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Inside the 'rape club prison': Former inmates tell | Elizabeth Vargas Reports

Florida's Satanic Temple vows to fight

Two can play at that game, Ronny. Trump trounced you. What do you actual wits we'll do?.

What seems to be the problem, Minions? - It's this guy De-Sanctimonious. - The loser?

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Satanic Temple vows to ‘raise hell in the sunshine state’ as DeSantis passes bad law to put 'religion' in schools

Trump ally Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis

The Satanic Temple has vowed to “raise hell in the Sunshine State” as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Florida has officially passed a state law allowing religious chaplains in public schools.

As school districts around the state are now deciding whether to have chaplains or not, members of The Satanic Temple are stating that it will send its chaplains to public schools in Florida.

• Deep Red states meet wall of hostility in forcing Christian Nationalism on public schools

DeSantis signs tragic new religious law

Aw, c'mon, Ron, you knew we'd show up.

Earlier this year, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially signed a new law that allowed religious chaplains [of any religion, including Satanism] the opportunity to hold a position in public schools.

This chaplain program is supposed to allow volunteer chaplains to give guidance and support to public school students.

Parents Express Outrage Over Chaplain Program

You tell your teacher, Hell no! - OK, Mom.

However, once Gov. DeSantis signed this bill into law, many Florida parents expressed their outrage over the religious program. These parents don’t believe religious chaplains have any right to be on public school grounds, talking with students and pushing their own religious views.

A violation of the Constitution

Trump: DO it, Ron. I'll pardon you federally.

Many parents have since come out to declare that this chaplain program violates their own constitutional rights, particularly when it comes to freedom of religion and the separation of church and state.

Various organizations and parents have vowed to take Florida school districts to court if they implement this program.

The Satanic Temple [a collection of progressive people more interested in civil liberties than Satan or Christian fears] has found their own way to push back on this law.

Satanic Temple Chaplains in Florida Schools

Rightwing conservative showman outsmarts 'em

After Gov. DeSantis first signed this law, The Satanic Temple was one of the first religious organizations to express its interest in sending its own chaplains to Florida’s public schools. 

This move comes as the Temple continues to fight for the separation of church and state. To do so, The Satanic Temple knowingly places itself in these types of situations, as it knows this religion [Satanism as showmanship] is very off-putting to many self-righteous Christians.

Gov. DeSantis Fights Back

However, Gov. DeSantis quickly fought back against the idea of The Satanic Temple having chaplains in schools.

“We’re not playing those games in Florida,” DeSantis said. “That is NOT a religion.”

Keeping the Satanic Temple Out of Schools

It's all the Devil's doing! What we need is a Republican-run Christian sharia law theocracy!

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Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz recently released a new model policy for school districts, pushing only for “credible chaplains” to be put in schools — and thereby keeping Satanic Temple chaplains out.

“Florida welcomes legitimate and officially authorized chaplains to become volunteers at their local schools and to provide students with morally sound guidance,” Diaz said. [No Satanists need apply.]

The Satanic Temple Continues to Fight

The Satanic Temple — which received its tax-exempt status back in 2019 as a religious organization — is fighting back against these latest moves that were seemingly targeted against it.

In a new post on its website, The Satanic Temple explained that it wasn’t backing down at all.

Raising Hell

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In a signup sheet on the Temple’s official website, the group explained that it would “raise hell” in Florida. 

“Throughout Florida, The Satanic Temple’s members, supporters, and allies are standing up for true religious freedom and confronting encroaching theocracy. Are you ready to stand with us and raise hell in the Sunshine State?” read the sheet.

School Districts Remain Wary

Though this law has officially been passed, many school districts in Florida have been wary about actually voting for a chaplain policy.

Osceola County School Board voted against creating a chaplain program for the second time in a row. Many members, including those appointed by Gov. DeSantis, have expressed their worries over legal issues.

An Unpopular Policy?

Can we reach that one hypocritcal knucklehead, who is ruining everything to boost himself?

Kids have to listen to Satanic chaplains?

Lucien Greaves, the co-founder of The Satanic Temple, spoke during Osceola County School Board’s recent meeting, stating that they were voting on an unpopular policy.

Greaves stated, “You’re voting on a policy that is unpopular, divisive, poorly planned, obviously dishonest in its goals, unnecessary, and introduces new risks to children, even if you are allowed to implement it.”

Accommodating ALL Religions

Manny, draft something to keep Catholics out, too

Greaves further said that the school will have to ensure they are accommodating to all religions. He added, “The reality is, you’ll have to accommodate religious identities you may not agree with [like those pesky Buddhists, Yogis, New Agers, Hinjews, Hindus, meddlesome Quakers, Muslims, angelic Amish, and maybe even the Orthodox Jews]. You will end up with Satanist chaplains.”

