Crosswinds Foundation

The other morning I drove past an art gallery a block from my office and saw a huge black sign draped in front of the building proclaiming: “Even in Hell there is compassion.” What!! I thought as I did a double-take. Who would proclaim such a message; and, right here in the heart of the Bible-Belt, no less? Surely, this must be some kind of prank. But, of course it isn’t. The sign was placed there to promote a new exhibit by the Compassion Project. It is the work of two artists who have placed this same message on billboards in several other Southern cities. Even for those who are not particularly religious this is probably a message that seems quite odd, initially. After all, whether you believe in it or not, everyone knows that hell is a place of pain and suffering. So, on what do these artists base such a positive spin on hell? The teachings of Buddhism; Surprise! The art exhibitor says they are sponsoring the work in order to promote understanding of a more e...

Almost as soon as the tragic news broke of the events at Fort Hood last week the clamor began that it was an act of Islamic terrorism. Shortly after the killing spree, Muslims reported that some of their Mosques had received threatening telephone calls. Apparently, there was no time to take a wait-and-see approach – to get the facts – folks were already making up their minds on this one Now the facts have come out and the killer was, in fact, Muslim and from the information being released, was acting based on his connection to a radical Islamic cleric. So, all those who first claimed it was an act of Islamic terrorism, can say a hearty, “I told you so.” However, does that justify some of the hostile reactions directed toward some of the Muslim people in our nation? Without question, there have been tremendous atrocities carried out in the name of Islam; but do those who perpetrate such actions truly represent the Muslim religion? While the terrorist would say yes, most Muslims in the W...