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Stop Executions of Gay Iraqis

Submitted by Chip on Mon, 2009-03-30 00:01

STOP EXECUTIONS OF GAY IRAQIS MEMBERS OF IRAQI LGBT GROUP ON DEATH ROW ACTION NEEDED TO HALT JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS | London, 27 March 2009

Urgent action is needed to halt the execution of 128 prisoners on death row in Iraq. Many of those awaiting execution were convicted for the 'crime’ of homosexuality, according to IRAQI-LGBT, a UK based organisation of Iraqis supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Iraq.

According to Ali Hili of IRAQI-LGBT, the Iraqi authorities plan to start executing them in batches of 20 from this week.

IRAQI-LGBT urgently requests that the UK Government, Human Rights Groups and the United Nations Human Rights Commission intervene with due speed to prevent this tragic miscarriage of justice from going ahead.

"We have information and reports on members of our community whom been arrested and waiting for execution for the crimes of homosexuality,’’ said Mr Hili. "Iraqi lgbt has been a banned from running our activities on Iraqi soil."

"Raids by the Iraqi police and ministry of interior forces cost our group the diapering and killing of 17 members working for Iraqi lgbt since 2005," added Mr Hili.

"Death penalty has been increasing at an alarming rate in Iraq since the new Iraqi regime reintroduced it in August 2004.
In 2008 at least 285 people were sentenced to death, and at least 34 executed. In 2007 at least 199 people were sentenced to death and 33 were executed, while in 2006 at least 65 people were put to death. The actual figures could be much higher as there are no official statistics for the number of prisoners facing execution," he said.

IRAQI LGBT is concerned that the Iraqi authorities have not disclosed the identities of those facing imminent execution, stoking fears that many of them may have been sentenced to death after trials that failed to satisfy international standards for fair trial.

Most are likely to have been sentenced to death by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI), whose proceedings consistently fall short of international standards for fair trial. Some are likely to have. Allegations of torture are not being investigated adequately or at all by the CCCI. Torture of detainees held by Iraqi security forces remains rife.

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The Blue Ducks Are Gay! They Face Species Extinction!

March 10, 2009 by Dan Nordgren

Scientists and liberal progressives alike are without words, as a lesson of natural order is playing out with a species of blue ducks. The ducks are gay and they are now facing extinction!

Being gay is against natural order as the entire point of having reproductive organs is continuation of the species. Everyone from liberal scientists to politicians will deny this fact, all in attempts to forward the destructive homogay agenda.

Attempts to breed a rare species of duck to avoid extinction in the UK have backfired after the only two remaining males fell for each other.
Source - The Daily Telegraph

So today these scientists and politicians are being treated to an early Ides of March, as their science research has stabbed them in the back with the Sword of Truth!

An article from the Telegraph tells the story of three ducks, Cherry, who is a female, along with Ben and Jerry, who are males (drakes). Cherry is the last remaining female Blue Duck in existence, and as such bird keepers at the West Sussex bird sanctuary want her to mate with one of the two males. There is only one major problem: the two male ducks are gay.

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Jesus, Interrupted

By JENNIFER SCHUESSLER

Published: March 19, 2009

HONEST TO JESUS: A few weeks ahead of the Easter bunny, Bart Ehrman is back on the hardcover nonfiction list with “Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them),” which enters at No. 8. Back in 2006, Ehrman, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, had a surprise hit with “Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible (and Why),” which spent nine weeks on the list. Ehrman — who grew up casually Episcopalian, became a fundamentalist in high school, had his faith eroded by decades of studying the Bible’s textual history and now calls himself a “happy agnostic” — seems to be riding the same anti-religion wave that has swept Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens onto the best-seller list and late-night talk shows. But he says that while they share some readers, he tries to distance himself from the so-called new atheists.

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If anyone finds a .pdf of this let me know. I unsuccessfully attempted to make one from my copy. Not going to happen with my scanner. Atheist Movies has the audio book here.

Selfless Insight: Zen and the Meditative Transformations of Consciousness

Selfless Insight: Zen and the Meditative Transformations of Consciousness
When neurology researcher James Austin began Zen training, he found that his medical education was inadequate. During the past three decades, he has been at the cutting edge of both Zen and neuroscience, constantly discovering new examples of how these two large fields each illuminate the other. Now, in Selfless Insight, Austin arrives at a fresh synthesis, one that invokes the latest brain research to explain the basis for meditative states and clarifies what Zen awakening implies for our understanding of consciousness.

