The tech giant was due to sponsor a drag show featuring popular performer Peaches Christ at Beaux gay bar in San Francisco, California
It pulled the show after hundreds of employees signed a fiery petition saying it violated the company’s event guidelines regarding sexually explicit activity
Peaches Christ, real name Joshua Grannell, hit back at the petitioners, accusing them of promoting ‘anti-queer and anti-gay rhetoric’ and said the show went on
Steve Kirsch: The Amish died of Covid at a rate 90 TIMES LOWER than the rest of America.
“They did not lock down. They did not mask. They did not social distance, They did not vaccinate, and there were no mandates in the Amish community to get vaccinated. They basically ignored… pic.twitter.com/txFXxFiR31
The Vatican’s Dicastery of Bishops has completed a formal investigation of Bishop Joseph E. Strickland and the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, according to multiple media reports.
What prompted the inquiry, known as an apostolic visitation, remains unclear, but it marks a rare though not unprecedented intervention by Rome into a U.S. diocese and points to possible disciplinary action against Strickland, a widely popular though polarizing Texas firebrand viewed as a culture war champion by many U.S. conservatives for his staunch defense of the unborn, marriage, the traditional Latin liturgy, and Catholic orthodoxy.
The leader of the eastern Texas diocese since 2012, Strickland, 64, has faced criticism for what some see as intemperate social media posts unbecoming of a prominent U.S. prelate, including a May 12 tweet that suggested Pope Francis was “undermining the Deposit of Faith.”
Not one to sit on the sidelines, he recently played a prominent role in a eucharistic procession and prayer rally in Los Angeles on June 16 organized to protest Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers for honoring an anti-Catholic drag group at the team’s annual Pride Night game.
Though he was hailed for his leadership in some circles for joining the Dodgers protest, others saw the involvement of a bishop from another diocese as a breach of ecclesiastical protocol. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which condemned the Dodgers’ actions, emphasized in a statement that it had not given “backing or approval” for the rally.
Section Seven of the Diamond Sutra has been added. A link to the sutra can be found at the top of this page. Discussions of previous sections of the Diamond Sutra can be found here or by clicking on the Diamond Sutra tag on the right margin of this page.
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In this section the Buddha follows up on his statement in the previous section “…this is why I have often said to you monks that even my teachings should be understood to be like a raft; if even the Dharma must be let go of, then how much more must everything else be let go of?”
He does this by asking Subhuti “…what do you say? Has the Tathagata really attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi? Has the Tathagata really spoken a Dharma?”
Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi means “complete, unsurpassed enlightenment,” which is the ultimate goal of all Buddhist practice.
Subhuti answers correctly by saying, “As far as I understand what the Buddha has said, there is no definite dharma that can be called anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, and there is no definite Dharma that could be spoken about by the Tathagata.”
When spelled with a small d, dharma means “thing,” or in this case “anything that can be thought of or named.”
Subhuti’s saying “…there is no definite Dharma that could be spoken about by the Tathagata” means that the teachings of the Buddha have no definite form. They are methods for purifying the mind in an infinite variety of circumstances, not strict codes to be followed blindly. Like a raft, the teachings are used when and where they are needed and not where they are not needed.
Subhuti continues: “And why is this? The Dharma of which the Tathagata speaks cannot be held onto, it cannot be spoken, it is not a law, and it is not a non-law.”
The true Dharma is the Dharma that is understood, the Dharma that alters consciousness for the better, the Dharma that ultimately brings anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
“And that is why all bodhisattvas understand the unconditioned dharmas differently.”
The “unconditioned dharmas” are the eight unchanging attributes of the Tathagata or the enlightened state. Since these attributes are qualities of the Tathagata, this line might be interpreted to mean “All bodhisattvas understand the Tathagata differently.” The truth is one, but the angles from which we perceive it are many.
