On Kant, Contempt, and our Buddhist path(s) forward

Last updated on: April 28, 2017 at 10:08 am By Justin Whitaker

Karen Stohr, associate professor of philosophy at Georgetown University and senior research scholar at Georgetown’s Kennedy Institute of Ethics, wrote a thoughtful piece for the NYTimes this week titled, “Our New Age of Contempt.” Her article concludes: Privately expressed contempt may be cathartic. Publicly expressed contempt, however, is perilous. As Kant recognized, it threatens the foundations of our political community by denying the central moral idea on which that community is based — that everyone has a right to basic... Read more

Trump has already led me to the Bible: 7 Passages near to my Heart

Last updated on: January 27, 2017 at 11:12 pm By Justin Whitaker

Many of my Christian friends over the last few months have assured me that part of their reason for supporting Donald Trump for the presidency has been his grasp of Christian values. “God will be back in America,” they tell me. I’m still not entirely sure what that means. “Did He leave?” Is He in Canada? That’s where I hear a lot of people are thinking about moving to, so maybe God’s already up there? Just waiting? But today I’ve... Read more

We Cannot Report a Lie: Has NPR been Gaslighted by Trump?

Last updated on: January 25, 2017 at 12:21 pm By Justin Whitaker

If you’ve never had to look up “gaslighting” in the dictionary, consider yourself lucky. I have – twice now – been so thoroughly deceived and subtly manipulated that I began to question my own grasp on reality – my own memories, my own emotional balance and response in a relationship. Each time it took months to regain my confidence and reclaim the truth that these people were manipulative, narcissistic, and deceitful (i.e. lying). Having that realization, and being able to... Read more

Women’s March on Montana in Photos (UPDATED)

Last updated on: January 21, 2017 at 8:47 pm By Justin Whitaker

I have seen the future. And the future is WOMEN. Today, women and allies from across the state (and no doubt beyond) descended on Helena for a sister-march in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington. It was one of hundreds of marches around the world, gathering an estimated 2.5 million people globally. Facebook ‘registrants’ were up to around 5400 at the time of the march and organizers estimated 10,000 were actually there. Further details on that as they become available.... Read more

The Arc of the Moral Universe, January 20, 2017

Last updated on: January 20, 2017 at 11:46 pm By Justin Whitaker

The local store is out of White Poster Board. Hmmm… I wonder where it all could be. The quote, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” is often attributed to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is thanks to him that the phrase has become part of our American lexicon. Yet the exact wording predates his use of it by around half a century, and the origins go back further still to... Read more

Buddhists in a Democracy: Be Political, But Not Partisan

Last updated on: June 9, 2017 at 1:16 pm By Justin Whitaker

This year’s election and the impending inauguration of Donald Trump have drawn out some heated discussions about the role Buddhism ought to be playing in our political system. Two articles that come to the forefront, in part for espousing different views on the topic, are Jiryu Mark Rutschman-Byler’s article Buddhism is Apolitical? (Or, Stop Trying to Wiggle Out of the Damn Koan!), updated at Lion’s Roar as Isn’t Buddhism Supposed to Be Apolitical? and Brad Warner’s Should Plumbing Be Political? Jiryu’s piece explores four points around... Read more

Buddhist Ethics Today – or can we all be a little more enlightened?

Last updated on: January 7, 2017 at 5:00 pm By Justin Whitaker

Seth Zuiho Segall has a lengthy and thoughtful piece in the latest Tricycle Magazine, titled, “A More Enlightened Way of Being.” The topic is ethics, specifically Buddhist ethics in the contemporary world. Segall’s writing is wide-reaching and wonderfully fluid. He mentions Aristotle, Kant, Hume, Kierkegaard, and other luminaries of the West. He also surveys the long history of Buddhism and its developments and encounters with Bon (Tibet), Daoism (China) and Kami worship (Japan). Buddhism Today The central thesis is that... Read more

Buddhist Gladness for a Trump Victory

Last updated on: January 5, 2017 at 11:58 pm By Justin Whitaker

The Bubble Like many inside the liberal bubble, I have had (and continue to have) a tough time with November’s election results. Our team lost. Their team won. And by our team, I include the disabled children who now face more bullying, the LGBTQ community who face the possibility of lost rights, Muslims, Native Americans, all people of color, women, and anyone else who now lives in heightened fear of attacks or has faced them already. A fair amount of... Read more

False: Trump did not say he’d turn to Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh instead of the Pope

Last updated on: September 22, 2017 at 1:25 pm By Justin Whitaker

Today the website Religiousmind.com published a story claiming that “Trump Says He Will Turn To Dalai Lama and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh For Spiritual Guidance But Not The Pope.” This comes almost exactly two months after their last false news story claiming that the Dalai Lama had compared Trump to Hitler. That story has since been removed from the site, but was also debunked by Snopes. In today’s story, the well-known disagreements between Trump and Pope Francis play a role,... Read more

The First Nidana – A Christmas Song for Buddhists

Last updated on: December 23, 2016 at 12:56 pm By Justin Whitaker

Growing up Catholic in the US, I have a certain fondness for Christmas songs – especially loving the voices of Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley, and others of a certain bygone era of American music. So when I stumbled across this beautiful Buddhist Christmas song (or a Buddhist song set to a modern Christmas tune), I was hooked. This week I got in touch with the song’s creator, Ryan Hunt, for an interview. Please read, enjoy... Read more