July 29, 2010, perhaps is a good day to remember for the history books. Not in the sense that something “great” happened on this day, but rather it’s a day in which a law goes into effect that will essentially put in jeopardy the safety, welfare, dignity of the immigrant community in Arizona – for [...]
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Sucker Punched II: A Reply
But I know that as “Christians” we tend to hold what Jesus says more important than what he practices. So, again, please closely read Matthew 23 (the whole chapter), the warnings or “Woes” that Jesus speaks to those in power. And then take a look at the following on your own, and study the teachings of Jesus through this parable as it is written (not my interpretation):
Matthew 25:31-46
Sucker Punched
By the way, let’s clear up a couple of things. Mr. Beck…
The Pope Just Doesn’t Get It!
He may be infallible. But he sure can screw up when it comes to public relations. That was painfully clear in the latest Vatican publication of “Substantive Norms” on how it is going to get tough on priest pedophiles. As reported in the New York Times and in the National Catholic Reporter, the document, in [...]
In the calm before the storm…
It is less than 24 hours until Hurricane Alex makes landfall and residents here in the Rio Grande Valley (“the Valley”) are preparing for the worst. Lines at grocery stores snake through the aisles as residents stock up on water, sand bags, coolers, and anything else they might need if the power goes out or [...]
Where Buddhism Helps: Action with Equanimity
When I ask myself the question: “How has Buddhism helped me in the practice of my Christian ideals?” I realize immediately that there is no one answer. But amid all the ways in which the teachings and the practice of the Dharma have enabled me to clarify, confirm, correct and enliven my efforts to live [...]
Pope Benedict, May I quote Josef Ratzinger?
In a recent article in the New York Review of Books on the morass of pedophilia crimes and cover-ups facing Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church, Anthony Grafton offers these words of encouragement and hope for bewildered Catholics: “Again and again, Catholics have proved astonishingly resilient and inventive, and have come forward to offer what [...]
Muhammad on South Park – Ouch!
What would a Buddhist Christian American make of South Park’s portrayal of Muhammad in its April 14, 200th episode? Was it imprudent? Impudent? Or was it something you would just expect from the always irreverent, usually tasteless (at least for an old fuddy-dud like me), and sometimes embarrassingly funny fare that producers Trey Parker and [...]
The Limits of Moral Outrage
In these days of widespread – including my own – moral outrage at sacerdotal pedophilia and episcopal cover-up, this sentence from Richard Rohr’s The Naked Now stopped me in my moralistic tracks: “Moral outrage at the ideas of others hardly ever serves God’s purposes, only our own.” (p. 132) Rohr is right, uncomfortably but also [...]
Where’s the “dictatorship of relativism”?
In a March 28 article on the present plight of the Pope and priestly pedophilia (wow, I didn’t intend that alliteration!), the NEW YORK TIMES wrote: “As archbishop, Benedict expended more energy pursuing theological dissidents than sexual predators.” They’re referring to the early 80s, when Pope Benedict was Cardinal Ratzinger presiding over the diocese of Munich. [...]
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