Buddhism in prison - a good idea?

I've just posted a new article at Examiner. Please read, comment there and pass around!

Buddhism in prison - a good idea?

Ultimately, there is a reason we rarely hear about Buddhist terrorists, murderers, rapists, thieves and so on. In consideration of this fact, it might be wise to increase the availability of Buddhistic thought within prisons, the realm of the most difficult and hardened individuals on the planet. Increasing difficulties and hardening via fanaticism that teaches supremacy of the faithful and hatred for unbelievers—to be manifested in a myriad of aggressive, hostile and violent ways—is certainly not the answer. Nor is proselytizing the projection of one's life and responsibility on a giant man in the sky an appropriate solution. Teaching how to create a peaceful mind, body and soul represents the most productive path for all human beings, whether incarcerated or not. For, in the end, if we do not develop our own innate morality and integrity, we remain in a prison of our own making.

Dr. Wafa Sultan speaks out for human rights

I am delighted to announce my brand-new interview with the famous ex-Muslim activist Dr. Wafa Sultan! Dr. Sultan is the firebrand apostate who took on a Muslim cleric in a debate that was seen by tens of millions worldwide. For her brave actions, Sultan was named in 2006 one of TIME's most influential people.

Dr. Sultan kindly agreed to let me interview her for my Freethought Examiner column -

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-17009-Freethought-Examiner~y2009m11d2-Wafa-Sultans-message-to-America

Particularly important are the wise words of advice she has for Americans to protect themselves against what she calls "the evils of Islam."

PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS WISE WOMAN'S MESSAGE TO AMERICA TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Post it on message boards, social networking like Facebook, MySpace and other Web 2.0 such as Twitter, Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon and so on.

Let's get the word out - Dr. Sultan deserves our attention and respect. She lives under constant death threats, as she states in this exclusive interview.

She also states:

"Under Islamic sharia, a woman is not considered a free being. She is mentally unfit to decide her own life."

If you are a woman or if you love any women, you need to pay attention to Dr. Sultan, as your very freedoms depend upon it.

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-17009-Freethought-Examiner~y2009m11d2-Wafa-Sultans-message-to-America

If you've never shared any of my messages before, please do so with this one - Dr. Sultan's message is vitally important to the entire future of Western civilization.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

Ex-Muslims in U.S. want civil rights assurances

Please see my latest Examiner article -

Ex-Muslims in U.S. want civil rights assurances

One of my friends, Amil Imani, is a co-founder of an important new organization, Former Muslims United. Please support our fellow human beings in their struggles to ensure that apostasy from Islam is no longer a death sentence.

Please read, comment there and pass around!

Hinduism in America on the rise

Please see my latest Examiner article -

Hinduism in America on the rise

Festivities in a new temple dedicated to the Indian monkey god Hanuman in Frisco, Texas, earlier this month remind us that a minority of religions exists within the shores of the United States that is relatively silent. The faith that is the subject here, of course, is Hinduism, which in that North Texas town, at least, is enjoying an "expanding population," according to the Dallas Morning News. Despite the fact that Indians have been quietly enriching the American melting pot for decades to centuries, few non-Indians know much about the colorful religion of Hinduism....

Monotheism in America will simply need to become accustomed to the fact that this country is inhabited by polytheists such as the Hindus as well as atheists, humanists and secularists, and to stop being so aggressive and insistent upon its own way. That's America under the U.S. Constitution, a fact that freedom lovers everywhere will appreciate.

Ron Paul and the Neo-Nazis

I recently received the following message from my friend David Bergland, the 1984 Libertarian Presidential Candidate who has known Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul for many years. I asked him to clarify the rumors regarding Ron Paul's connection to "Neo Nazis" and "white supremacists," gossip that turns out to be a petty load of nonsense, as I expected.

While I do not agree with Ron Paul on certain issues, the fact will remain that on the most important aspect of his life's work--upholding the United States Constitution--I concur with him completely. You see, in preserving the Constitution, Dr. Paul and I can disagree on other subjects, freely and with respectful debate. Without the Constitution, one or the other perspective may become the dominant one, with the result of vicious fascism we have seen abundantly worldwide for millennia. Moreover, I entirely understand Paul's viewpoint that these issues upon which he and I do not agree--e.g., abortion--are not truly Constitutional or federal matters, but should be left up to the individual states. (I am also aware that Paul is a fervent born-again Christian, which, obviously, does not jell with my perspective of reality, but, again, his focus on upholding the Constitution gives him high marks in my book, as I consider that document to be A Truly Sacred Scripture preventing the world from descending into barbarism.)

In this regard, I am glad that Ron Paul is having so much success in his campaign, although I am cynical that the Twiddle-Dee & Tweedle-Dum Republocrat political system will allow him to take charge of the United States government. It is extremely hopeful, however, that someone of his caliber of honesty and integrity has managed to attain to such a high political office in the first place. (By the way, I've been reading Ron Paul's writings since the late 90s, and I can attest that he has been consistent for all that time. Nor do I believe he is part of any governmental "psy-op.")

Since Ron Paul has been unfairly smeared, I thought it important to bring to the forefront a well-written retort from my pal David Bergland, who considers Dr. Paul to be a politician of the highest standards of character. Following is what David Bergland had to say about the vicious rumors regarding Paul's purported ties to "Nazis" and "white supremacists." I reproduce Mr. Bergland's remarks here with his permission.

Dear Acharya:

Since you asked, there are no ties to neo-nazis, nor has there ever been. One white
supremacist sent Ron a $500 contribution. His attackers want him to return it. His response is: it's already been spent promoting liberty; if I return it, the donor will spend it on his foolishness. Also, he made the contribution to Ron to support Ron's efforts on behalf of liberty, not the other way around. Oh yeah, there was also a story about Ron having lunch with neo-nazis at some local restaurant in Washington. That was crap and the rag that published it retracted the story later.

There was also a crap piece in The New Republic about some not so nice, allegedly racist, statements in a financial newsletter that Ron published (not edited) a couple decades ago. Ron did not write the material and does not know who did. He has stated that he failed to exercise sufficient control over the newsletter content and disavows the negative stuff. The TNR article is just one example of how Ron Paul's enemies consistently decline to take him on based on his positions on the issues (which he has held for his 20 years in Congress) and are reduced to digging back into ancient newsletters for ammunition. On the "racism" issue, here is an interesting anecdote.

A while back, Congress was planning to give a medal of honor to Rosa Parks. Ron opposed it because Congress is not authorized by the Constitution to spend taxpayer money on such things. At the same time, he pulled a $100 bill out of his pocket and stated that he would contribute it to a voluntarily financed medal for Ms. Parks. He also invited all the other Congresscritters to do the same. Not a single one accepted the invitation! But they did spend your tax money for it.

Our political and economic system is truly sick. I know Ron Paul personally, and know him to be 100% straight, honest, tolerant and completely committed to limited constitutional government. That's why I've been so busy in the Ron Paul Revolution.

One last item: abortion. I am a pro-choicer, but respect Ron's position because it focuses on the federal government role as limited by the Constitution. He correctly contends that the federal government has no authority in this area at all. The issue should be left to the states. Some states will authorize it, some won't. That's federalism; we should not undermine that important constitutional principle on "our" issue because that opens the door for all others to destroy federalism and allow the feds to run everything. (Most people really don't understand how
important it is to stick to principle, do they?)

Warmest regards,

David Bergland