Satanic Temple vows to ‘raise hell in the sunshine state’ as state law is passed to allow religion in schools (savvydime.com)

• Julia Mehalko, savvydime.com, Aug. 30, 2024; Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells, Shauna Schwartz (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Chaplain on Trump's near-death experience

How can I explain? I was on stage when I knew I was shot, ripped my skin like this...
How photographers view the photos of Trump's assassination attempt (MSN)

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What would have happened to all my money?!

Had he not shifted his head just a few inches to the right, former Pres. Trump likely would not have survived the [attempt to blow his head off as an] attempt on his life on Saturday [as missing his head may not have killed him like that headless chicken that survived until dying of an unfortunate food accident much later or it might have killed him JFK style for everyone in the country to see on live TV].

• Woman sitting behind Trump goes viral for very strange behavior

In his own words, Trump shouldn’t be here. How such an event might change the former president remains to be seen, but the [mentally declining] 78-year-old has already pivoted his messaging ahead of the Republican National Convention this week, toning down his typical lambasts of the Democrats and highlighting calls for unity and civility [like his classy wife seems to have done].

Reverend Catherine Duncan is an ordained minister in Minnesota and chaplain at hospice [near death care] and trauma centers. She has helped hundreds of patients pass to the other side [in the afterlife and the lives to come when they are sure to be reborn many times over].

Based on her vast experience, Rev. Duncan predicts a spiritual awakening [possibly on the scale of the reformed tyrant Gilgamesh in ancient Sumerian cylindrical texts] in Trump that leads him to become more centrist in his political views.

Trump was rushed by Secret Service [after being allowed to stand up and become a clear and obvious target able to receive the "kill shot" if the shooters were still taking aim] in the seconds after [the first] shots were fired at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, with one bullet grazing his right ear.

Scared, confused, Trump left his body on the floor of the stage for a moment

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NDEs (Ginette Biro)

American Rev. Duncan told DailyMail.com: "There's a lot of chaos in the United States with the election. Donald Trump picked Ohio senator J.D. Vance as his running mate on Monday afternoon, choosing a grassroots favorite ahead of more seasoned political operators. The former president left it until the last possible moment, using all his showman skills to leave the world guessing, before opting for 39-year-old Vance after the Republican National Convention had already begun in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"And I think that experience, I would sense, with Trump, it opens up your sense of being alive, your sense of feeling, your sense of experience, and how do you want to move forward?

Trump on Middle Way, Love, Kindness

Will D.J. Trump become a Budai-loving Buddhist, preaching the Middle Way and metta?

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"And there's already been some rumblings politically about unity. Can there be unity? And I could see Trump leaning towards a more middle way and unity among everyone."

Hospice chaplain added: "This could be a significant turning point for Trump for embracing the good, embracing how we can treat each other with love and kindness and how can we find a middle way in all the chaos right now. 'I think it's a very strong message. And I think it can definitely touch people's hearts."

Many have accused Trump of leaning into religion to gain favor with Republican voters during his first presidential run, and they questioned the sincerity of his faith.

But Rev. Duncan said that close brushes with death can completely alter a person’s worldview regardless of how devout they were, "and every one of us can change and open and choose how we live our life."

Mr. Trump’s Senior Campaign Advisor Jason Miller told NBC the former president "feels very fortunate’ to be alive. And Mr. Trump said on his Truth Social media site on Sunday that, "it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening." More

Vegans: Animal Chaplaincy Training (6/25)

Wm. Melton (Compassion Consortium), Ananda (DBM), Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

I can help animals and humans? Yes!

Celebrate the graduation and ordination of the Animal Chaplaincy Training Program on June 25, 2023. It is a celebration of the graduation and ordination of animal chaplains, trained students.

The service will include practices, prayers, and messages created by the emerging chaplains, celebrating their certification, graduation, and ordination who have completed the initial-year of the Compassion Consortium's 9-month Animal Training Chaplaincy program.

It will include immersive spiritual practices — such as a musical reflection, meditation, prayer, and loving-kindness (metta).

• We celebrate the ordination of our Animal Chaplaincy Training Program, Sunday, June 25, 2023, 1:00 PM | Meetup

This muscle is built from 100% vegan foods

Animal chaplains support both animals and humans by using ritual, ceremony, and the tools of spiritual companionship. 

The training program helps them fulfill their heart’s call to honor and celebrate the lives of all species, including how to companion them through joys and challenges.

The program is non-denominational and does not require students to have any specific spiritual outlook. It does, however, work with a diverse set of belief systems, so that students can support people regardless of their own personal outlook.

