Dear Readers,
I have recently added the option to subscribe to Digital Dharma by email, using FeedBurner’s excellent service.
You get a link to each entry, a little blurb and all the DD goodness in one little breakfast package for immediate perusal or thoughtful reference throughout the day. (Can you believe I just wrote that?) 
Anyway, I strongly suggest it as a convenient alternative to feeds, if you aren’t an RSS/Atom freak.
As an Internet company, Google is an active participant in policy
debates surrounding information access, technology and energy. Because
our company has a great diversity of people and opinions — Democrats
and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, all religions and no
religion, straight and gay — we do not generally take a position on
issues outside of our field, especially not social issues. So when Proposition 8 appeared on the California ballot, it was an unlikely question for Google to take an official company position on.
However,
while there are many objections to this proposition — further
government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text –
it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many
of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8.
While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both
sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of
equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8
– we should not eliminate anyone’s fundamental rights, whatever their
sexuality, to marry the person they love.
Permalink
Official Google Blog: Our position on California’s No on 8 campaign
Margot Adler talks to Interfaith Voices…
Margot Adler stands out in two worlds that we, admittedly, find pretty interesting– public radio and paganism. Radio junkies know her as an NPR reporter and master storyteller. And pagans consider her a preeminent scholar of earth-based religion. The former Jewish-atheist joins us to talk about the changing perception of the “witch word,” the sacredness of the earth, and why if you look far enough back, all of us come from a Pagan heritage.
Margot Adler, Redefining the “Witch Word” | Interfaith Voices
Hannah Tennant-Moore’s essay on Buddhism and Sex is well worth a read.
It’s no coincidence that the most controversial transgressions against the precepts in fledgling American dharma centers have been related to the open-ended admonition against sexual misconduct. The difference between a white lie and a manipulative untruth is relatively clear; sorting out the wholesome signals one’s body gives from the unwholesome ones presents a much more complicated challenge. It actually took me several years to realize that simply feeling attracted to someone is not a good enough reason to sleep with him. …
Pope grants indulgences for World Youth Day
I remember the days when you could make a novena, say a certain number of rosaries, etc. and thereby cancel out all the punishment from those mortal sins, no matter what. The seemingly commercial aspect of this sort of relationship with a transcendent being was one of the things that drove me from the church. Now it’s back. The more things change…
Vatican City, Jul 7, 2008 / 10:33 am (CNA).- Pilgrims at World Youth Day and those from around the world who pray for the ‘spiritual goals of this meeting and for its happy outcome,” will be able to receive indulgences, the Vatican announced on Saturday.According to a decree signed by Cardinal James Francis Stafford and Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, respectively penitentiary major and regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, Pope Benedict XVI will grant two types of indulgences for the international gathering of youth.
Those who “gather at Sydney, Australia, in the spirit of pilgrimage” to participate in celebrations for 23rd World Youth Day, will be able to receive a full or plenary indulgence, the decree says. Partial indulgences will be available to “all those who, wherever they are, will pray for the spiritual goals of this meeting and for its happy outcome.” Pope grants indulgences for World Youth Day
At Morning Star Church in O’Fallon, Missouri, the Rev. Mike Schreiner is accepting mid-sermon text-messaged questions from worshipers. Articles of Faith Blog
An interesting point of view. What do you think?
There is an old Sinhala metaphor that says ‘Ourage malu ourage enge thiyan kapanawa’ which refers to an act of using a slain pig’s carcass as a table to cut the pig’s flesh on. We find this attitude in certain non-Buddhists who resort to a malicious use of Buddhist references to denigrate or shame Buddhists. Rev Dalston Forbes OMI writing to the Island newspaper on 26 September 2008 an article titled ‘Total Elimination of insurgents?’ falls into this category of people when he quotes “pancha sila” to shame General Sarath Fonseka, the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army for his stated resolve to kill all insurgents.
…human affection for animals is increasingly an open-arms invitation for pet scams. Animal lovers are easy prey for crooks. Our love, especially for four-legged pals, can be so intense that we fail to spot the scam when it’s pulled.
This week we’ve compiled a list of the 7 most common pet scams currently doing the rounds. If you’re an animal fan, you may save yourself a lot of heartache, not to mention hard-earned dollars, by getting wise to these con tricks. …
The Reverend Gardner Calvin Taylor is senior pastor emeritus of the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y. He led the congregation from 1948 to 1990
Once more I feel compelled to bring one of Barbara O’Brien’s articles to your attention. Although I’m sure she’d be the last to say so, she’s a wonderful teacher who can distill ideas skillfully without losing the gist. Considering that in Buddhism, gist is all you get…
In Buddhism, there is no teaching of a First Cause. How all this arising and ceasing began, or even if it had a beginning, is not explained. The Buddha emphasized understanding the nature of things as-they-are over speculation of what might have happened in the past or what might happen in the future. It might be said that the Buddhist version of Genesis is: Stuff happens, because other stuff happens. ..
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Sept. 25 — A military prosecutor involved in war crimes cases here has quit his position, citing ethical concerns about his office’s failure to turn over exculpatory material to attorneys for an Afghan detainee scheduled to go to trial in December. Guantanamo Prosecutor Quits, Says Evidence Was Withheld – washingtonpost.com
This season’s flu vaccine is expected to be more effective than last year’s, when the vaccine proved to be a poor match for circulating strains of the virus, health officials said yesterday. This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that more Americans than ever before get vaccinated against the flu. Children and adolescents ages 6 months to 18 years old should get the vaccine, as should those with chronic health conditions, those who will probably interact with people who have the flu (like healthcare workers), pregnant women, and adults older than age 50.
TOKYO (AP) – Outspoken conservative Taro Aso took power as Japan’s prime minister on Wednesday after he overcame opposition forces in a split parliament, tasked with rejuvenating the ailing ruling party ahead of elections.
Aso was chosen as president of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday and had already begun piecing together a Cabinet expected to include a fellow hawk as finance chief.
The 68-year-old former Olympic sharpshooter was declared premier after the LDP-controlled lower house overruled the upper house, which had voted for Ichiro Ozawa, the chief of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.
