Who Judges?

Which is the best religion?

Is there a judge up there keeping score?

"Whatever makes you more compassionate,

more sensible,

more detached, more loving,

more humanitarian, more responsive,

more ethical.

The religion that will do that for you is the best religion."


Dalai Lama via my pal Bishop Randolph Sykes

"See how nature -

trees, flowers, grass -

grows in silence;

see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...

we need silence to be able to touch souls."


Mother Teresa

"Creativity is contagious.

Pass it on."


-Albert Einstein.

Diamond Head Light, home of the Coast Guard Commandant





"A sensible man will remember

that the eyes may be confused in two ways -

by a change from light to darkness or from darkness to light;

and he will recognize that the same thing happens to the soul."

Plato



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"There are two kinds of light -

the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures. "


James Thurber

The Land of ALOHA is a little less worthy of the name today.

The head of our local Republican Party sent around a letter to pastors (not Buddhist priests, rabbis, or Muslim clerics, not to mention Shinto, Taoist....well, you get the idea.)

-Anyway, this political operative advised the pastors as to who is and who isn't righteous in the upcoming elections! He urges them to Jesus triumphalism and even topped Keith Olbermann's Worst Person In The World:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I couldn't rest until I crafted one of my Letters To The Editor of a local paper. Here are excerpts from that letter:

Aloha Neighbors;

According to my dictionary, ‘omniscience’ is the capacity to know EVERYTHING. After reading this weeks MIDWEEK, I thought how lucky our community is to have omniscient folks among us right here on Oahu.

But something didn't feel right.

My deeply held faith teaches me that only God is omniscient and omnipotent, and that it is not (hallelujah!) my job to judge my neighbors; just to love them and work with them for our common good.

When we have local officials and ministers who confidently declare certain candidates “unrighteous” and others “righteous;” When some claim our Hawaii for Jesus, rather than respecting the freedom and pluralism that make our Islands unique in the world, Well, I wonder what bible they are smoking.

I call on my neighbors of ALL faiths, those honestly seeking the truth, and those who are agnostic, to join our majority of citizen patriots! Let’s vote for the ones who will play nice with everybody. Isn’t that what you learned in Sunday school (or Buddhist camp, or Synagogue, Mosque, or Temple)?

Respectfully, Cloudia Charters,
Honolulu

Thanks so much for visiting today. Thoughts?