Beauty's in a bottle or on a table?

Animal Chaplaincy Training is available in 3-month, 6-month, and 9-month program durations. All programs begin each September.

Training includes live classes (available worldwide via Zoom) with CC faculty and guest speakers. The program also features curated readings and reflections, film discussions, peer-supported practice groups, 1-on-1 mentoring, and community-based experiential sessions.

An optional year-end, in-person retreat is offered. The curriculum combines chaplaincy fundamentals and bereavement basics with best practices from the innovative fields of inter-spirituality, humane education, animal theology, nature spirituality, and human-animal studies.

• Animal Chaplaincy Training | Compassion Consortium

Pat and animal companion

ABOUT: Mindful Coach™ Patricia Denys will be featured on the June 25th Compassion in Action segment. She is an artist, animal activist, educator, photographer, vegan, yogini, and advocate for the well-being of artists, activists, women, animals, and all who are seeking purpose and peace. She has been teaching for over 25 years in the Los Angeles area and has been a working artist, photographer, published author, and animal activist her entire adult life. She was trained as a professional coach by CTI (Co-Active Training Institute) and is a member of ICF (International Coaching Federation). Her life has been spent as a working artist, photographer, educator, graphic designer, academic dean, writer, and activist. Her most recent studio works have focused on the dichotomies that exist between society’s perception and the reality of animals in containment, such as in factory farms and the public display industry, specifically regarding the plight of Tilikum, the Orca held hostage at SeaWorld. Learn more about Patricia and her work at patriciadenys.com

Hardcore Zen with Brad Warner (video)

Brad Warner (Hardcore Zen, March 19, 2019); Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Brad Warner (born March 5, 1964) is a Sōtō Zen monk, author, punk bassist, and down-to-earth guy.

"The AMAZING thing that happened to me in zazen!"

Dave Chapelle (see below) is one of the funniest truthtellers of our time. What's hardcore Zen? Who knows, ordinary Zen, Zen without all the "Zen" stuff, not adding legs to a snake, as Alan Watts like to say? "Is enlightenment delusional?" asks Brad Warner. His approach is like hardcore punk, insofar as he leaves the fluff out. His instructions are like a full-length two-minute punk song with a great bassline. Soon after his last birthday, he was in a reflective mood. When sitting zazen, just sit, go with the flow, accept what is, strive not for it to be other than what it is. That seems to be the advice here. Wanting for it to be other than it is is suffering. Recognize that, and let go.

Dave Chapelle: "I've stopped smoking weed...with black people" (PG-13/R)

• Zen and Yoga retreats (aczc.org/schedule)
• PayPal donations: hardcorezen.info/donate
• Patreon page: patreon.com/user?u=4874189
• Brad Warner blog: hardcorezen.info
• Books: hardcorezen.info/store
• Angel City Zen Center, Los Angeles: aczc.org
• Angel City Zen Meetup: Dogen Sangha, L.A.
• It Came From Beyond Zen audiobook (audible.com)
• Sex Sin & Zen audiobook
• Don't Be a Jerk audiobook
• Hardcore Zen audiobook
• Sit Down & Shut Up audiobook
• There is No God & He is Always With You audiobook
• Email Brad Warner directly at bw@hardcorezen.info

The real Stonehenge discovered! (video)

Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; Ian Sample (The Guardian, 9-9-14)

The dawn of Stonehenge research: site comes to light (ALAMY/telegraph.co.uk)

(University of Birmingham) It's massive, it's huge, most of it is invisible, hidden underground!

• Stonehenge researchers on Salisbury Plain discover site is much larger than ever thought.
• Researchers find series of hidden chapels, burial mounds [like Scythian Buddhist stupas], and ritual shrines, transforming view of historic area.
• It's getting to be almost as amazing as Turkey's 12,000-year-old Gobekli Tepe (history's first temple) and Buddhist Afghanistan's Mes Aynak

VIEW: Table of Contents

Stonehenge stood at the heart of a sprawling landscape of chapels, burial mounds, massive pits and ritual shrines, according to an unprecedented survey of the ancient grounds.
 
Researchers uncovered 17 new chapels and hundreds of archaeological features around the neolithic standing stones on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, including forms of monuments that have never been seen before.

 

Dry spell reveals elusive Stonehenge secret

Brought together for the first time in a digital map of the historic site, the discoveries transform how archaeologists view a landscape that was reshaped by generations for hundreds of years after the first stones were erected around 3100 BC.

