Simple living, veganism, and transformation in a world of limits
(Hint: It has something to do with the economic system)James McWilliams recently (September 4) wrote an open letter to Whole Foods asking them to close their meat counters. This is noteworthy because John Mackey, their CEO, is himself a vegan, even though Whole Foods sells a lot of animal products. Continue reading “Why Does Whole Foods Sell Meat?”
Karen King’s draft paper on Jesus’ wife, and the Harvard Divinity School’s web site on the subject, both have a minor grammatical problem: the English title given to the gospel fragment. They style it as The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife, i. e., the possessive form of “Jesus” is made by adding an apostrophe – “s,” rather than simply an apostrophe.
I would respectfully suggest that they change this in the final version. It should be styled “Jesus’ wife.” Saying “Jesus’s wife” is just too awkward. Continue reading “One small point about the “Jesus’ wife” paper”
Karen King, a Harvard Divinity School scholar whom I greatly respect, has submitted a draft of an article for the Harvard Theological Review discussing a Coptic gospel fragment which refers to Jesus having a wife. This is now all over the internet, it was on the PBS Newshour last night, and even made the front page of the Denver Post and other papers. The Smithsonian Channel is planning a special program. It’s big news!
The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife (as King has named it) is very short and very fragmentary. Continue reading “This Just In: Jesus was Married!”
The “passive house” concept is taking off. This is a new way of building homes that reduces the energy required for their maintenance by an amazing 90% from the standard construction. This way of constructing buildings is essential if we are to deal with such challenges as climate change and resource depletion. Continue reading “Passive House Politics Getting Complicated”
The first precept of Buddhism is variously cited as “abstaining from taking life,” “not taking the life of any sentient creature,” or “not killing.” Buddhist groups seem to agree that the life which we are not to kill includes animals and even insects. So the first precept clearly implies (at least) vegetarianism.
But while many Buddhists are vegetarian, many other Buddhists are not. Many Buddhist teachers say that you don’t need to become vegetarian, and even claim that the Buddha was not vegetarian. Continue reading “What is it with Buddhists and the First Precept?”