Buddhist sutras generally agree that the unconditioned state of enlightenment is: 1) timeless, 2) without delusion, 3) ageless, 4) deathless, 5) pure, 6) universal, 7) motionless, 8) joyful.
Th 45-year-old organization says it works in ‘outreach’ to marginalized communities and claim to ‘use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit’.
On Monday, the team was lambasted in a statement from Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, and the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Services.
They asked Catholics to pray on Friday ‘as an act of reparation for the blasphemies against our Lord we see in our culture today.’
‘A professional baseball team has shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity is mocking our Lord, His Mother, and consecrated women cannot be overstated,’ the archbishops said.
‘This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere; it is blasphemy.’
The fifth section of the Diamond Sutra has been added. A link to the sutra can be found at the top of this page or here.
In this section, the Buddha continues his discussion of laksana (marks, characteristics) by asking, “Subhuti, what do you say, can you see the Tathagata in his bodily laksana?”
In this context, Tathagata means an “enlightened Buddha,” with an emphasis on enlightened. This question could reasonably be interpreted to mean, “…can you perceive the enlightened state of a Buddha through mundane (bodily) characteristics or marks?”
Subhuti answers, “No.” He then explains himself by negating “bodily laksana,” which are essentially delusive and thus not profoundly real.
The Buddha confirms his answer and emphasizes its import by saying, “All laksana are delusive. If you can see that all laksana are not laksana, then you will see the Tathagata.”
Thus, enlightenment and the generosity and wisdom upon which it is based or of which it is a manifestation cannot be perceived by mundane (bodily) laksana. In fact, the Buddha says, to become enlightened you must be able to see that “all laksana are delusive.”
A common interpretation of this section is that that the word laksana refers to the thirty-two marks of a Buddha. Since these thirty-two marks are discussed later in the sutra, it probably makes more sense to interpret them straightforwardly as “bodily laksana,” indicating mundane perception of the enlightened state.
The thirty-two marks or signs are also know as the thirty-two marks of a great man.
Interestingly, the Wikipedia entry on the thirty-two marks says the twenty-ninth mark is “Eyes dark brown or deep blue.” A few other pages I checked on Google claim the eyes are are “clear” and the pupils dark. Traditionally, this laksana has been translated as “blue” or “very blue.”
The Dhammawiki page linked above has this:
He has very blue eyes (Pali: abhi nila netto). Note 1: “very (abhi) blue (nila) eyes (netto)” is the literal translation. Nila is the word used to describe a sapphire and the color of the sea, but also the color of a rain cloud. It also defines the color of the Hindu God Krishna. Note 2: “His lashes are like a cow’s; his eyes are blue./ Those who know such things declare/ ‘A child which such fine eyes/ will be one who’s looked upon with joy./ If a layman, thus he’ll be/ Pleasing to the sight of all./ If ascetic he becomes,/ Then loved as healer of folk’s woes.'” (Lakkhana Sutta)
In Chinese, the Buddha’s eyes are described as “blue” or “jade-like.” Some years ago, I had a discussion with a very capable Pali translator on this point. He wanted to know what I thought (as someone who knows the Chinese) about describing the Buddha’s eyes as “clear.” I said I did not think that that was what the Chinese was saying and that, furthermore, that would be a strange meaning for ancient Chinese, as “clear eyes” is not the kind of thing they would have written. He agreed with what I said, and being an intelligent man, was amused by the whole controversy.
Whatever the case, I suppose it’s inevitable that PC sensibilities will enter even the history of Buddhism. It does seem likely that the Buddha, who is frequently referred to as an “Aryan,” was born into an actual Aryan family. We know he spoke an Indo-European language (Magahi) and that he could easily have had blue eyes. Alexander the Great had blue eyes as did many other people in those days.
A major interpretation of the thirty-two marks is that they are mystical and only an enlightened being can see them anyway. They are not a very important part of Buddhism. As the Diamond Sutra itself says, “All laksana are delusive.”