• Dry spell at Stonehenge reveals secret that has eluded archaeologists

"This radically changes our view of Stonehenge," said Vince Gaffney, head of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project at Birmingham University. "In the past we had this idea that Stonehenge was standing in splendid isolation, but it wasn't...it's absolutely huge." More

Stonehenge, a Druid, Pagan, Wiccan site in England (Geert Verhoeven/University of Bi/PA)

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Underneath Stonehenge, "A map of what was there in the past"

Krishnadev Calamur (NPR.org)

Magic place (MPanchenko/livescience.com)

There's much more to Stonehenge, it turns out, than meets the eye (or, for that matter, Spinal Tap).

 

Researchers from Birmingham University used high-tech equipment to map 17 ritual monuments in the area. That's in addition to the iconic circle of stones that have stood there for thousands of years.

 

Professor Vincent Gaffney, the project leader, tells NPR's Robert Siegel that researchers found a large amount of new archaeological sites dating to the period of Stonehenge, as well as later and earlier periods. They were, he said, small "henge-like" monuments like Stonehenge, "but perhaps better interpreted as small chapels."

 

And what stands underneath the World Heritage Site that attracts more than 1 million visitors annually is more numerous than what we can see.

 

"The results," Prof. Gaffney said, "actually look like a map of what was there in the past."

 

What buried world's spiritual treasures?

A statement from the Birmingham University said: "Work also revealed novel types of monument including massive prehistoric pits, some of which appear to form astronomic alignments, plus new information on hundreds of burial mounds, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman settlements and fields at a level of detail never previously seen."

 

The project was a collaboration between the university and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology.

 

Gobekli Tepe was purposely buried in sand

Archaeologists think that Stonehenge, about 80 miles southwest of London, was built between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C. It is believed to be a temple, but who it was built by and who it was dedicated to is unclear. The new, underground discoveries are only likely to add to the mystery.

 

Of course, if you're a Dr. Who fan you knew there was something underneath all along. More + NPR AUDIO

• Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple? Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey's stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization.
• Saving Afghan Buddhism's culutral treasures: Mes Aynak's Big Dig
• News - Science - Archaeology (The Guardian)

Smithsonian group of institutions hide much more than they reveal

• 100 Years After Her Death, Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon, Still Resonates
• Amid the Heated Debates, Iraqi Immigrants Struggle to Make a Living in Arizona
• The Invention of the “Snapshot” Changed the Way We Viewed the World

Canada seeks to restrict religious freedom

Barbara Lamb; Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly

Anyone can be imprisoned, tormented, and deprived of humanity (ULC/themonastery.org)

  
As Buddhist practitioners some of us volunteer serving a prison community (mutually supportive sangha). We have seen how spiritual practice can transform lives and lead to real rehabilitation.

Unfortunately, the Canadian Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews, is cancelling the contracts of all part-time, non-Christian chaplains in federal penitentiaries -- with the expectation that the spiritual guidance of prisoners of all faiths will be provided by full-time chaplains, who are predominantly Christian. 

  

Overcrowding (Paul Holt Ministries)

This means that thousands of prisoners will be denied spiritual support grounded in their own tradition and practice. Please consider signing the following petition, which calls on Vic Toews and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reverse the decision and uphold the rights of citizens behind bars.

Please forward this petition through social networks (email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Help make this issue visible to many more who believe religious freedom is one cornerstone of a democratic society. PETITION

• Freedom of Religions for Canadian Prisoners (upaya.org)
• Does Canada have a problem with non-Christian chaplains?

What is Buddhism?

Buddhist Chaplain Unibodhi, (University of Sydney); Wisdom Quarterly

"Buddhism" is neither a religion nor a philosophy; it is a path of practice summed up in four ennobling truths. Meditation is development to superheroic heights (naturalnews.com).

Buddhism tells us that everything in the world arises due to causes and conditions and is subject to change. Nothing is permanent. However, it is in this process of change that we can cultivate profitable conditions (merit) that lead us to a better future. Buddhism points out the causes of suffering and, moreover, how we can bring suffering to a final end.

Buddhists look upon the Buddha as a teacher. He is an ideal teacher who has realized the truth of life and phenomena in the universe. He has freed himself from greed, hatred, and ignorance -- and he assures us that we can do the same. He was pure in conduct and perfect in wisdom and compassion.

He shared his experiences and taught us methods of practice to evolve. It is by making our own effort, putting into practice these teachings, that we can gradually develop a calm, rational, and compassionate mind, purifying our conduct and ending our suffering.

We, too, can attain perfect wisdom, compassion, and other virtues just like the Buddha, who pointed out that:

By ourselves is wrong done;
By ourselves we pain endure.
By ourselves we cease from harm;
By ourselves become we pure.

