News

March 13, 2026

BCD No Kings III Meet Ups

No Kings III day will be on March 28, 2026.  The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy endorses this national day of protest.  To find an event near you, click here.

BCD contingents are arranging to attend the events together in cities across the country. Below is a list of local groups that have already made arrangements. If your locality is also designating a location and time for BCD members to gather, write to the webmaster and have your gathering added to the list.

 Atlanta, GA
Contact Brenda Collins for more information.

Belfast, ME

Contact Susan Dexter at nomadsusie24@protonmail.com

Berkeley, CA

March from UC Berkeley campus to MLK Park to Center/Shattuck Plaza. Meet at 1p.m. on sidewalk along Bancroft near Zellerbach Hall and Student Union bldg. (2465 Bancroft Way Berkeley, CA 94704). Contact Nick Robinson at nicholaskeithrobinson@gmail.com

Chicago, IL

Grant Park, 1:30 p.m. Meet-up info: Jean Marie Robbins, (773) 263-4817, or laker13@gmail.com.

 New York, NY

Meet outside the main entrance of The Plaza hotel (765 Fifth Avenue — west side of Fifth Avenue near 59th Street) at 1:40 p.m. If there are weather issues, we will meet just inside the lobby. For more information.

Philadelphia, PA

BCD members will meet at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday at the Masonic Temple, 1 N. Broad Street, opposite the north side of City Hall. Look for the teal blue BUDDHIST COALITION FOR DEMOCRACY sign.  For more information, contact John Murphy at  jmartinmurphy@gmail.com.

Thousand Oaks, CA

Washington, D.C.

Meet at Memorial Circle at 10:00 a.m.  March across the Memorial Bridge, past the Lincoln Memorial, and along the Reflecting Pool to Constitution Gardens
Contact Kathryn Koehl (bcdupdates@outlook.com) for more information.

Westchester County, NY

Meet at 4:00 p.m. at the entrance of Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck, NY (southwest corner of the intersection or Mamaroneck Avenue and West Boston Post Road). Look for the BCD banner! The group will also meet for a potluck lunch before hand starting around 12:30 p.m. Contact us for more information and to join us for lunch.

March 8, 2026 

BCD Statement on the War in Iran

Once again the United States is at war in the Middle East. This time it is a war initiated by a President who criticized his predecessors for having engaged in “endless” foreign wars and who campaigned on the promise that as President he would keep the United States out of such foreign conflicts. Of course, we do not know what the ultimate consequences of this war will be, but we offer three reasons to oppose it: (1) it is a war of aggression that is in clear violation of international law and of its ethical underpinnings in just war theory; (2) it contributes to the increasing erosion of constitutional and democratic norms and provides one of the building blocks for an American Fascism and for a consolidation of all sovereignty in the Presidency and specifically in the person of Donald Trump; and (3) Buddhist principles present a significant challenge to this war.

From an international law perspective, a war of aggression is the fundamental war crime, and those who initiate a war of aggression are war criminals. A war of aggression is an invasion of the territorial boundaries of another sovereign nation with the attempt to force its will on that nation. The nation who does this, not only violates the principles of national sovereignty and self-determination but initiates one of the greatest forms of suffering on those who are attacked, on its own soldiers and, on its own population as well. Furthermore, it causes insecurity and often direct suffering for the citizens of nearby nations and for the world at large, often bringing other nations into the war and setting a precedence for other wars of aggression throughout the world.

International law is based on just war theory, which has developed some clear ethical criteria for determining when war is just and when it is not. The main criterion for a war being just is that it has a just cause, and the only unproblematic criterion for a war having a just cause is that it is a war of self-defense. There are, however, two possible exceptions. The first is what is sometimes called a pre-emptive strike. This requires that the country which initiates the war is in imminent danger of being attacked. The second is when there are massive human rights violations in a country that violates the conscience of the international community. However, it is not clear that war is the best way of addressing those human rights violations and, in any case, an attempt to address them through military force requires a decision by a legitimate international authority. Other criteria include the idea that the war must be organized by a legitimate authority; that its intention must be morally acceptable (criterion of right intention); that it must have clearly defined goals and a reasonable chance of success; that the suffering and harm caused by the war should not be greater than the suffering and harm eliminated by whatever the war could accomplish (the criterion of proportionality); and that it must be a last resort; In addition, there are criteria for whether the war, even if it has a just cause, is fought in a just way – the main criterion being that non-combatants should not be targeted and that every effort should be made to minimize civilian casualties. Other criteria include a prohibition of torture and of killing prisoners.
It is not very difficult to see that the United States’ initiation of the war against Iran is in fundamental violation of international law and of just war theory. It is clearly an invasion that violates the territorial integrity of Iran as a sovereign nation. It is not a war of defense against an aggressor. There was no evidence of imminent threat. The CIA stated that it is unlikely that Iran could pose a nuclear threat to the United States for at least a decade, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has declared that there was no evidence that Iran has an active plan for creating nuclear weapons. Furthermore, Trump himself declared that the earlier strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities had “obliterated” them.