Still, it is fascinating to observe how people react to imagining a blue-eyed Buddha. In my experience, most Westerners who have not studied much Buddhism, imagine the Buddha to have looked Chinese. Some imagine he looked Indian. Just as Christ gained blond hair and blue eyes in some European portrayals of him, so possibly, a blond-haired blue-eyed Buddha gradually morphed into having a Chinese visage in the northern tradition and a darker Indian one in the southern tradition.
…Here I will argue that the medieval papacy is responsible for the creation of the modern Western individual, that rootless man obsessed by his own salvation, identity, and self-realization. I will not deny that Western individualism has produced an exceptional harvest of geniuses in all fields of human culture, and unleashed an unprecedented outpouring of creativity. That, I think, is undeniable. And perhaps it was worth it. I will simply argue that the pathological—and contagious—stage that Western individualism has reached today is the end-result of a program of de-socialization written by the Roman papacy. To borrow from Joseph Henrich’s remarkable book, The WEIRDest People in the World, to which I will return: “by undermining intensive kinship, the Church’s marriage and family policies gradually released individuals from the responsibilities, obligations, and benefits of their clans and houses.”[2] Over many generations, this social engineering wired our uniquely individualistic psychology.
It may sound counter-intuitive to blame Christianity for the loss of kinship bonds, since practicing Christians are today the defenders of family values in the West. That is because of the paradox that Christianity is both revolutionary and conservative. It was revolutionary at the beginning, and conservative at the end. All established religions are conservative, that is their main social function. But Western Christianity’s conservatism is about preserving what little kinship structure it didn’t destroy in its revolutionary stage: the nuclear family, the last step before complete social disintegration.[3]
…What shall we compare the Weird West to? To a piece of ground yielding a miraculous harvest that left its anthropological soil barren and toxic? Or perhaps to a doped athlete or artist who now has to pay for his success with his health. There is no question that the almost superhuman boost in energy and creativity that the West got from its Christian-inspired individualism did come with a heavy price. We have been high, but we are now starting to experience the withdrawal symptoms. And possibly the irreversible brain damage. Anthropological reality (otherwise known as human nature) is catching up. We have constructed a new world, but now discover that it has deconstructed us as human beings.
Guyénot is one of our most interesting and provocative writers on Western history, its downfall and the religious roots thereof. Above I have excerpted a few paragraphs that can provide the gist of his essay but I hope not a substitute for reading it and his other works. ABN
UPDATE: I should mention that I believe the importance of clans and lineages and races will go away when eugenic manipulation of gametes and zygotes becomes common. One day soon, there will also be digital manipulations of cell lines and gestation in pods which will provide perfect environments for fetal development. This technology is closer than many realize. It will produce people with IQs higher than any human who has ever lived and bodies as perfect as any that has ever existed. When in maybe fifty years, people are able to fine tune their offspring to produce the best qualities imaginable, ‘Darwinian’ lineages and relationships will become a thing of the past overnight and our concerns today will seem as important as those of homo habilis of 1.5 million years ago. Positively no one will care. ABN
Amish communities rejected Covid vaccines, refused to wear masks, and went about their normal daily activities while the rest of America was turned upside-down.
According to the CDC and mainstream media, the Amish were set to suffer from excess death due to Covid. In reality, the exact opposite happened.
The mainstream media will not touch this story because it completely dismantles the entire establishment narrative. It shows that all the COVID interventions were completely unnecessary.
While mainstream America was suffering through lockdowns, school closures and mask-related madness, the Amish returned to normal in May 2020. Read that again.
The Amish achieved herd immunity before the vaccines were even available.
Even if the vaccine worked and was safe, there was simply no reason for them to take the vaccine because 90% had already been infected in 2020. Taking a vaccine after you’ve already got natural immunity is nonsensical and counterproductive. However, in the US, we were told to get the vaccine even if we recovered from COVID. Many people lost their livelihoods if they did not comply.
