The Christian Temperance Movement

Last updated on: June 18, 2023 at 2:08 pm By Barbara O'Brien

The Temperance movement was one of the most long-lasting and influential religious/social activist movements in history. That’s right; the Temperance movement, which you may associate with prim old ladies breaking up saloons with axes. Temperance impacted U.S. politics for more than a century. It also was an international cause, or at least a trans-Atlantic one, with temperance organizations in Europe as well as North America. And although I speak of it in the past tense, it never completely went away.... Read more

The Afterlife of the Bamiyan Buddhas

Last updated on: June 26, 2023 at 12:57 am By Barbara O'Brien

0 Comments

The giant Buddhas of Bamiyan, central Afghanistan, were destroyed in March 2001 on orders of the leader of the Taliban. Now the Washington Post reports that the Taliban is selling tickets to view the Buddhas’ smashed remains. “Authorities have set up a ticket office at the foot of the larger of the two figures, where they charge Afghans 58 cents and foreigners $3.45 to visit,” correspondent Rick Noack writes. “Armed guards sit next to an ice cream vendor nearby. There... Read more

The First Buddhist Same-Sex Wedding

Last updated on: June 10, 2023 at 6:38 am By Barbara O'Brien

0 Comments

The first Buddhist same-sex wedding (that we know of) took place in about 1970 in San Francisco. That much is widely agreed on, even if the exact date of the event is uncertain. It’s also widely agreed that the wedding raised no controversy or objections from clergy. And this may have something to tell us about how religion, culture, and social convention tend to blend together. This first Buddhist same-sex wedding was conducted by the Rev. Koshin Ogui of the... Read more

Pat Robertson’s Legacy

Last updated on: June 8, 2023 at 5:42 pm By Barbara O'Brien

0 Comments

Pat Robertson died today, June 8, in his home at the age of 93. He’s being lauded by his admirers as a man of God. He is also being denounced as an ignorant bigot who made Christianity look ridiculous. What was Pat Robertson’s legacy? It is a fact that in the late 1970s, 90 percent of Americans self-identified as Christian. According to the Pew Research Center, by 2020 that percentage had fallen to 64 percent. It’s projected that in a... Read more

New Insight Into the Life of Maimonides

Last updated on: June 4, 2023 at 7:36 pm By Barbara O'Brien

0 Comments

A long overlooked document has shed a bit of new light on the life of Moses Ben Maimon, better known as Maimonides (c. 1138–1204), one of the most prominent rabbis of Jewish history. Maimonides was one of the great philosophers of the Medieval period. His work influenced many who came after, including Thomas Aquinas, Baruch Spinoza, and Isaac Newton. And his commentaries on Jewish Law are influential to this day. Maimonides also was a renowned astronomer and physician. For a... Read more

Tina Turner’s Buddhism

Last updated on: May 26, 2023 at 3:43 pm By Barbara O'Brien

0 Comments

Tina Turner (1939-2023) was a force of nature, and her music touched countless people. She also was a Buddhist, a practitioner of a tradition called Nichiren, after its Japanese founder. Tributes to the late entertainer include this lovely piece from the Los Angeles Times by Jonah Valdez, “How Tina Turner’s Buddhist faith gave her the strength to leave Ike Turner.” I’d like to provide a bit of background into Tina Turner’s Buddhism. Buddhism, not unlike Christianity, is made up of... Read more

The Maya Civilization Was More Advanced Than We Knew

Last updated on: May 23, 2023 at 9:27 am By Barbara O'Brien

0 Comments

New discoveries promise new insight into the ancient Maya civilization and its religion. Archeologists have found a network of 417 cities in northern Guatemala that date back to about 1000 BCE. The cities were connected by nearly 110 miles of of well constructed roads that one scientist called “the first freeway system in the world.” The ruins revealed that the Maya civilization was much more advanced at a much earlier date than previously thought. It must now be understood as... Read more

The Mystery of the Emerald Buddha

Last updated on: May 18, 2023 at 4:02 pm By Barbara O'Brien

0 Comments

The Emerald Buddha is the most sacred object in Thailand. It is the nation’s palladium, meaning that keeping it safe also protects Thailand. The Kings of Thailand traditionally swear oaths of loyalty before it. Politicians caught in scandals swear their innocence to the Emerald Buddha to rehabilitate their public images. Legends say the Emerald Buddha was created in what is now the Bihar state of India in 43 BCE by a sage named Nagasena, with the help of the Hindu... Read more

The Real Story of Anna and the King of Siam

Last updated on: May 18, 2023 at 4:03 pm By Barbara O'Brien

0 Comments

The King and I, the classic musical by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein, premiered on Broadway in March 1951. It was a sensation and one of Rogers’s and Hammerstein’s most successful collaborations. The original cast included Yul Brynner as King Mongkut of Siam and Gertrude Lawrence as Anna Leonowens, the widowed British governess who was hired to be a teacher to the King’s several children. Since then the musical has been revived on Broadway four times, most recently in 2015. You... Read more

Buddhism in Egypt?

Last updated on: May 18, 2023 at 4:04 pm By Barbara O'Brien

0 Comments

Buddhism in Egypt? Nearly two millennia ago? Maybe. A statue of the Buddha dating to between 90 and 140 CE was recently discovered in Berenike, an ancient city on the western coast of the Red Sea in Egypt. It is the first ancient Buddha found west of Afghanistan. The 28-inch-tall (71 centimeters) statue is of a standing Buddha and was carved from Mediterranean marble. The statue somehow arrived in Berenike while Egypt was controlled by the Roman Empire. To recap: ... Read more