The Thanksgiving myth is the Thanksgiving story that we Americans were taught in school as history. But the story as commonly told isn’t exactly true. And for some Native Americans, Thanksgiving is a day of mourning. The traditional story is about the Pilgrims, who had sailed to the New World from Europe. Their ship the Mayflower landed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in November 1620. The Pilgrims struggled to survive the winter, but they received help from the local Native Americans.... Read more
The first person in history known to have promoted religious tolerance was Ashoka the Great. Ashoka was emperor of a large portion of Asia from about 268 BCE until his death in 232 BCE. In honor of the International Day of Tolerance — November 16, as designated by the United Nations — l’d like to revisit his edict on religious tolerance, which is as relevant to us now as it was then. Ashoka the Great ruled the Mauryan Empire, which... Read more
Buddhism and the California Gold Rush may be two things that don’t seem to go together. But it was the Gold Rush that first brought Buddhism to California. The California Gold Rush began in 1848, when gold was discovered at a sawmill north of San Francisco. The first Buddhist temple in North America — and possibly the first outside of Asia, as far as I know — was built in San Francisco in 1853. And the second event came about... Read more
There’s a common assumption that laws are based on morality and morality comes from religion. Therefore, laws have a religious basis. Further, whatever is widely considered to be immoral ought to be illegal. In truth, not all manner of things immoral are illegal (for example, lying to your spouse about where you were last night). It’s possible that there are behaviors that are illegal but not immoral, although off the top of my head I can’t think of a good... Read more
Who were the Aryans? The Aryans were an ancient people who spoke Sanskrit and gave us what are believed to be the world’s oldest living scriptures, the Vedas of Hinduism. They were “pastoral,” the anthropoligsts say, meaning they herded livestock. They were nomads who left us no cities to excavate or great monuments to admire. The literature they left us suggests they were a patriarchal and sometimes violent people. They prized their horses and probably introduced the horse-drawn chariot to... Read more
The Philadelphia Bible Riots of 1844 are also sometimes called the Philadelphia Nativist Riots. By whatever name, the Philadelphia Bible Riots were deadly and destructive. It’s estimated 20 people were killed in the violence and many more injured. Two Catholic churches, a seminary, and several private homes were set on fire and destroyed. The reason? A false rumor that Catholics were scheming to have the King James Bible removed from public schools. The Catholics in this case were recent immigrants... Read more
Civil religion — sometimes calleed “civic religion” — is a term that is defined many ways. Most broadly, civil religion refers to the symbols and rituals that express patriotism, such as singing national anthems, and which work to bond the people of a nation together. In a way, civil religion sanctifies the values, aspirations, and spirit of a nation. In the U.S. we don’t talk about civil religion much, but it’s certainly part of our lives, especially when an important... Read more
Everyone knows that Zen and the martial arts go together, right? Well, sorta kinda. In some places. But not as much as you might think. This is not to say that there is no connection at all between Zen and the martial arts. Zen is the Japanese name of a school of Buddhism that originated in China, where it is called Chan. According to legend if not well-documented history, Chan began in the fabled Shaolin Temple of China at the... Read more
The marathon monks of Enryakuji, a historic Buddhist temple complex in Japan, are famous for a grueling physical and spiritual challenge that’s been called the world’s toughest ultramarathon. Enryakuji was built on Mount Hiei, overlooking Kyoto. Mount Hiei is covered by lush forests and winding trails. It is the headquarters of the Tendai school of Japanese Buddhism. And for centuries the monks of Enryakuji have walked, jogged, and run those trails as part of a tradition called kaihogyo, the “practice... Read more
Religious Liberty and Josh Hawley don’t mix. The Republican U.S. Senator from Missouri has made it clear in speeches and in writing that he is opposed to the free exercise of religion if that religion isn’t Christianity. In fact, he has said that the freedom to think for ourselves is dangerous. And he thinks there is a “crisis” in America that’s been caused by a heretical 5th century monk. Senator Josh Hawley recently came out as a Christian Nationalist. Monday... Read more
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