Monday Spotlight: Americans United

Americans United "...protects separation of church and state by working on a wide range of political and social issues." An organization like AU is especially important today in a country controlled by the far right. One of their recent victories was having Wicca recognized as a religion for military tombstones (here's my story on that). For the sake of our freedom, please support Americans United.

Americans United

Buddhism

I feel that, of all the changes that have overcome me throughout my life, one of them has had an especially profound effect: Buddhism.

Before I officially started to call myself a Buddhist, I subscribed to Buddhist thought. I think one of the most important aspects of Buddhism is that you don't have to be a Buddhist to get something out of its philosophy. In fact, a lot of people don't even consider it a religion, but instead a lifestyle.

Buddhism has made me more mindful and conscious of myself and those around me. The first book on Buddhism I ever encountered taught me to love everyone, even those I'd never met or disliked. The Buddha taught that you should treat everyone as you would treat your mother; after all, they were your mother in a past life.

Non-attachment is also a big part of Buddhism. Attachment, whether it's to things, places, or people, always leads to suffering. Through non-attachment, however, we can free ourselves from that suffering and have happier lives.

Like I said earlier, you don't have to be a Buddhist to take something away from the Buddha's teachings. You can learn compassion for the world around you, and you can give yourself and others a happier existence through love.

A Basic Buddhism Guide: Introduction to Buddhism

Victory for religious freedom

After long being discriminated against, Wiccans who die in the military can now have a pentacle on their tombstone. I first became aware of this fight in March of last year (you can read my original posts on the topic here and here).

I feel that Wicca is probably one of the most misunderstood religions in America. I've seen topics on message boards arguing whether it's a religion or not; I've heard people call them satanists; people generally think they're crazy. Even the poll on the site of the article shows that 33% of 120,001 people (which comes to about 39,600) do not support the Wiccans. This goes to show that we're still a long way from being free of discrimination.

Here's the Wikipedia article on Wicca, and here's the AOL article about the victory.