Austin, author of the widely read Zen and the Brain, reminds us why Zen meditation is not only mindfully attentive but evolves to become increasingly selfless and intuitive. Meditators are gradually learning how to replace over-emotionality with calm, clear, objective comprehension.

In this new book, Austin discusses how meditation trains our attention, reprogramming it toward subtle forms of awareness that are more openly mindful. He explains how our maladaptive notions of self are rooted in interactive brain functions. And he describes how, after the extraordinary, deep states of kensho-satori strike off the roots of the self, a flash of transforming insight-wisdom leads toward ways of living more harmoniously and selflessly.

Selfless Insight is the capstone to Austin's journey both as a creative neuroscientist and as a Zen practitioner. His quest has spanned an era of unprecedented progress in brain research and has helped define the exciting new field of contemplative neuroscience.

Get a free .pdf copy here

A Tour of Chernobyl

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Are you sushi savvy?

Experts share their knowledge to help you wield your chopsticks with confidence

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Before I became a vegetarian I couldn't handle any sushi fishier than crab. Eel and octopus were horrifying. Vegetarian caterpillar rolls still give me the creeps. Thanks to Chris at Cynical-C Blog

What do you think of this shit?

Acid River

from Digital Tibetan Buddhist Altar by TENPA

The sensitive issue of homosexuality in the Dharma is in the news again, with the recent revelation that a celebrated lineage-holder was basically tricked into ordaining a post-op transvestite.

This is a subject that Tibetan lamas avoid like the plague.

However, Santideva didn't and in his Siksa-samuccaya anthology, quotes the Saddharma-smrtyupasthana Sutra as follows:

"Likewise, endless varieties of punishments in a future life are described for the wrong deed of sexual intercourse between two men. The one who commits misconduct with boys sees boys being swept away in the Acid River who cry out to him, and owing to the suffering and pain born of his deep affection for them, plunges in after them."

Indeed, the only sutra where homosexuality isn't condemned is the Kama Sutra, and that one doesn't belong to us.

Although His Holiness the Dalai Lama takes pains to explain that he doesn't have the authority to unilaterally interpret Buddhist scriptures -- and while he remains open-minded and non-judgmental on the issue -- he nonetheless wrote, in his 1996 book Beyond Dogma, "...a sexual act is proper when the couples use the organs created for sexual intercourse and nothing else."

His public attitude is that homosexuality is a form of sexual misconduct. As we all know, sexual misconduct has many forms, so to single out homosexuality as "better "or "worse" misconduct seems unnecessary, and perhaps somewhat unfair. Yet, it is an area of concern when one considers there are now such things as "Queer Sangha." The recent, disturbing news that an openly homosexual, convicted child abuser has been parading around as a Tibetan Buddhist monk sheds light on the potential dangers. It leads us to the question of whether or not Tibetan Buddhism in the West holds any risk for Catholic-style abuse of young boys.

Certainly, in the context of ordinary Western "dharma centers," this doesn't seem like much of a possibility. However, we do have nominally Buddhist cults in America (and elsewhere), and because of their insular nature, it would seem the risk is potentially greater. Indeed, there is evidence that at least one such cult has come to specialize in recruiting gays, then sponsoring them for ordination by unwitting preceptors.

I do know that a large number of gay people have come to Buddhism because they feel ostracized by other religions. Exposure to Buddhism has been helpful for them and for those around them. Perhaps some of them have been able to cease defining themselves by their sexuality, and have begun to examine their own basic humanity.

I personally do not believe in discrimination on any basis. It seems to me that desire is desire. I knew a pilot once, who liked to say, "When I have to land the plane, I don't care if the runway goes north or south. I just land the damn plane."

And, to continue with the analogy, maybe it is charitable to recall that we recently had the example of a pilot who landed in a river in order to save his passengers.

Motivation plays a substantial role in determining the outcome of even highly unseemly behavior.

Despite use of the word "gay," it seems that many homosexual people are deeply unhappy and confused. There is a very high rate of suicide. Many become the victims of violence. If Buddhism brings them comfort, happiness, and insight, then what is wrong with that? If Buddhism becomes their refuge, isn't that what Buddhism is explicitly supposed to do?