While it is true that the Iranian regime is guilty of human rights violations, there has been no international decision to intervene, and the Trump administration is surely not an international authority. In fact, the decision to go to war was not made by any legitimate authority, since, on constitutional grounds, only Congress has a right to declare war. Furthermore, it is not at all clear what the real intentions are for this war. Given the Trump administration’s suggestion that the main reason for its recent invasion of Venezuela was to get its oil and its recent threat to invade Greenland, the motives for this war are morally suspect. In addition, this war has no clearly defined goal. When asked to explain the reasons for this war, different members of the Trump Administration keep shifting from “imminent threat” to “regime change.” When asked how long they thought the war would last, the answer was sometimes four or five weeks and at another time that it might go on endlessly. Finally, this is not a war of last resort. One of the first things that Trump did near at the beginning of his second term in 2018 was to unilaterally withdraw from the comprehensive treaty that President Obama had negotiated with Iran, and just before initiating this war, he summarily broke off negotiations.

The war has already, within the first few days caused significant civilian casualties in a way that suggests that there is little regard for minimizing harm to non-combatants. Within the first day of the war, a bomb was dropped on a girls’ elementary school killing 165 girls. Trump recently acknowledged that the bombing had killed most of the officials who the U.S. had hoped would be a potential new leadership. In fact, Trump recently said that everyone better stay inside as the bombs will be dropping everywhere. Furthermore, the war has already spread to other countries in the Middle East – retaliatory strikes on Israel and to U.S. military facilities in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Republic, to Lebanon and to Iraq. France and England are preparing to defend Cypress. An Iranian missile has hit Turkey, which means that NATO will now be involved. The European countries are on edge.

BCD is a coalition for democracy, and another reason that we are opposed to this war is that it helps to further erode the democratic and legal Constitutional norms in the United States. Trump has been attempting to invest sovereignty in the office of the Presidency and more specifically in himself, thus undermining the Constitutional requirement of the separation of powers. This war significantly adds to this danger, as it is in defiance of the Constitutional requirement that only Congress can declare war. In addition, war tends to consolidate power in the hands of the President, and, given the authoritarian game plan of this administration, it could easily become a means to justify indefinite rule and further oppression. We see this war, then, as part of a pattern of attempting to suppress dissent, to create detention centers, to normalize troops in the street, to build ICE into a large parallel army, as well as to divert attention from Trump’s increasing unpopularity and the threat that the Epstein files can pose to his administration. Would be dictators need massive detention centers, parallel armies, targeting opposition forces as enemies of the people, and wars to consolidate their authoritarian rule. In other words, war is one of the significant building blocks in the road to fascism and in normalizing an authoritarian rule.

