Vesak (Buddha Day) 2013
Today (Friday, May 24) marks one of the most important Buddhist holidays. Vesak, otherwise known as "Buddha Day" (or sometimes "Buddha's Birthday") commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha. Although observed by Buddhists in many lands, Vesak is

posted 8:38:41pm May. 24, 2013 | read full post »

Declaration of the Bab 2013
Tomorrow (May 23), members of the Baha'i Faith will celebrate "the Declaration of the Bab," one of eleven holy days on the Baha'i religious calendar. Of those eleven Baha'i holy days, work is suspended on nine of them; this is one of those nine. Baha'is, like Jews and Muslims, reckon "days" as be

posted 6:01:22pm May. 22, 2013 | read full post »

At the Intersection of Church and State, the Violations Continue...
In a previous blog entry, I commented upon a recent news story involving the cancellation of an Arkansas school district's elementary school graduation ceremonies in the wake of a local controversy over prayer, which the district had intended to incorporate as part of the official proceedings. Ra

posted 6:04:38pm May. 20, 2013 | read full post »

Pentecost 2013
This Sunday (May 19) is the Christian holiday known as Pentecost, widely regarded by many believers as marking the actual birth or nativity of the church. Pentecost commemorates the descent of, and the manifestation among Christ's apostles, of the Holy Spirit (one of the three divine Persons of t

posted 4:32:17pm May. 17, 2013 | read full post »

Shavuot 2013
At sunset yesterday (Tuesday, May 14), Jews worldwide began the Jewish holiday festival of Shavuot (pronounced "shav-oo-OT"), otherwise known as the Feast of Weeks. Shavout is traditionally both an agricultural harvest festival (originally dating back to when the first fruits of the harvest seaso

posted 7:01:29pm May. 15, 2013 | read full post »