"Gay bashing" in the name of Buddhism will never be acceptable. That much should be made very clear. However, what is worth careful examination is whether or not homosexuality -- or indeed any single-issue labeling -- should be allowed to become part of institutional Buddhism as expressed in the West.

With all due respect to "Queer Sangha," why wouldn't "Sangha" be enough?

Hidden wounds of occupation

Ashley Smith reports on the devastating effects of the U.S. war and occupation on the civilian population of Iraq.

March 18, 2009

The U.S. invasion has caused an epidemic of emotional and mental disorders among Iraqis (Ali Almossawi)

THE ROMAN historian Tacitus denounced Roman imperialism for its plunder and destruction of its colonies, declaring, "They make a desert and call it peace." No phrase is more apt in describing what the U.S. has done in Iraq.

Two new studies released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Oxfam reveal the devastating toll on Iraq's surviving population in the wake of the U.S. war and occupation.

The U.S. has besieged Iraq, a country of some 27 million people, for the last 20 years. The 1991 Gulf War killed hundreds of thousands. Sanctions imposed on Saddam Hussein's regime led to the deaths of over 1 million people. The 2003 invasion and occupation caused another 1 million deaths, drove in excess of 4 million from their homes and caused a civil war that tore apart the society. In sum, the U.S. has killed or displaced nearly a quarter of Iraq's population.

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Better World Books

The online bookstore with a soul

Better World Books collects and sells books online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide. With more than two million new and used titles in stock, we’re a self-sustaining, triple-bottom-line company that creates social, economic and environmental value for all our stakeholders.

We were founded in 2002 by three friends from the University of Notre Dame who started selling textbooks online to earn some money, and ended up forming a pioneering social enterprise — a business with a mission to promote literacy.

We’re not a traditional company with an add-on “cause” component. Social and environmental responsibility is at the core of our business. You could say it's in our DNA.

We’re breaking new ground in online bookselling. We believe that education and access to books are basic human rights. That's why books sold on BetterWorldBooks.com help fund high-impact literacy projects in the United States and around the world.

All books are available with free shipping to any location within the United States (or $3.97 worldwide). And in case you’re concerned about your eco-footprint, every order is shipped carbon neutral with offsets from Carbonfund.org.

Here’s the best part: In addition to selling new titles, Better World Books supports book drives and collects used books and textbooks through a network of over 1,600 college campuses and partnerships with nearly 1,000 libraries nationwide. So far, the company has converted more than 11 million donated books into $4.5 million in funding for literacy and education. In the process, we’ve also diverted more than 6,000 tons of books from landfills.

Because we believe that most every book has lasting value and the potential to help change the world, we see our job as helping to find new homes for unwanted books. Thus far, we’ve donated nearly one million books to partner programs around the world. Our five primary literacy partners are Books for Africa, Room to Read, Worldfund, the National Center for Family Literacy, and Invisible Children. Good company, no doubt.

Every book purchased from Better World Books contributes to individual literacy throughout the world and the promise of a better life. Clearly, we can’t do this work without our customers. That's why we’re so passionate about trying to offer the best price, selection, customer service, and overall shopping experience.

Thanks for joining us in our mission to create a better world, one book at a time.

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Ocean by Kenneth Tanaka

I was looking at some older posts at Echoes of the Name and he had a link to an online version of Ocean. I am reading a paperback copy of it now. Great book! A nice simple introduction to Jodo-Shinshu.

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The Heights Traveled to Subdue Tibet

By EDWARD WONG

Published: March 14, 2009

MAQU, China — The paramilitary officer took our passports. It was close to midnight, and he and a half-dozen peers at the checkpoint stood around our car on the snowy mountain road. After five days, our travels in the Tibetan regions of western China had come to an abrupt end.

My colleagues and I waited for the police to arrive. We were to be escorted to the local police station, interrogated and put on a plane back to Beijing.

“This is for your own safety,” the paramilitary officer said.

The detention, two weeks ago, was not entirely unexpected: I was reporting on Tibet, one of the most delicate issues in the eyes of the Chinese government. And I was traveling through Tibetan areas of Qinghai and Gansu Provinces as the government was deploying thousands of troops to clamp down on any unrest.

Tibetans widely resent Chinese rule, and Chinese leaders fear that Tibetans could seize on this month, the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising, to carry out a wave of protests, similar to what took place a year ago. Part of the mission of the security forces is to evict foreigners so that whatever occurs will be kept hidden from the world.