BCD is not only a coalition for democracy, but also a Buddhist coalition for democracy. So how does the war with Iran look from a Buddhist perspective? We can start by wishing loving kindness to all those who are in terror as the bombs fall, and to those throughout the region who are in fear for their lives or the loss of the lives of their loved ones, Then, extend our loving kindness to all the soldiers, the people in the planes that drop bombs, to the people in Israel hiding in their shelters, to the American servicemen in many Arab countries, and to the people in southern Lebanon who are fleeing their homes without knowing where they can go. In principle, we can extend it to the leaders in both countries who through their delusion and own suffering have brought suffering to their people and to the people of other countries. We can wish that their delusions and ill will are extinguished. We can attempt to develop our compassion in the same way. Does this mean that we do not take sides? When the bombs are falling, when masses of people are suffering as a result, we need to use our loving kindness and compassion to find ways to stop the horrors that this war is bringing. This does not simply mean that we cry for peace but that we analyze what is at stake, and see clearly what kind of a war this war is, what it is doing, what its significance is for the people of Iran, for those in the Middle East, for those in the United States, and for the whole world. We need to strip away the delusions and the hypocrisy and see that this is a war of aggression and not a war in response to an imminent threat. It is a war that violates international law, that is on all counts is an unjust war, and that this war is part of the pattern that threatens to further erode our democracy in the United States. It is a war that helps pave the way to fascism. Compassion that cannot see this is idiot compassion. We must do what we can to minimize harm and suffering and to oppose those who crave power and create conditions that are causing and will continue to cause suffering, conditions that are making the world a more dangerous place.

Let’s apply the eightfold path to this war. Those who have initiated this war do not have a right view of what they are doing, they do not correctly understand what horrors and suffering they are unleashing and will continue to unleash; they have deluded themselves into thinking that they can control the world. They also do not have right intention; in fact, they do not seem to understand what their intention is other than the desire for power and perhaps, for those who benefit from this war, wealth. They surely do not have right speech. The members of the Trump Administration continually contradict themselves and each other, and they pretend not to do so. They lie openly and with the intent to confuse, obfuscate, and mislead. When they talk to the American people or to the Iranians, they do not speak with the intention of solving the conflict but instead to destroy and gain more power. Right action – they engage in war without regard for the suffering they cause. They seem unconcerned about the deaths that will inevitably occur and the anxiety they are inflicting on the people in that region and throughout the world. Right livelihood – they use their position to gain wealth and power and are willing to destroy anything that stands in their way. They use this war to helps facilitate this kleptocracy’s march toward dictatorship. Right effort – they employ their effort on behalf of their craving for power and wealth, for advancing their ill will against all who stand in their way, and for other forms of their delusion. Right mindfulness – it is clear that the ravings of the President and his immediate associates are the ravings of madness. We cannot even say of them that they have wrong mindfulness. They are simply not mindful. Right concentration – as they jump from topic to topic, one excuse for the war to another, contradicting themselves sometimes in the same interview or speech. They cannot concentrate, and when it comes to war, their lack of concentration inflicts immense suffering on the world. Their lack of a clear plan is a manifestation of their inability to concentrate. They want the rest of us to lose our ability to concentrate on what is important in the fog of war.

None of this is an apology for the Iranian regime. They are a cruel regime that has caused massive suffering, not only but especially to their own people. They have killed thousands of protesters; they have oppressed and brutalized women, created prisons as torture chambers, and they have often done things that has made the world less safe. We could wish that someday they will become a democratic Iran, but this is unlikely to be accomplished by an illegal and unjust war of aggression. It cannot be accomplished through bombs that fall indiscriminately. It can only be accomplished by the self-determination and resistance of the Iranian people themselves. There is no contradiction in our recognizing this while also opposing the United States initiating a war of aggression. As the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said almost immediately after the war began, “remember that one can be against a hateful regime, as is the case with the Iranian regime, and at the same time be against a military intervention that is unjustified, dangerous, and outside international law.”

 February 21, 2026

BCD Statement on the U.S. Oil Blockade and U.S. Policy Toward Cuba

For more than two generations, except for a brief détente under Obama, the United States has pursued an escalating campaign of economic warfare against Cuba: a near-total trade embargo, financial isolation, extraterritorial sanctions, and other punishing restrictions––the antithesis of the Eightfold Path. An official memorandum stated the policy’s aim plainly: to deprive the island of money and supplies in order to “bring about hunger, desperation, and overthrow of [the] government.” The Trump administration has intensified these measures, including a new twist: a total oil blockade though the combined use of international pressure and U.S. military force.

Cuba produces only forty percent of the oil it needs. The remaining 60 percent came mostly from Venezuela, Mexico and, to a very small extent, Algeria and Russia. The United States terminated shipments from Venezuela after assuming control of its oil industry, and pressured Mexico to end its shipments. The “shadow fleet” carrying Russian oil cannot supply the island because ships are intercepted in the Caribbean Sea. These unwholesome acts arise from craving (tanhā) for land, resources, prestige, and clinging to identity (“empire,” “civilization,” “manifest destiny”). As a result, Cuba is in a downward spiral and is likely to suffer a complete collapse in a matter of weeks that is predicted to cause widespread illness and death.

