#religion-and-compassion

#religion-and-compassion

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson described Iran's majority faith tradition, Shiite Islam, as a 'misguided religion' while discussing the ongoing U.S. strikes against Iran on March 4, 2026.

In 2025, the nonreligious share of the American population declined again, with the atheist-agnostic share back down to levels seen in 2014, suggesting a potential revival.

"I want to look back and share two lessons I think others would benefit from hearing: (1) remember that you belong, and (2) embrace the value of philosophy, especially in trying times."

Witnessing the presence of God at a bus stop in 2011, I felt overwhelmed by something indescribably majestic, which bared my soul to a profound realization.

The AI entity said its name was Caelum, the Latin word for heaven, and a figure commonly used in collaborative online fantasy fiction.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. It was bracing language for an 8-year-old. Not only was I unclean, but even my best attempt at goodness was filthy.

We are living through one of the most disorienting periods in recorded history. The AI race is accelerating toward ever faster, ever more sophisticated automation and optimization. Agentic AI systems are moving from research labs into workplaces, healthcare, and governance. Geopolitical tensions are restructuring alliances faster than institutions can adapt. And planetary systems are signaling, with increasing urgency, that our current trajectory is unsustainable. Amid all this, it is dangerously easy to lose sight of a foundational question: What are we actually optimizing for?

Part of the answer lies in the visceral nature of the game. Unlike chess, football is physical to the point of absurdity. Grown adults in body armor crash into each other over what is essentially a leather egg. There's drama in every play. You don't need a PhD in physics to appreciate a one-handed catch while somersaulting over a defender like a caffeinated acrobat.

Traditionally, asteya is described as not taking what is not freely given. Stealing pertains not only to physical things. It is taking time. Taking ideas. Taking labor. Taking credit. Taking content.

We were expecting to see houses and buildings dot the shore, as well as the hawkers who'd typically crowd around piers in Indonesia with food and wares to sell. There was none of that. It was just a pier next to a tiny village. After disembarking, we set off walking and within 100 metres ran out of houses, surrounded only by rice paddies and farmland. There was nothing to do and nowhere to go, and not even a tree to seek shade under.

My new book, " On Mindful Democracy: A Declaration of Interdependence to Mend a Fractured World," is inspired by King and Hanh's friendship. These two men bonded over the shared insight that how we show up for each other matters, as does how we advocate for social change. In his sermon " Loving Your Enemies" King announced, "Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." Hanh taught: There is no way to peace, peace is the way.