U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes

An ABC news investigation has discovered that some US military high-powered rifles have New Testament Bible verses cited on their sights. Trijicon, a Michigan-based company, has sold the US military these sights that essentially make the shooter see a verse like "2 Cor 4:6" as they're aiming to fire the gun.

This is an enormous breach of the US military's policy of remaining religiously neutral and un-biased. Whether or not the military knew about the verses being on the sights, they are still responsible and need to correct the problem and re-state their very explicit rules about religion equality and freedom.

What makes me shudder the most is that when soldiers are preparing to shoot a gun at other humans in battle, they are ironically doing so through a lens that is obviously promoting Christ and Christianity, which are, on my view, about love, equality, justice, compassion, and healing -- not hate, killing, violence, etc.

I would love to hear other people's reactions to this issue. Please feel free to comment on New Testament verses being put on US soldiers' gun sights.

Joseph Rhee, Tahman Bradley and Brian Ross of ABC news have the story at Faith in Public Life.

National Guard Units Strained By Chaplain Shortage

Some military units, especially the Army National Guard, are struggling to recruit for chaplains, which is a position seen as crucial to morale. Currently, there are about 200 positions are open in the Army National Guard and 45 in the Air National Guard.

Chaplains have a unique role to play in the military. They serve as more than ministers for soldiers in harm's way. They are confidants, counselors, and arbitrators. In many places, like Iraq and Afghanistan, unit commanders have used military chaplains to communicate with local secular and religious leaders. Many chaplains serve intimately with soldiers, oftentimes even within arm's reach of them in war zones.

The point here is that chaplains are integral to the lives of many soldiers, which makes the shortage in the Guard a cause for concern. Hopefully, more religious leaders and/or chaplains from other sectors of society will consider serving for the Army and Air Guard and help sustain our soldiers during their endeavors in serving the U.S.A. I especially urge Unity ministers who feel so called to do what they can to promote military chaplaincy in Unity circles.

Nomaan Merchant of the Associated Press has the story at Faith in Public Life.

Integral Life Monthly Newsletter

Integral Life's monthly newsletter is out and interesting as ever.

Check out this month's issue here.

USA Today Piece on Mindfulness in Hospitals and Schools

A recent article in USA Today outlines the growing frequency of secularized "mindfulness" techniques being employed in hospitals and primary and secondary schools across the U.S. The article reports on some relevant stats, highlights the extraordinary work of Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, and generally suggests that, based on an increasing number of scientific studies that are showing the positive psychosomatic effect of these techniques, there is a growing acceptance and practice of them in a variety of venues.

"Once thought of as an esoteric, mystical pursuit, meditation is going mainstream. A government survey in 2007 found that about 1 out of 11 Americans, more than 20 million, meditated in the past year. And a growing number of medical centers are teaching meditation to patients for relief of pain and stress."

Marilyn Elias of USA Today has the entire story.

Huston Smith in Newsweek

The May 18, 2009 edition of Newsweek features the highly influential American religious studies scholar Huston Smith. At 90 years old, Smith is retired and living in Berkeley, CA but is about to publish a memoir, Tales of Wonder, of his life steeped in the study and practice of the world's religions.

The book is to recount his life: growing up in Dzang Dok, China in a Methodist missionary family; becoming a philosophy professor; meeting Martin Luther King, Jr. and befriending Aldous Huxley and H.H. the Dalai Lama; participating in Acid experiments with Timothy Leary; spending 30 years going out and practicing many different religions with people in their culture; and introducing Americans to religious traditions U.S. culture largely knew little about through academic writing, popular books, and public television and speaking.

Smith has said that he ascribes to the so-called "perrennial philosophy," which argues that though there are apparent differences with the world's religions they are nonetheless the same at their mystical core. Smith's scholarly work is often dismissed or even derided by top scholars in religious studeis today (in an academic environment where particularization and specificity of scholarly interest is the rule of the day) for allegedly being overly focused on the sameness or similarities among the world's religions and not acknowledging enough of their obvious and important differences that make them unique traditions in their own right.

While they certainly have a point, I still believe Smith is relevant today because of the need to make the American public more aware of the plurality and diversity of religions in the world (especially in the U.S.) and to do this in a way that is sensitive and approachable to this audience. This means the task must be done with practicality, liveliness, comparison, and conciseness, all of which Huston Smith exudes immensely.

Lisa Miller writes the feature of Huston Smith in Newsweek.

(Photo by Robyn Twomey of Newsweek.)

Scholars Plan First Islamic College in U.S.

A group of American Muslims, led by two prominent scholars Imam Zaid Shakir and Sheik Hamza Yusuf, is moving closer to fulfilling a vision of founding the first four-year accredited Islamic college in the United States. There is scheduled a June vote to decide whether the proposed Zaytuna College will open its doors in the fall of next year. Shakir and Yusuf of California have spent many years planning this institution, which will offer a liberal arts education and training in Islamic scholarship.

As I have quite a few Muslim friends and colleagues, I'm aware of how important the establishment of such an academic institution is. Though the study Islam in religious/cultural studies departments is done at major universities, there has yet to be a place of higher education founded and ran by Muslims grounded in Islamic principles.

Those of us who are Christian progressives ought to be supportive of these efforts of promoting and furthering Islamic scholarship and religion, which is becoming a widely prominent religion in the U.S. Helping institutions of higher education that are religiously-affiliated will serve to foster more awareness and understanding of the religious diversity in our country and learn more about each others' faith traditions. The more we engage with each other, the more we understand each other; and the more we understand each other, the less afraid we'll be of each other; and the less we're afraid of each other, the less violence and more love we'll show each other.

Read the Associated Press story at Newsmax.