From a Buddhist standpoint, this pressure cooker approach with the oil embargo as the seal is ethically inverted. Buddhism begins with the recognition of suffering (dukkha) and seeks its cessation. Deliberately manufacturing suffering as an instrument of policy contradicts that aim. In Buddhist ethics, intentional harm is unwholesome (akusala); exploiting deprivation as leverage conflicts with compassion (karuṇā); and desirable ends do not purify destructive means. Intention is karmically vital.
Beyond the oil blockade and economic embargo, U.S. policy has encompassed support for assassination plots, economic sabotage, propaganda, and armed incursions. Such activities arise from aversion and the desire for control rather than renunciation or goodwill. The pressure cooker and these other unskillful actions (akuśala) have not produced democracy, liberalization, or improved human rights. They have produced shortages, preventable deaths, degraded healthcare, malnutrition, and chronic insecurity for ordinary people. Predictably, they have also reinforced a siege mentality within Cuban leadership and furnished ready scapegoats for domestic failures. Decades of hostility (dvesha) have entrenched authoritarianism more than weakened it. Even if this intensification of U.S.policy through the oil blockade were to succeed at regime change, it would come at the cost of inordinate suffering for millions of Cubans. Even if U.S. policy succeeds this time at regime change, it will come at the cost of inordinate suffering for millions of Cubans. We are also doubtful that any U.S.-backed regime would improve the lives of ordinary Cubans. Like the recent “regime change” in Venezuela, it will more likely be a system to extract Cuban wealth for the benefit of kleptocrats in the U.S. and Cuba.

Coercion is the opposite of right conduct (sīla), and unwholesome causes do not yield wholesome results. These results include the breakdown of Cuba’s renowned health care system, with a severe scarcity of medicines and basic supplies, the paralysis of public and private transportation, and the loss of tourism upon which a significant portion of the population depend for their livelihoods. In Havana trash is already piling up, food prices are soaring, schools are canceling classes, and hospitals are suspending surgeries. The country is affected by wide-spread electrical blackouts which also effect the operation of its water and sanitation systems.

Viewed through Buddhist principles—non-harm (ahiṃsā), compassion (karuṇā), right intention, and right action (sammā-kammanta)—the policy is profoundly unethical. Six decades of evidence suggest that manufacturing dukkha entrenches trauma and hostility rather than liberating societies. A humane alternative would ground policy in dialogue, dignity, and the genuine alleviation of suffering.

We oppose the continuation and escalation of this cruel strategy and call for policies grounded in human dignity and dialogue with the goal of the genuine alleviation of suffering––in other words, right action (sammā-kammanta).

February 9, 2026 —The 2,300 mile Buddhist Monks for Walk for Peace finishes its journey in Washington, D.C. this week with a gathering at the Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday February 11th.  BCD members from the Washington D.C area and around the country are planning to meet up at 1:00 p.m. EST at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Constitution Avenue between 21st and 22nd Streets NW before proceeding as a group to the Lincoln Memorial.  For more information, contact: bcdupdates@outlook.com

Prior to that event, there will be an interfatih service held at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday, February 10th @ 1:00 p.m. EST. You can livestream that event here.

January 26, 2025 —Along with all Minnesotans and decent people everywhere, the Buddhist Coalition for Democracy grieves the senseless murder of Alex Jeffrey Pretti. We especially grieve for those who knew him best—his family, coworkers, and friends. Alex was executed in cold blood by federal agents while attempting to render assistance to a woman that agents had pepper-sprayed and shoved to the ground. He was an I.C.U. nurse who, according to all accounts, had a friendly and cheerful disposition and was always interested in helping others. As in the case of Renee Nicole Good just weeks ago, the goal of the culpable federal agents was to intimidate and terrorize members of the resistance in Minneapolis and, by extension, all of us who want to preserve democratic institutions.