That, of course, has always been part of the problem with Tibet. China’s lockdown this month is only the latest episode in a long history of both Tibetans and Chinese trying to keep the mountain kingdom closed to the outside world. News of Tibet has always been difficult to obtain because much of the region lies on a remote plateau above 15,000 feet that is ringed by mountains. Information becomes that much harder to get when governments padlock the gate.

Drawing a veil over Tibet has only encouraged outsiders to project their own imaginings and desires onto the hidden land, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

It happened in the 19th century, when Tibetan officials, seeing Britain and Russia jockey for influence in Central Asia during the Great Game, decided to close Tibet to foreigners. The very state of isolation spurred explorers, spies, missionaries, colonial officers and Buddhist devotees into quests to reach Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

Britain shot its way to Lhasa during a brutal military invasion in 1904, then tried to keep other foreigners out. The Chinese Communist Party, after conquering Tibet in 1951, kept the region closed during decades of repression (and made it into a “hell on earth,” the Dalai Lama said on Tuesday).

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Easter: The Resurrection of Spring

Excerpted and Adapted from

Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection

Although it is believed to represent the time of Jesus Christ's resurrection, the festival of Easter existed in pre-Christian times and, according to the famous Christian saint Venerable Bede (672-735 AD/CE), was named for the Teutonic or German goddess Eôstre, who was the "goddess of dawn" and who symbolized the fertility found abundantly during the springtime of the year. (See CE, V, 224; Weekley, 491) Regarding the ancient fertility goddess, in How the Easter Story Grew from Gospel to Gospel, Dr. Rolland E. Wolfe, a professor of Biblical Literature at Case Western Reserve University, relates:

"In the polytheistic pantheons of antiquity there usually was a king or chief of the gods, and also a female counterpart who was regarded as his wife. This mother goddess was one of the most important deities in the ancient Near East. She was called by the various names of Ishtar, Athtar [sic], Astarte, Ashtoreth, Antit, and Anat. This mother goddess always was associated with human fertility. In the course of time Mary was to become identified with this ancient mother goddess, or perhaps it should be said that Mary was about to supplant her in certain Christian circles." (Wolfe, 234)

The comparison between the Babylonian goddess Ishtar and the Jewish maiden Mary becomes even more evident when it is factored in that in an ancient Akkadian hymn Ishtar is called "Virgin." (Sayce, 268) Yet, like Mary, Ishtar too was the "Mother of God," in this case Tammuz, the dying and rising god mourned by the Israelite women at Ezekiel 8:14. (See Mettinger, 213) Indeed, Old Testament scholar Rev. Dr. W. Robertson Smith identifies Ishtar as the virgin-mother goddess worshipped at Petra who was mentioned by Church father Epiphanius. In a footnote, Smith remarks, "The identification of the mother of the gods with the heavenly virgin, in other words, the unmarried goddess, is confirmed if not absolutely demanded by Aug. Civ. Dei, ii. 4." (Smith, 56) The reference is to St. Augustine's The City of God (2.4), in which the Church father discusses with undisguised contempt the Pagan rites surrounding "the virgin Caelestis" and "Berecynthia the mother of them all." (Augustine, 54) From these remarks and many others over the past centuries it is clear that the educated elite have been well aware of the unoriginality of the virgin-mother motif within Christianity. Yet, to this day the public remains uninformed and/or in fervent denial about such facts....

As demonstrated in Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection, the springtime/ Easter resurrection myth occurred in Greek mythology with the tale of Kore/Persephone descending into the underworld to reside with Hades, leading to the death of winter. Her remergence out of the underworld represented the springtime renewal of life on Earth - thus, Persephone's resurrection symbolized eternal life, precisely as did that of Jesus and the Egyptian god Osiris.

Comprising the entombment for three days, the descent into the underworld, and the resurrection, the spring celebration of "Easter" represents the period of the vernal equinox, when the sun is "hung on a cross" composed of the days and nights of equal length. After a touch-and-go battle for supremacy with the night or darkness, the sun emerges triumphant, being "born again" or "resurrected" as a "man," moving towards "his" full strength at the summer solstice...

It is noteworthy that even older scholarship reflects the knowledge of the strengthening of the sun at Easter, as exemplified by Rev. George W. Lemon, who in his English Etymology, published in 1783, gives the meaning of "Easter" as:

"...at that time or on that day, the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in his wings, like the sun all glorious in the east..."

