HH XIV Dalai Lama at Emory University

His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama, the spiritual and secular leader of Tibet in exile, came to Emory University from October 17 through October 19, 2010. Emory University runs a science initiative with His Holiness in India in order to integrate western science into the traditional monastic education for monks and nuns living in the community-in-exile.

His Holiness has always been known for his cosmopolitanism, and feels that this long term project is crucial for improving understanding of the world from both religious and scientific worldviews. This project is extremely important and proves how scientific and religious worldviews are compatible and able to enhance each other’s understanding of the world around us. The integration of two different disciplines and approaches creates a much more holistic way to understand how human beings function and interact with their surrounding environment.

Below, please watch the press conference with His Holiness and the president of Emory University. In addition to answering questions on the interaction between religion and science, His Holiness addresses the relationship between spirituality and secularism, politics, and the importance of fostering open societies.

Furthermore, His Holiness, humanitarian/actor Richard Gere, and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Alice Walker discuss the interaction between art and spirituality. Although it is a short clip, it raises some interesting points and offers a new approach to art.

BS Express?

As just about everyone has seen this stock footage of Barack Obama's former pastor as well as heard the unnecessary, trivialized debates surrounding Obama's patriotism and Christian faith. However, while Obama has had to manage sharp criticism surrounding this issue, what happens when a white Republican candidate has a pastor endorse him that is just as radical, if not more so? Also, what questions regarding McCain's faith are being raised when McCain "isn't a full member of his church because he has never undergone the adult baptism that membership requires?"

Well, nothing apparently.

If the American election process is going to criticize a black candidate for at one time having a radical pastor, then it should at least give equally sharp rebuke to a white candidate who currently accepts the endorsement of a radical pastor, whose views are along the lines of such polarizing figures as Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell. Maybe since McCain sold his soul back in 2006 at the commencement speech at Falwell's Liberty College, the "Straight Talk Express" has gotten a case of the B.S.