Dear Friends,
After a rich day of cultivating our boundless hearts with M'Tae, we turned our attention to the upcoming execution of Paul Ezra Rhoades scheduled for this Friday, November 18th at 8am at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution. As a Buddhist and a board member of Buddhist Peace Fellowship, an organization dedicated to cultivating the conditions for peace, I felt it appropriate to share BPF"s public statement on the death penalty:
Society is like a dense fabric, made of many intertwined threads. Murder is like a violent tear in the fabric. The death penalty is like trying to repair the tear by cutting away at the fabric when we should take care to weave the many split threads back into the fabric...We oppose all executions, in keeping with the First Precept of Buddhism, which says not to harm any living thing.
If you feel called to bear witness in opposition to this execution and the death penalty, Idahoans Against the Death Penalty plans a protest at the prison complex at 8am on the 18th. There may be a group of us sitting outside the prison and I will let you know if that comes to fruition.
Regardless of whether you join a public protest, we invite you to mindfully contemplate this precious life in every moment.
If you would like to know more about Buddhist Peace Fellowship, I am happy to talk with you about our work and you can visit our website, http://www.bpf.org/.
I am also including a link to Rev. Thomas Faucher's opinion piece in the Idaho Statesman, voicing his opposition to the execution.