It is not enough to mourn. We need to make clear that we will not be intimidated. We need to turn our anger and grief into skillful actions that can confront authoritarianism. The federal government must pull ICE, CBP, and Homeland Security from Minnesota. ICE must be defunded and abolished; it is a corrupt agency from top-to-bottom and cannot be trusted. The U.S. Senate must filibuster the Homeland Security funding bill. The murder of Alex Pretti must be investigated by Minnesota and Minneapolis authorities, and not by the Department of Homeland Security or the FBI.

In the end, the current attempted federal cover-up will fail because what happened was captured in dozens of citizens’ cellphones and is plain to anyone with eyes to see.

We are inspired by how Minnesotans have stood up for their neighbors. Their peaceful resistance serves as a powerful example of how to respond to oppression.

We pray this murder, together with the murder of Renee Nicole Good, will mark an inflection point in public awareness and determination—and mark the beginning of the end of America’s flirtation with fascism.

January 14, 2026 — The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy endorses the January 20th Free America Walkout sponsored by Women’s March, Indivisible, No Kings, and 50501.  People are encouraged to walk out of their jobs and schools and join in local demonstrations at 2:00 pm on January 20th.  To find out about local actions, check here.

January 9, 2026—The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy endorses the ICE Out For Good demonstrations that are occurring all over across  the country this weekend in response to the murder of Renee Nicole Good. To find out where demonstrations are occurring in your city, check here.

January 5, 2026 — The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy offers the following statement in response to the recent abduction of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s head of state, and his wife, Cilia Flores, by the United States military as directed by U.S. President Donald J. Trump with the stated intention of seizing control of Venezuela’s natural resources.

As Buddhist practitioners we examine these recent events from the view of interdependence, compassion, clarity, and avoidance of harm. This lawless, unauthorized military intervention reflects a lack of wisdom, compassion, and skillful means.

History has repeatedly shown how similar interventions deepen suffering, fracture societies, and generate karmic consequences that rebound upon all parties. In the past the United States has intervened dozens of times in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Middle East only to create chaos in its wake. The word “democracy” has often been used as a pretext for these interventions, but this time “democracy” has not even been mentioned. 

This unilateral intervention in Venezuela is a violation of international law and political norms. Congress did not authorize the use of military force and was not even consulted. Venezuela posed no threat to the United States and there is no legal, moral, or military justification for it. It paves the way for similar actions in other Western Hemisphere nations and territories President Trump has his sights on, including Cuba, Colombia, Panama, Canada, and Greenland. It also creates a permission structure for other great powers to violate the sovereignty of their neighbors in Europe and Asia.

We invite members of the Buddhist Coalition for Democracy to call upon their representatives in Congress, to offer sane communication in social media and media, and to create a counterbalance to the darkness and dishonesty underlying these actions. We especially offer our compassion for and sympathy to the people of Venezuela, both within the country and without, during this confusing and chaotic time.

October 6, 2025 — BCD, in partnership with the Insight Meditation Center of Washington will be holding a virtual Town Hall on Immigration.  “Buddhist Voices for Immigration Justice: Compassion in Action” will be held on Thursday, November 20, 2025, 6:00-7:30pm EST.  Our panelists: Tara Brach, whose teachings include a full, compassionate engagement with our world; Lama Rod Owens, an international influencer with a focus on the intersection of social change, identity and spiritual practice; Dr. Marisela Gomez, grassroots activist and advocate for spiritual practice with community organizing; Lenni B. Benson, Professor of Immigration and Human Rights Law at New York Law School.  The Town Hall will feature an audience Q&A as well as a Call to Action with practical next steps for advocacy and opportunities to stay connected.  Register for this event: https://imcw.org/event/?eventId=1665

October 6, 2025 — BCD regional groups are organizing for the October 18, 2025 No Kings demonstrations. So far, BCD contingents are assembling at several locations:

Atlanta, Georgia: Brenda Collins (bcollins12@hotmail.com) will be at the Liberty Plaza entrance with a BCD sign at near the Parking Lot to lead the BCD contingent. The rally will be held from 12pm – 3pm at Capitol Ave SW, across from the State capitol building.

Westchester, New York: Seth Segall (sethzuihosegall@gmail.com) is organizing the Westchester BCD contingent. The Westchester group will meet at 4:00 PM at the entrance to Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck, NY on the southwest corner of the intersection of Mamaroneck Avenue and West Boston Post Road. Look for the big BCD banner! The group will also meet for a potluck lunch prior to the demonstration. Those interested in lunch, should contact Seth.

