January is shaping up as Social Concerns month at Hawaii Betsuin! Here is a listing of three though-provoking events at the temple this month connected to social concerns.

Hawaii Betsuin DIALOGUE logo (speech bubbles in many colors)

Thursday, January 12, 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
DIALOGUE on Settler Colonialism

In odd-numbered months (January, March, etc.), Hawaii Betsuin’s Social Concerns Committee holds a DIALOGUE in which we discuss a social issue through a Buddhist lens. The format is like a book club, only instead of books, the advance reading is articles or short videos. Facilitators rotate. The January 2023 meeting focuses on settler colonialism and is offered both in person and via Zoom (hybrid). Pete Doktor of Jikoen Hongwanji will be our discussion leader. For more information, see https://hawaiibetsuin.org/event/dialogue-settler-colonialism/.

MLK Image: OTFW , editor Eugenio Hansen, OFS, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Monday, January 16, 10 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
MLK “Three Evils of Society” Speech + Discussion (and mini food drive)

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is January 16. Hawaii Betsuin is hosting a simple event in which those interested get together to listen to a 1967 MLK speech entitled “The Three Evils of Society” and then discuss it informally. Light refreshments.

Attendees (and all) are encouraged to bring a donation of non-perishable food for Hawaii Foodbank to either the event or to the Hawaii Betsuin business office in the week leading up to the event. For more information, see https://hawaiibetsuin.org/event/mlk-three-evils-speech-plus-discussion/.

Monday, January 30, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Talk by Renowned Scholar/Author Ronald C. White on Lincon’s 2nd Inaugural Address

The Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin sangha invites you to a presentation by Ronald C. White. We have a special opportunity to engage with a recognized scholar and historian of the Civil War era. His talk is entitled “Insights on Healing a Deeply Divided Nation: Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address — Then and Now.” Event organizer Alan Goto has planned the event as an in-person event, but a Zoom option is under consideration. For more information, see https://hawaiibetsuin.org/event/healing-a-divided-nation/.