How did the Amish achieve herd immunity so fast? They did the exact opposite of what the CDC recommended. They did not watch TV, they carried on with their normal lives, they got enough sunlight (vitamin D) and zinc, and they used drugs like ivermectin if they got sick.
A Texas bishop who accused the Mother Superior of a convent of committing adultery with a priest has gained key backing from the Vatican, after she filed a $1 million lawsuit challenging his authority.
In a decree on Wednesday, the Vatican granted Forth Worth Bishop Michael Olson ‘full governing powers’ over the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, a small religious order that runs a monastery in Arlington.
Last month, the nuns’ leader, Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach, filed a lawsuit accusing Olson of overstepping his authority by storming into the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity, ‘interrogating’ the nuns, and confiscating phones and other devices they use to run the convent.
In response, Olson issued a public statement saying his actions were part of an ‘ecclesiastical investigation’ into allegations that Gerlach had ‘committed sins against the Sixth Commandment and violated her vow of chastity with a priest.’
The nuns had contested Olson’s authority over them, saying that as a Catholic religious order they answer directly to Pope Francis — but the new Vatican decree naming Olson as ‘Pontifical Commissary’ deals a blow to that position.
A bill to decriminalize hallucinogenic mushrooms cleared the California Senate May 24, reaching the halfway point in the state’s effort to legalize the drug, despite increasing opposition by law enforcement and many citizens.
“We shouldn’t be criminalizing people for personal use of these non-addictive substances,” Wiener said in a May 24 statement.
If passed, the bill would allow the cultivation, transfer, and transportation of fungi or other plant-based materials that can be used as ingredients for the drugs, according to the bill text.
Psilocybin is found in a variety of mushrooms and can be produced synthetically. The bill would only allow plant-based psychedelic drugs for use by people 21 years old and older.
…The implications of this short exposé are devastating for Christians and Christianity. Given the total lack of corroborating evidence, we can say with certainty that the miracle-man Jesus did not exist; therefore, Christianity is a farce and the Gospels are at least half fiction. If they contain even a shred of truth, then Jesus was an ordinary Jew whose life mission was to validate Old Testament prophecies and “fulfill the Law,” thus saving his fellow Jews from the evil Romans. In this case, Christians need to admit that they are worshipping a long-dead ordinary Jew who has no ability whatsoever to “save their souls.” Finally, in the case that there was no Jesus character at all, then Paul and the Gospel Jews are flat-out liars and need to be viewed with total contempt.
Any way we look at it, it’s bad news for Christians. Under any plausible scenario, they have been duped into believing in a long-dead Jewish rabbi and his fake sayings—all constructed, years after the fact, by a handful of Jews interested in undermining the hated Romans, and indeed all Gentiles.
A prominent Tasmanian pastor, Dr Andrew Corbett has seen the light and apologised for urging people to take the vaccine.
It’s been a baptism by fire. Members of his congregation were injured and his own wife suffered heart issues. Both he and his father got ‘Covid’ after the… pic.twitter.com/SPYtS2EyDl
He explains why he did it without using that as an excuse. He accepts full responsibility and by making this apology public he makes amends for his mistake. A full Buddhist apology would also include a vow to never be so lax and gullible again, but maybe that’s implied. What astonishes me is it is taking so long for some obviously good and well-meaning people to come to grips with vax malfeasance. ABN
Facebook has provoked a widespread backlash after the social media platform deleted Christian content and labeled it “hate speech.”
The issue was highlighted by journalist Billy Hallowell, a former Blaze writer.
Hallowell, a Christian, exercised his religious freedom by posting on Facebook: “Jesus died so you could live.”
However, despite his post reflecting one of Christianity’s core beliefs, Hallowell’s post was deleted by Facebook and he was accused of spreading “hate speech” on the Big Tech platform.
Hallowell shared about this on Twitter, backed up by screenshots, and a comment stating that the incident was “very, very bizarre.”
American Buddhist Net 