The Buddhist magazine Lion’s Roar (part of the Foundation that also publishes this website) has announced its first-ever explicit endorsement of a U.S. presidential candidate: Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

Being that Buddhists are usually assumed to be liberals, the magazine’s move might come as a shock to some. In a press statement released late yesterday, the Lion’s Roar editorial board explained the decision.

“We’re in our fourth decade,” reads the statement. “As our work and Buddhist practice have become more mature, we’ve begun to feel that a more conservative, established approach is a better fit with where we’re at. Ted Cruz emphasizes limited government and personal responsibility, and these are in line with Buddhist values.

“And after years of seeing the way the Pat Robertsons and Brit Humes of the world talk about us Buddhists, it was only natural that we’d begin to wonder if we’d been on the wrong side of things.”

The statement concludes with details of a top-down revamping of the Lion’s Roar editorial staff, beginning with the replacement of long-term editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod with the popular commentator and compassion advocate Glenn Beck.