Commentary

Last week, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The court wants to bring Putin to trial but not for massacres of the innocent in occupied portions of Eastern Ukraine. The court does not want to bring Putin to trial for the indiscriminate bombing of civilians or the destruction of energy infrastructure that denies Ukrainians heat and electricity in winter. The International Criminal Court wants to bring Putin to trial for kidnapping children and sending them to Russia to live in orphanages or to be adopted by Russian homes.

Four years ago, on March 15, 2019, a white supremacist opened fire on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, leaving 51 dead and 40 others injured. While this was shocking in terms of the number of deaths and injuries, such attacks have become alarmingly common.

The Buddha taught we should show compassion to all sentient beings, not just humans. Initially it reminded me of the biblical commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” which tended to focus solely on not killing human beings. Buddhism too, says not to murder, but breaks it down further, explaining that protecting human life is only possible by also protecting anything that lives.

In the case of spousal rape the action (cause) is one of violence and the outcome (effect) multifaceted harm — physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual. It should be treated the same as any other form of rape, legally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

As my years and experiences have accumulated, I’ve come to recognize something I hardly imagined in my youth: that God is so big and wonderful and complex that no one group — even my own — and no individual has a monopoly on God. Nobody understands it all.

What do the New Testament Book of Revelation, Northwest BachFest, Albrecht Dürer, Olivier Messiaen and wine have in common? They all came together on February 25 at Barrister Winery when Zuill Bailey, Artistic Director of Northwest BachFest and three phenomenal musicians performed Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time.