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History and Religion

2024-02-27T12:32:46-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Frozen Zygotes and the Middle Way of Compassion

Last updated on: February 27, 2024 at 12:32 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The recent consternation about frozen zygotes, in vitro fertilization and “fertilized egg personhood” laws made me think of the American Zen teacher Robert Aitken (1917-2010), who said a lot of wise things. In Aitken’s book The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics (North Point Press, 1982), he wrote, “The absolute position, when isolated, omits human details completely. Doctrines, including Buddhism, are meant to be used. Beware of them taking life of their own, for then they use us.”... Read more

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2024-02-21T09:12:08-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Have We Reached Peak Jesus?

Last updated on: February 21, 2024 at 9:12 am By Barbara O'Brien

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By “peak Jesus” I mean that there may be a limit to how much Christianity the world’s population will ever absorb, and we’ve reached it. Indeed, the peak may be over and the decline begun. I could be wrong, of course. And I do not intend disrespect to either Jesus or Christianity. But let’s look at some trends. For some time Europe has been called “post Christian.” This is because Christianity is no longer the dominant civil religion of Europe.... Read more

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2024-02-14T21:36:14-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

William I of Orange and Religious Freedom

Last updated on: February 14, 2024 at 9:36 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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William I, Prince of Orange (1533–1584), is remembered as a champion of religious freedom. He also is remembered as the father of the Dutch Republic. This Republic was a confederation of provinces that was pulled apart in 1795 by friction between republicans and monarchists, and then its territory was absorbed into Napoleon’s French Empire in 1806. As I understand it, it was a small country that fell within the boundaries of the current nation of the Netherlands, but you should... Read more

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religious freedom

2024-02-15T23:51:40-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Warlord and the Tea Master

Last updated on: February 15, 2024 at 11:51 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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I’ve been writing about Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries, and before moving on I want to tell the poignant story of the warlord and the tea master. In this story the warlord is Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), who is discussed in the post about the 26 martyrs of Nagasaki. The tea master is Sen no Rikyū (1522-1591). Rikyū was not just a tea master. He was the tea master who set the rules of the ceremony as it is... Read more

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Buddhism in Japan

2024-03-07T14:37:41-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When Christianity Was Banned in Japan

Last updated on: March 7, 2024 at 2:37 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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Christianity was banned in Japan in 1614. This was about 65 years after it had been introduced to Japan. The last post told the story of the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, a group of Franciscan priests and Japanese Catholics who were crucified in Nagasaki in 1597. But that was just a preview. More executions followed, and after the ban Japanese officials went to extraordinary lengths to identify — and eliminate — all traces of Christianity in Japan. This purge of... Read more

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2024-02-05T08:27:17-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki

Last updated on: February 5, 2024 at 8:27 am By Barbara O'Brien

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The 26 martyrs of Nagasaki were Christian missionaries who were crucified in Nagasaki, Japan, on February 5, 1597. Among these were six Franciscan priests, most of them Spanish. The remainder were Japanese Catholic converts, at least one of whom had been ordained by the Jesuits. Three were young boys who had served as altar attendants. The martyrs of Nagasaki were executed on the order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), a powerful samurai warlord who is credited with unifying Japan after a... Read more

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2024-01-28T23:44:10-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Why Are There More Nones?

Last updated on: January 28, 2024 at 11:44 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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Why are there more nones? The “nones,” you probably know, are people who have no religious affiliation. They may be atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” A half century ago, nones were about 5 percent of the U.S. population. Now they are nearly 30 percent. Why is this happening? The Pew Research Center has been tracking religious affiliation in the U.S. for several years, and recently Pew affirmed that “nones” are the single largest religious demographic in the U.S. They... Read more

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2024-01-22T17:21:53-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Thai Forest Tradition of Buddhist Monks: A Short History

Last updated on: January 22, 2024 at 5:21 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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The Thai Forest Tradition, or more formally the Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand, is a relatively new order of Buddhist monasticism that has come to be widely admired. The order grew out of a revival/reform movement of Theravada Buddhism in southeast Asia that began in the 19th century. Several recent posts here have touched on facets of this movement. See “Anagarika Dharmapala, a Missionary for Buddhism“; “The Vipassana Movement: Spreading Insight Everywhere“; and “U Dhammaloka, Irish Activist And Buddhist Monk.”... Read more

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Buddhism in southeast Asia

2024-01-18T15:02:59-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

U Dhammaloka, Irish Activist and Buddhist Monk

Last updated on: January 18, 2024 at 3:02 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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U Dhammaloka (1856–1914, maybe) was (possibly) the first westerner to become an ordained Buddhist monk. Parts of his biography are a mystery, but what can be pieced together makes quite a story. And it’s a story told in a book titled The Irish Buddhist: The Forgotten Monk who Faced Down the British Empire by Alicia Turner, Laurence Cox, and Brian Bocking (Oxford University Press, 2020). The authors’ painstaking work to document U Dhammaloka’s life story was complicated by his practice... Read more

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Buddhism in southeast Asia

2024-01-13T18:46:14-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Vipassana Movement: Spreading Insight Everywhere

Last updated on: January 13, 2024 at 6:46 pm By Barbara O'Brien

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This is the story of the Vipassana Movement, which began in 19th century Burma — today’s Myanmar — and spread around the globe. And the story begins with an invasion. In 1885 British troops entered Mandalay, Burma, and deposed the King. For the Burmese this created a religious as well as a political crisis. The King was the head and protector of Buddhism in Burma. As the last King of Burma, Thibaw, was taken away to exile in an oxcart.... Read more

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