Rev. Danny Fisher

I know that I have been very slow to put out a second podcast in the new series on Richard H. Robinson, Willard L. Johnson, and Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction. Apologies to those of you who have noticed and inquired. I’m pleased to announce that the second podcast will be appearing very shortly. For those following along in the book, it will cover sections 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4. This is contrary to what I said at the end of the first podcast. I still plan to work slowly through the book, but I think it makes sense to cover this particular material in one long podcast rather than a few short ones. So, please be prepared for a new podcast of some considerable length!

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I finally got around to seeing Glenn Holsten’s documentary film Saint of 9/11, which I talked up at this blog before its release in September 2006.

If you’re not familiar with the film, it tells the story of Fr. Mychal Judge, the gay Franciscan monk and New York City Fire Department chaplain who became the first officially recorded victim of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001. Fr. Judge refused Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s request to leave “Ground Zero” with him, opting instead to remain with firefighters and those being evacuated from the towers.

I found it to be an exquisite film. It certainly lavishes a great deal of love on its subject, but it also doesn’t shy away from his humanness. Holsten deals directly with Fr. Judge’s alcoholism, as well as the priest’s struggle to reconcile his responsibilities to the Church with his sexuality. It is this unflinching quality that makes the film something more than a hagiography. Yes, he ultimately goes into recovery and helps other alcoholics. And yes, he ultimately does some great and radical services for the gay Catholic community. What is special, though, is that the filmmakers are just as interested in the all-too-human bumps along the way as they are in the inspirational triumphs themselves.

Sir Ian McKellan’s narration, and particularly his readings of Fr. Judge’s writings, were also quite moving. The only other time I’ve been that astonished and affected by a narrator’s work was when I first saw Bonhoeffer and heard Klaus Maria Brandauer’s readings of the subject’s work.

Anyway, I highly recommend Saint of 9/11. Visit http://www.saintof9-11.com for more information.

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Lastly, something fun…

Winners of the Second Annual Blogisattva Awards were announced this week. I was very happy to win one award: Best Multi-Part Blog Post, for my twenty-five posts from India. Visit the Blogisattva webpage for a complete list of nominees and winners. My thanks go once again to Tom for the kind recognition.

The St. Petersburg Times reported on Monday that Buddhist chaplain Frank Tedesco was stripped of his duties by officials at Pinellas County Jail.

After the discovery of three bins of “spirituality books” that were deemed contraband, jail officials cited a breach of contract and Tedesco subsequently lost his privileges at the prison. The article continues:

Authorities said Tedesco simply chewed up the patience of jail personnel while repeatedly breaking strict jailhouse rules…Authorities point to two documented instances where Tedesco broke the rules in a place where rules can’t be broken. One involved Tedesco bringing a fine-tipped calligraphy pen into the jail that he let inmates use to sign a class roster…The other breach of protocol involved books–specifically, a series by social justice activist Bo Lozoff and other texts Tedesco described as “Buddhist classics” left over by outgoing inmates…But books and pens were just part of the problem, officials said. Tedesco often demanded the rules be stretched for him, they said.

Tedesco himself offers other explanations for his being removed as a volunteer:

Tedesco, 60, an unpaid volunteer, thinks the blowup stems at least in part from a Christian bias…”If the book doesn’t look like the Bible, they chuck it,” Tedesco said…Tedesco [also] attributed the ousting to his liberal persona (“I’m a cutting-edge Berkeley type in a conservative community”), his erudite background (“I’m older than they are and I’m better educated”) and his triumphs as a teacher (“Maybe it’s my enthusiasm and my success with the inmates.”).

As I don’t know any more about this situation than what was printed in the article, I don’t really have much of an opinion on this matter. One thing did jump out at me, however…

Although the article makes clear that the books mentioned in the second documented incident violated an October 2006 contract in which Tedesco agreed to clear all literature with jail officials, those same officials also complained about one of the Bo Lozoff books including reprints of drawings by prisoners of “naked men and women posing in various assorted venues.”

I’m not sure what to make of this comment. If jail officials are trying to suggest that the book is pornographic in nature, or something along those lines, they’re certainly barking up the wrong tree. Lozoff has been named by the Utne Reader as one of the country’s “100 Spiritual Visionaries.” He is co-founder of an organization dedicated to “[inspiring and encouraging] prisoners and prison staff to recognize their depth as human beings, and to behave accordingly.” He and his wife Sita have visited over 500 prisons to lead workshops for prisoners and corrections officers. Speaking about another of Lozoff’s books (that also contains drawings of nude figures by prisoners), His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet said: “This practical manual will inspire everyone who is as concerned with helping others as with their own personal improvement.”

Accordingly, Lozoff calls the complaint about the images in the book “a crock and a shame.”

Lozoff also says that “the tensions between Tedesco and the jail are a misunderstanding.” If this is the case, perhaps the misunderstanding can be worked out in the future. If not, at the very least it seems that the prisoners at Pinellas County Jail who are interested in Buddhism will continue to be served:

[The spokesman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office] insisted [that the stipped of Tedesco's duties as a chaplain is] nothing personal or discriminatory, just a matter of protocol. The next Buddhist volunteer will be welcomed with open arms, he added.