Housekeeping

by Danny Fisher

I’d like to take a moment to update a few of the items and news stories I’ve been following in recent days, as well as discuss an upcoming feature.


First, more on the case of William “Red” Graham, the prisoner at Gowanda Correctional Facility in Gowanda, New York, who was denied and then granted access to the Venerable Kobutsu Malone’s Prison Chaplaincy Guidelines for Zen Buddhism: A Source Book for Prison Chaplains, Administrators, and Security Personnel. Kooi Fong Lim details the whole story well in a Buddhist Channel editorial from a couple of weeks back. The Buddhist Channel also published a piece yesterday by Graham himself.

In reading and reviewing the Venerable Kobutsu Malone’s book, I found it to be not only an excellent primer in Zen Buddhism and a boon for those working in prison chaplaincy, but also a particularly useful book for prisoners in terms of making clear their rights and presenting them with resources. For that reason and to avoid incidents like the one involving Graham, I would offer the thought that it might be useful for future printings of the book to include “prisoners” explicitly in the subtitle.


On May 24th, I wrote a lengthy post about the passing of House Resolution 5122, a defense appropriations bill that includes a provision allowing military chaplains to lead prayers “according to the dictates of the chaplain’s own conscience, except as must be limited by military necessity, with any such limitation being imposed in the least restrictive manner feasible.” At the time, it was thought the Senate would take up the bill (provision and all) for a vote. As I only recently discovered, the Senate began debating their own version of the bill in June, and it does not include the same provision for military chaplains as H.R. 5122. The Washington Post explains in a provocative editorial:
    The military has been making a good-faith effort in recent months to write rules on religious activities that preserve both the rights of free expression among service members and the separation of church and state. It’s unfortunate, therefore, that the House of Representatives, responding to pressure from evangelical Christian groups, has unnecessarily inserted itself into this debate, with a provision in [H.R. 5122] aimed at ensuring that evangelical chaplains can pray in Jesus’s name at public ceremonies. The Senate is debating a version that wisely leaves out the House provision and lets the military services continue to work out this complex issue the right way — without congressional interference.


In other news, the first annual Progressive Faith Blog-Con, which I mentioned some weeks ago, will be held this weekend, from July 14th-16th, at the Conference and Banquet Center at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ. I imagine that those who are unable to attend will be able to follow the proceedings at the official blog of the conference and the blogs of the participants. The conference organizers are also working on a live chat interface “so remote folks can follow along with the conversations and can chime in via chat.”


Lastly, you may notice a section in the right-hand column that says “Danny’s iTunes Podcast.” A podcast is in the works for this site, and you can pre-subscribe to it by pressing the button there or below. (You can also go to the iTunes Music Store, search “Danny Fisher,” and subscribe to it there.) I hope to have the first episode up in the next few days. In the meantime, I would very much appreciate any suggestions as far as topics or questions to address in podcasts.

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