The "Sun of Righteousness" refers to Jesus Christ, as purportedly prophesied in the last book before the New Testament, Malachi (4:2). Christ's identification as the "Sun of Righteousness," the placement of his "resurrection" at Easter, and his association with the "sun all glorious in the east," all reflect his solar role, serving as earmarks of Jesus himself being a sun god. Indeed, "Easter" or the vernal equinox truly represents the resurrection of the "Light of the World" - the sun-bringing with it the fertility of spring.

That Easter constituted a pre-Christian festival concerning resurrection is apparent from the discussion in the New International Encyclopaedia regarding Easter customs:

"The use of eggs in this connection is of the highest antiquity, the egg having been considered in widely separated pre-Christian mythologies as a symbol of resurrection..." (Gilman, 492)

In his extensive analysis in The Golden Bough regarding the "dying and rising gods," Sir James George Frazer concluded that the story of Easter as a time of rebirth, renewal and resurrection of life in general could be found in the myths of non-Christian deities such as the Greco-Phrygian god Attis and the Greco-Syrian god Adonis, among others. While various of Frazer's contentions have come under fire, frequently from Christian apologists, in The Riddle of Resurrection, Dr. Tryggve N.D. Mettinger demonstrates the dying-and-rising theme overall to be sound....

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Guide to Jodo Shinshu

28/February/2009 14:24 Filed in: Calgary

The Calgary Buddhist Temple has put together a great guide available for downloading. It's called a "Guide to Jodo Shinshu Teaching and Practices."

The Guide was translated from Japanese to English by Kyojo S. Ikuta & Trudy Gahlinger of the Calgary Buddhist Temple. It was originally developed as an introduction to Jodo Shinshu for the layperson.

Part One describes the life and teachings of the Buddha, and the history and evolution of Jodo Shinshu teachings.

While, Part Two discusses Jodo Shinshu practices, including Jodo Shinshu religious days and services.

It also answers the questions, "What is the Pure Land?" and "Who is an evil person?" The 63 page document (check your printer for ink and paper before downloading) also contains photos and information explaining the meaning and history of the ornaments and artifacts that comprise the Jodo Shinshu tradition.

The document was originally produced by the Renken Tokuhon Study Group in Japan.

The Guide is a great way to ready, study and understand the life of the Nembutsu.


DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE TO JODO SHINSHU TEACHING AND PRACTICES...

Buddhists Connect Online Through Video Sharing and New Community at eDharma.com

WEBWIRE – Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Contact Information

Rudy Hadisentosa

Founder

eDharma.com

+62 21 56999720

hadisentosarudy@gmail.com

Summary: A new online Buddhist community and video sharing portal launches this week at www.eDharma.com enabling members to connect and converse more easily with other Buddhists around the world, while spreading awareness of Buddhism through video sharing.

Jakarta, Indonesia – March 11, 2009 – eDharma.com launches this week, connecting Buddhists worldwide through a free social networking and video sharing service. The community opens with a collection of educational videos on Mahayana, Theravada, and other Buddhist sects, as well as a forum where Buddhists and those interested in learning about Buddhism can meet and discuss the Buddhist way of life.

“eDharma.com is about two things,” says Rudy Hadisentosa, owner of the new online Buddhist community. “The site serves as a social network and online community where Buddhists from all over the world can come together and share thoughts and ideas. In addition to connecting people, eDharma.com is designed to teach others about Buddhism in a more interesting and interactive way. We’re working to accomplish this through the video sharing aspect of the site. For example, through current videos, visitors can learn about things like moral or Zen Buddhist teachings or watch English webcasts of the True Buddha School"

Creating an account at www.eDharma.com takes only a few minutes. After registering for an account, members have the ability to upload Buddhist videos, photos, or news to share with the eDharma.com community.

Videos can be shared by uploading them directly to eDharma.com. The site also supports embedded videos from other video sharing services such as YouTube and Google Video. The Buddhist forum gives all new members a place to introduce themselves and share ideas with the entire community. Membership at eDharma.com is free.

About www.eDharma.com

eDharma.com is a free online Buddhist community, connecting members of various sects of Buddhism with each other and with non-Buddhists. Launched in March 2009, the mission of eDharma.com is to educate people about Buddhism while giving active Buddhists a place to meet and interact.

For more information about the www.eDharma.com community or Buddhist video sharing service, please contact Rudy Hadisentosa at +62 21 56999720.