Tag: politics
A Female Future Dalai Lama? What Are the Real Prospects?
As a Buddhist clergy, 25-year student of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (HHDL), and female feminist, I always welcome statements from HH highlighting the social position of women, such as those repo... Read More
Can Progressive Churches Avoid a Double Standard in the Public Sphere?
Earlier this May, the Minnesota state legislature legalized gay marriage, making Minnesota the twelfth state (in addition to Washington, DC) to recognize same sex marriages. A couple of days after the... Read More
Why Monty Python Makes for Good Religion: Reflections on Religion and Film, Part 1/3
Humor; humor is difficult. Religion; religion is difficult. They can both be reassuring, and discomfiting. They can affix labels, or they can liberate. They can be subversive, or they can uplift the d... Read More
Grieve First, Tell Stories Later: Notes on Tragedy and Ideological Opportunism
On Monday, bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, and today we’re tempted to tell stories when we ought to be grieving. The pundits have already started. (Apparently the first rul... Read More
Does Religion Cause War ?
Does Religion Cause War ? If so, How ? The sociologist David Martin, in his book Does Christianity Cause War? (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997), investigates the empirical evidence from “Europe as a... Read More
The Megaphone of Money in American Politics
While the sums are larger and the stakes are higher in recent times, the fear that money corrupts those in power is an age-old issue. As far back as the Hebrew Bible those concerned with justice warne... Read More
From Lincoln to The Hunger Games: The Power of Story
I woke up clutching my bed frame, heart pounding, mind reeling – three nights in a row – when I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I could not escape this story, both novel and film, an... Read More
Hillary and Michelle: Urban Dancing and the Metaphysics of the Home
“If you can’t control your own house, how will you be able to control the White House?” – Michelle Obama, 2007 presidential campaign speech The word “economy” descends from the ancient Gr... Read More