New York City: Karsten Struhl (kastruhl@tiac.net) is  facilitating the NYC BCD contingent  and will have a BCD sign at the assembly point. The NYC march begins at Duffy Square (47th and Broadway). The group will meet at 10:40 a.m. under the awning of the Richard Rodgers Theater at 226 W. 46th Street, south side of the street between 7th and 8th avenue. The BCD group will join the march at 11 am.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: John Murphy (jmartinmurphy@yahoo.com) is organizing the BCD contingent. The rally will start at 12:00 p.m. at Philadelphia City Hall, 1400 John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Participants will march east to Independence Mall, where the rally ends at 3 p.m. Look for the BCD sign, and feel free to bring your own signs.

Portland, Oregon: Beverly Daggett (daggettbeverly@gmail.com) is coordinating a BCD contingent to join as part of a larger interfaith group. The group will gather at 10:30 am at Pioneer Courthouse Square near a purple pillar-like banner reading FAITH for a short interfaith program and service. Look for BCD signs, and feel free to bring your own signs. At 11:20 am the faith groups will march together to the Battleship Memorial on Waterfront Park behind a banner that reads: People of Faith: Standing Up for Compassion, Truth, and Justice. There, at noon, there will be a big No Kings event (speakers, music, etc.). Finally, at 1:00 pm the continent will march through the downtown streets.

Sonoma, California: Vicky McKay (vmckay@sonic.net) is coordinating a BCD contingent and will have a BCD sign at the assembly point. The Sonoma March will begin at Sonoma Plaza, 453 1st St E, Sonoma, CA 95476.  The BCD group will join together leaving at 12:45 pm, from the Sonoma Market Place Shopping Center located at 201 W Napa Street, Sonoma, CA, to walk down Napa St towards 1st St East & the Sonoma Plaza starting point.

Washington, D.C.: Kathryn Koehl (kathrynkoehl@hotmail.com) is coordinating a BCD contingent that is meeting at the Vienna metro at 10 am and then talking the metro to Federal Center SW and walking to the SE corner of Pennsylvania Avenue NW & Third Street NW in front of the Capitol Reflecting Pool at 11:20 pm.

Shazzie Bauer (shazzie29@gmail.com) invites Washington area BCD members to join a No Kings Pre-Rally on October 18th from 9:30am – 11:00am at Iona in Tenleytown- 4125 Albemarle St NW, Washington DC.  The contingent will meet up at Iona to connect, make signs, nosh.  and end with a brief meditation. They will depart for the No Kings rally at 11:00 am via the Tenleytown Red Line Metro.  Feel free to bring food to share.

If anyone else is organizing a BCD contingent, please contact Seth Segall (sethzuihosegall@gmail.com) so it can be listed here.

September 26, 2025—The first episode of BCD’s New Horizons in Engaged Buddhism interview series has launched.  Host Julia Sagegien’s September 25, 2025 interview with Rev. Seth Zuihō Segall is now available in video format on YouTube and as a Substack podcast. In addition, we have created a new website page for posting BCD videos. Julia will he hosting new live interviews each month. Her next interview will be with Daiken Nelson Roshi on October 30th at 7:00 p.m. You can join her live Zoom interviews here.

September 26, 2025—The first episode of BCD’s New Horizons in Engaged Buddhism interview series has launched.  Host Julia Sagegien’s September 25, 2025 interview with Rev. Seth Zuihō Segall is now available in video format on YouTube and as a Substack podcast. In addition, we have created a new website page for posting BCD videos. Julia will he hosting new live interviews each month. Her next interview will be with Daiken Nelson Roshi on October 30th at 7:00 p.m. You can join her live Zoom interviews here.

September 6, 2025—The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy has joined an amicus curiae brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit along with other Buddhist, Methodist, Episcopal and Jewish faith organizations requesting that Mahmoud Khalil remain released on bail and not be deported.

September 5, 2025—The Coordinating Committee of the Buddhist Coalition for Democracy endorses participation in the October 18, 2025 No Kings demonstrations. To find out where demonstrations will be occuring near you, go to https://www.nokings.org

July 15, 2025—The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy supports the Apache people in their effort to protect their sacred territory of Oak Flat from copper mining interests.