No one saves us but ourselves;
No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk the path,
Buddhas only point the way.

(Wisdom Quarterly translation, Dhammapada 165)

Four Truths that Ennoble Practitioners
Dharmachari Seven, Wisdom Quarterly
The first truth one realizes long before coming to Buddhism is that life is beset by unpleasant and unsatisfactory experiences.

There is disappointment. This message is forever useful and fresh because it leads to the second realization: There is a cause.

There are reasons why this is happening. Our distress does not pop out of nothing. What are the causes and supporting conditions for it? More importantly, what are the causes and conditions for happiness, peace, and freedom?

That happiness, peace, and freedom from all that is disappointing is the third truth, the truth of nirvana (the end of suffering). But so what if there is unhappiness, so what if it has a cause, so what if there is a solution, what does any of that matter if it were not for the fourth truth: the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering?

So the Four Noble Truths are all about ending suffering. They lead to enlightenment and nirvana, the ultimate. Nowadays we would be less put off if Buddhism were not phrased negatively focusing on suffering: There is an illness. There is a cause. There is a cure. Here is the cure.

The Dharma in a nutshell could just as easily be phrased positively: There is a cure. There is a cause of getting better. Of course, it goes without saying that there is an illness. Here is the cure!

The fourth truth is the Noble Eightfold Path, a tightly packed set of instructions that must be unpacked to be put into proper practice. All told, the practice that leads to enlightenment has 37 requisites.

Introduction
The Noble Eightfold Path and its Factors Explained
Preface

• I. Right View
• II. Right Thought
• III. Right Speech
• IV. Right Action
• V. Right Livelihood
• VI. Right Effort
• VII. Right Mindfulness
• VIII. Right Concentration
  

Practicing the Path...

Buddhist News of the Day

Dalai Lama on 9/1/09, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (AP/Chiang Ying-ying); Matina Shakya, 4, the Living Goddess Kumari Devi, carried during the Indrajatra festival in Kathmandu, Nepal on 9/8/09). The practice of worshipping an ordinary pre-pubescent girl as a source of supreme power has been an integral part of both Hinduism and Buddhism, a tradition which continues to this day. The country's new Maoist-led coalition has allowed the centuries-old ritual to continue (Reuters/Gopal Chitrakar). Photos

• Videos

Buddhist Chaplain Prepares For Deployment
Thomas Dyer is preparing to deploy with the Tennessean National Guardsman as the Army's first Buddhist chaplain. Dyer, a former Southern Baptist minister, says he was drawn to Buddhism through meditation and explains how he will apply the principles of his faith as a spiritual counselor for the troops (NPR, 9/11/09).

Enlightened art: Buddhism comes to life at Ringling's "Paths to Paradise" exhibit
A study of the depictions of Buddha vary by the cultures that first embraced him (St. Petersburg Times, 9/12/09).

Obama adviser, officials meet with Dalai Lama in Dharamshala
A senior adviser to President Barack Obama and two other U.S. officials met with the Dalai Lama at his headquarters in Dharamshala, India, before the Tibetan spiritual leader visits the U.S. next month (Bloomberg, 9/14/09)

TG presents World Tipitaka Edition in Roman Script to Buddhist Federation in Norway
Thai Airways Public Company Limited Chairman of the Executive Board Committee Wallop Bhukkanasut presided over the presentation of a 40-volume “World Tipitaka Edition in Roman Script” to Mr. (Thaipr.net, 9/14/09).

Tyler Cowen on the Implications of Autism

• [Cowen] takes a lesson from Buddhism, which stresses the fleeting character of our concepts. "Most fundamentally, Buddhist philosophy is suspicious of complex forms of mental ordering and that is where Buddhism parts company with autism" (p.94).

Buddhist chaplain is Army first

Text: Bob Smietana, The (Nashville) Tennessean

When Thomas Dyer heads to Afghanistan in December, the former Marine and one-time Southern Baptist pastor won't take a rifle with him. He won't take a Bible, either. Instead, Dyer, a Tennessean National Guardsman from Memphis and the first Buddhist chaplain in the history of the U.S. Army, hopes to bring serenity and calm, honed by months of intensive meditation.

That preparation, he says, will help him bring spiritual care in the midst of a war zone. "We're going to put it to the test," Dyer said. Dyer's deployment is another step in the U.S. military's attempt to meet the diverse spiritual needs of America's fighting forces. It's no easy task.

For one thing, the military chaplaincy is facing all the complications that have affected American religion over the past 40 years. The decline of mainline Protestants and their aging clergy. The ongoing Catholic priest shortage. The explosion of religious diversity. The emergence of people with no faith. The ease with which people move from one faith to another. More>>