandal. But why? Over the past couple of decades the Appeal to Heaven Flag has become a symbol of Christian nationalism. Writing in Christianity Today (February 2021), Paul Miller wrote that “Christian... Read more

Louisiana Passes a Ten Commandments in Public Schools Bill

Last updated on: May 19, 2024 at 3:58 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The Louisiana legislature just passed a bill mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in all public school classrooms. And this one is very close to becoming law. Texas attempted such a thing last year, but the bill passed by the Texas Senate died in the Texas House. Similar bills were introduced in South Carolina and Utah but have not yet become laws. At the moment, however, it appears the Louisiana bill will go all the way to being signed... Read more

Why It’s Hard to Separate Church and State

Last updated on: May 19, 2024 at 3:53 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The relationship of church and state is one of the vexing issues of our time. It’s been a vexing issue for a while, in fact. This seems especially true in the United States, a nation that combines a lot of fervent religiousity with a constitution intended to freeze religious authority out of the government. Many fervently religious people don’t see the harm in using government to spread and enforce their beliefs. They consider separation of church and state oppressive. But... Read more

The Problem With “Spiritual But Not Religious”

Last updated on: May 13, 2024 at 2:40 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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Let’s talk about “spiritual but not religious.” Certainly you are free to call yourself that, but to me the classification comes with some red flags. For example, in the universe of social media memes there is a large sub-genre I’ve come to call “religion drools, spirituality rules” that claims the superiority of spirituality over religion. Spiritual people, according to memes, are smarter, more open minded, more inclusive, more compassionate, more virtuous, and possibly better looking than religious people. Well, okay,... Read more

The Great Disappointment of William Miller

Last updated on: April 18, 2024 at 2:39 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The Great Disappointment is the name given to a time when the world as we know it didn’t end. Tens of thousands of people fervently believed the date the world would change was October 22, 1844. They sincerely thought on that day Jesus would come in glory to gather the faithful to heaven before cleansing the world of sin. Many of them even gave away all their wordly possessions, donned white robes, and waited on hilltops — or in trees... Read more

The Rapture: A Brief History

Last updated on: April 17, 2024 at 12:26 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The recent solar eclipse visible in North America inspired much social media commentary about the Rapture. And what is the Rapture? Most commonly it’s the belief that some day faithful Christians, both living and dead, will arise in the air to go to Paradise to be with Jesus. The unfaithful will be left on the earth to suffer the Great Tribulation, a time in which evil will spread and the Antichrist will rule. There are other proposed scenarios, including one... Read more

Dr. Livingstone, I Presume: The True Story, Possibly

Last updated on: April 18, 2024 at 8:45 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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“Dr. Livingstone, I presume.” The famous encounter between journalist Henry Morton Stanley and missionary David Livingstone in 1871 is the stuff of legend. It’s also the stuff of at least a couple of films (Stanley and Livingstone, 1939, starring Spencer Tracy as Stanley; and Forbidden Territory: Stanley’s Search for Livingstone, 1997, starring Aidan Quinn as Stanley and Nigel Hawthorne as Livingstone). And it was the stuff of a Muppets skit starring Bert and Ernie. And a 1968 pop song by... Read more

Wu Zetian, Ruthless Empress and Patroness of Buddhism

Last updated on: March 12, 2024 at 1:30 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The empress Wu Zetian (624-705) was one of China’s greatest rulers. She is also known by the name Wu Zhao and a few others. Wu Zetian was the only woman to rule China directly, in her own name. This is particularly remarkable considering she began her imperial career as a 17th-rank concubine. Her rule saw the early years of what is remembered as a golden age in China, when China’s culture and economy bloomed. She elevated the status of Buddhism... Read more