Oak Flat is sacred high-desert land critical to Apache religion and culture about 60 miles east of Phoenix. In recent years copper was discovered beneath Oak Flat and the transfer of that land to a giant multinational mining enterprise was authorized by the federal  government in 2014.

Apache Stronghold, an organization of Apaches and their allies, has reached out to faith communities for support in their efforts to protect their sacred land. A lawsuit made it to the Supreme Court, but the justices decided not to hear the case in May, 2025. Baring any last-minute legal developments, the land will be transferred in mid-August.

On July 19th at 2:00 PM Eastern Tine there will be a multi-faith on-line prayer circle in support of the Apache efforts to preserve their sacred heritage.  You can register to join in that multifaith call here.

We were informed about this story by the Oak Flat Buddhist Working Group which consists of members affiliated with the Dhammapada Sangha, Plum Village, the Upaya Zen Center and Spirit Rock.

The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy expresses profound dismay at the passage of the incongruously-called One Big Beautiful Bill, viewing it as an ugly historic betrayal of the vulnerable and a decisive move toward structural cruelty disguised as reform. For a tradition rooted in compassion, mindfulness, and the interdependence of all beings, the bill represents a stark departure from values that support a just and inclusive society. At its core, the legislation represents a massive transfer of wealth and dignity—from the poor, the sick, and the undocumented—to the wealthy and powerful. Under the pretext of fiscal responsibility and national security, it slashes vital programs while expanding the machinery of detention and exclusion and increasing the national debt to the detriment of future generations. For Buddhists committed to compassion and interdependence, this bill codifies the poisons that the Dharma warns against: greed, anger, and delusion.

The bill guts Medicaid funding by over a trillion dollars, imposes onerous work requirements on those already struggling to survive, and accelerates eligibility checks in ways that will purge millions from care and cause their death. Simultaneously, it channels billions into a grotesque militarized border infrastructure, surveillance systems, and detention capacity—all while delivering enormous tax breaks and regulatory favors to the ultra-wealthy. This is not merely an economic realignment; it is a moral inversion undermining the principle of Right View, which calls for open inquiry and relief from suffering in all its forms. Instead, public resources will be diverted to entrench privilege and punish need. The result will be more illness, more hunger, and more fear. The bill is not a reflection of democratic consensus or moral clarity—it is a spectacle of tyranny, performed at the expense of the voiceless. It fosters alienation, deepens mistrust, and ultimately sows the karmic seeds of instability and spiritual decay.

The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy endorses participation in the Good Trouble Lives On demonstrations scheduled around the country on July 17th.  To find a demonstration in your area, click here. 

Hundreds of Buddhist Coalition for Democracy members participated in No Kings Day demonstrations all around the country on June 14th.  Photos of members particpating are being added to our Photo Gallery page. If you want a photo of you or your group carrying signs that identify you as BCD members to be added to our photo gallery, email them to photos@buddhistcoalitionfordemocracy.org.

The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy endorses the Multifaith Mondays Witness to Democracy vigils in Columbus Circle in New York City.  Vigils are held every Monday from 5:30 to 6:00 pm at the USS Maine Monument on the southwest corner of Central Park. These gatherings serve as a space for reflection, connection, and public witness, reminding us of the shared moral responsibility across faith traditions to uphold justice and human dignity.  For more information, click here.

We are pleased to report that on April 30, 2025 Vermont District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered the release of Mohsen Mahdawi from prison on bail pending the court’s ruling on the habeas petition challenging his detention.

The Buddhist Coaltion for Democracy signed on as a party to an amicus brief challenging his detention, but when Mohsen was released from detention the brief became moot.

The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy expresses support for Mohsen Mahdawi and condemns his illegal detention and pending deportation under the Alien Enemies Act. Mohsen is Visionary Advisor to the Columbia University Buddhist Association and was formerly president of the Association. The Buddhist Council of New York, the Interfaith Center of New York, and the Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi have all expressed their support for Mohsen. Vermont Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch and Vermont Representative Becca Balint have called his detention “immoral, inhumane, and illegal.”

You can donate to Mohsen’s legal defense fund here.  You can learn more about Mohsen’s detention here and here.