Soon it will be back to nose to the grindstone on PunditMom posts, finishing up the Mothers of Intention manuscript (fingers crossed for a January 1 launch date) and panel prep for the Activism + Media + Politics Summit in Washington, D.C. in a few weeks.  In the meantime, here are some Mothers of Intention with some interesting things to say:

Julie Marsh at the Mom Slant has a few things to say about Glenn Beck, religion and patriotism.

I’ve been meaning to write a post about two women I met at Netroots Nation who are running for the Texas State Board of Education.  Think you don’t have any skin in the game if you don’t live in Texas?  Think again after you watch these videos from my fellow MOMocrat Cynematic.

Still thinking we need to amend the 14th Amendment to the Constitution?  You may change your mind after you check out what Jessica has to say about that at Hegemommy.

Think workplace policies are outdated and we need some real flexibility in the “flex time” discussion?  MomsRising blog recently had a blog carnival to hear parents’ stories about their workplace issues.

And for the junior politico in you house, check out this must-have fashion statement for the fall!

Enjoy these Mothers of Intention, as well as your Labor Day weekend before it’s back to the fall grind on Tuesday!

It’s hard for me to keep quiet when people who call themselves journalists veer into the realm of overly judgmental commentary.  So I’ve been stewing over the comments Brit Hume recently made about Tiger Woods and Buddhism, looking for a way to write about it that wasn’t just a rant.  Even my friend Jodifur was nicely egging me on to pen something on this.  I tweeted a bit, and got a response from the one person in the blogosphere who is perfectly suited for this topic – Momma Zen.  She graciously agreed on very short notice to take on this topic for Mothers of Intention.   Momma Zen, I owe you one!

When I first heard that Fox-TV’s Brit Hume had admonished Tiger Woods to forswear Buddhism in favor of Christianity to redeem himself, I laughed. I laughed hard, and soon it became the kind of laughter that is indistinguishable from tears. In this one arrogant assertion we see the blind egotism that, again and again, is at the root of all pain and suffering, all insanity, all war.

There is no question Woods needs redemption, and I’m certain that he knows it full well. He is alone in a hell of his making, although the collateral damage, as always, is vast and cruel. It’s intriguing that Hume didn’t dare suggest a more obvious and practical fix: that the fallen superstar renounce the “game of kings,” or his obscene and incalculable wealth, or his drug play, sexual predations or any other of his self-serving addictions. Like most of us, Hume and Woods share the universal religion: self- service. Namely, that whatever I think and whatever I do, whatever I like and whatever I say, is right. Your problem is that you don’t agree with me. No matter who or what we claim to worship, at the heart of the matter, most of us worship ourselves even more.

To many of us, faith is little more than a box we check on a questionnaire. Buddhism? Check. Christianity? Check. It’s clear that Woods doesn’t practice the selfless compassion that is at the heart of Buddhism. It’s equally clear that Hume doesn’t practice the selfless compassion that is at the heart of Christianity. Sadly, I call the situation fair and balanced.

Both of them are equally eligible for redemption. Atonement starts with apology: the simple act of seeking forgiveness for the harm caused by one’s own selfish ignorance. Atonement is central to all great religions and all religions are great. They teach us to transcend the false supremacy of one’s own ego. No matter what faith we profess to have, our own persistent self-righteousness gives us the occasion to atone many, many times a day. Forgiveness, in a sense, is easy. I would imagine, though, that the next step in Buddhism would be equally difficult for either of them: to forget oneself.

I’ll leave that to them, and work on my own practice.

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Karen Maezen Miller is a Zen Buddhist priest and the author of Momma Zen and the forthcoming Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life. She blogs regularly at Cheerio Road and Shambhala SunSpace.

So, I guess that’s why Sally Quinn and the Washington Post decided to run an op-ed that allowed Quinn, who writes at the Post’s On Faith blog, to ramble on about where the Obama family should go to church.

Really? That’s all they’ve got to fill the opinion page? I know it’s the Saturday before Thanksgiving, but I could give them 800 words on a whole lot of topics that have a bit more relevance to our lives than what church Sally Quinn deems high profile enough for the First Family-elect. I know she’s got an “in” at the newspaper, and all, but really –

The word presumptuous doesn’t even begin to cover the idea that Quinn, with the blessing of the Washington Post, would imply through that column that the Obamas ought to attend church and choose one for them. Haven’t we all really had enough of Barack Obama’s religion and church going history? It’s just outrageous to me that the Post would print an essay suggesting that the Obamas should declare their intention to partake in Sunday services.

I expect more of the Washington Post. I hope this is just a little slip up on a slow weekend. But if there’s a shortage, I’ve got some op-eds, and I know other writers who probably do, too, that I can give you on some topics that voters who are struggling to figure out how to put Thanksgiving on the table and how to tighten their holiday budgets might actually want to read.

Whether and where the Obamas will go to church? I know they’re going to have to make a few Sunday worship appearances once he’s sworn in, but I’d really like him to be thinking about other, more important things like, say, keeping our finances together with something more than spit and duct tape.