We’re Not Who You Think We Are: Chenxing Han examines the stereotypes that have marginalized Asian American Buddhists and reports on the rich diversity and depth of practice of a new generation of practitioners
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@tour_operator
I can’t accept that argument. These are taken from another page.
Our crimes were a long time ago / you need to get over it / butt hurt
Why do these same people complain about 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and remind us to never forget the 6 million Jews?
I’m not responsible for those crimes
Whose lands are you living on? (we’re guilty also if you live in the West). Whose resources are you selling? Whose waters are you fishing? etc
Why do these people brag about white achievements? They weren’t responsible for those either.
Why do these people talk about Tibet genocide then ? (which isn’t even true)
So in one breath, you say Palestinians should have their own land back, but you can live on property that is formerly a burial ground for the Hopi Indians? If a crook gave you a home but didn’t own the deed, you would have to give it back legally and morally
It was a different time back then
What about the precious “Christian” values? And the precious “Western humanist traditions”?
How do you explain the CURRENT day racism? Police brutality, new Jim Crow,
● http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Anything-That-Moves-American/dp/1250045061/
● http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Hope-C-I-Interventions-II–Updated/dp/1567512526/
● New Jim Crow | http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595586431
● Confessions of an Economic Hit Man | http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Economic-Hit-John-Perkins/dp/0452287081/
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@tour_operator
So since it’s idiotic to literally follow texts written in archaic times, wouldn’t that completely nullify most of Christianity in the first place since most of it was written in “the context of archaic times”? What’s the point of even reading from the Bible anymore or even subscribing to Christianity anymore if that’s the case? Wouldn’t it be better to do away with it completely?
Just as how many of the right-wingers support arming citizens in the U.S., claiming that it’s unconstitutional to take away the “right to bear arms”as was written in the constitution when the country was first built. But during that time, the colonies were still battling the British, so it made sense to be armed (in the context of that time). Nowadays, it doesn’t anymore, hence why many want to do away with that law completely.
With that same logic, since literal interpretations of Christianity (or at least the first half) no longer make any sense in the context of today (according to you), then it would also make sense to get rid of the religion entirely or get rid of the first testament. Obviously, the words of god are outdated and not to be taken seriously if one is able to select what works in the 21st century and what doesn’t, LOL.
As for being accused of being anti-religion, I don’t mind since I’ve never had much fondness for certain religions, including Christianity. I dislike religions that force others to join it and I especially dislike how religions like Christianity was used to imperialistically dominate non-white nations by forcing western culture onto the natives. It upholds the idea that everything from the west is good, pure and correct and that everyone else is wrong. In my view, it’s an indirect form of upholding white supremacy.
With that being said, my "They’re the same ones who preach how ‘God loves all’ yet racism and slavery was very much alive along the Bible Belt states” rhetoric is based on the fact that despite being the most religious and devoted Christians compared to the north, the south was also most well known for its intense racist laws (Jim Crow) and strong support for slavery. The north, in comparison, though not as religious, was more supportive of freeing the slaves (and many slaves did flee north for a better life). My rhetoric was based on this irony—strongly devoted Christian southerners (who claim to have excellent morals due to religion) also happen to be the most racist while not-so-religious northerners (who would be considered “sinful” by southern Christians) are the most tolerant. Is it really a coincidence that the only president that thought about freeing the slaves also happened to be one of the few if not only non-Christian president the U.S. has had? I normally don’t care for liberals but if there’s one thing I agree with them on, is their saying that “the south loves to hold a bible in one hand and a gun in the other”, implying that the most devoted white American Christians also happen to be the most intolerant/violent/racist.
My original post was poking fun at the fact that the same Christians who like to arrogantly claim moral superiority (them = good, everyone else = bad) are the same hypocritical ones who commit violent acts against others. I’m not referring to those who are more modest (and even challenge their own religion from time to time), I’m referring to those who like to preach that their beliefs are better than everyone else’s and their religion is what makes them the “most pure” or morally superior. To those that are more modest and understand they have flaws just like every other human or understand others can have morals without being Christian, there’s no reason for me to make fun of them. It’s those who have a superiority complex that I find laughable.
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@bugoutfever @natalie_ng @tour_operator
Let’s avoid drawn out arguments over semantics. I look at the bigger picture. Here are some factors that I used to arrive at my decision: ten commandments, timeline, admissions of guilt, contradictions in the bible, failure to deliver, and Chinese history.
Christians had the rules laid out in front of them (just 10 big ones), but for centuries did the opposite and in the extreme. This didn’t happen in some ancient time, Western imperialism still hasn’t stopped. Civil rights movement happened in 1965.
Numerous political and church leaders were appalled by the atrocities they committed like Doctrine of Discovery and Opium Wars.
Contradictions in the bible http://infidels.org/library/modern/jim_meritt/bible-contradictions.html
Failure to deliver http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/ How did “turn the other cheek” and “the meek shall inherit the earth” work out for those civilizations that perished under god’s love?
China didn’t have Christianity and did just fine until white Christians showed up.
These same crazies never stop giving empty speeches about their “Christian” values to the same groups they brutalized - the ones who are alive anyways.
if Christianity isn’t responsible for people’s behavior then isn’t it obsolete?
I am against anything that holds us back. I don’t see how worshiping some foreigner who inflicts zero divine punishment on history’s biggest group of terrorists while allowing the victims to be wiped out is going to make us better off.
FAQ:
It’s harmless.
No. It takes up a lot of resources and brainwashes people with suicidal nonsense like turn the other cheek and their savior is a white looking foreigner. I know he’s a Jew, but he looks really white in many pics.Faith gives your life meaning
If that’s the case, why believe in Christianity and not other religions? They have interesting stories tooGod loves you / god will save you
Where was god during the opium wars? Nagasaki / Hiroshima, etcAll you need is god
No. See the bottom and work your way up
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@tour_operator @secondstrike Curious to your responses to his posts on Christianity.
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@tour_operator With all due respect, I’m going to have to disagree with the idea that it’s always the followers who make the religion look bad and never the religion itself.
Christianity may have easily avoided or at least minimized the amount of “bad Christians” had the religion itself not promoted so much violence and hatred within the bible.
But instead, it holds questionable passages that seem to promote misogyny (claiming that women are made by the bone of men rather than being made the same exact way as men were), slavery, violence, unusual and cruel punishments, etc…
Support of slavery:
You may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way. Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT
Various cruel/unusual punishments
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die. Deuteronomy 21:18-21
Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. 2 Kings 2:23-25 NIV
When men fight with one another, and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, then you shall cut off her hand. Deuteronomy 25:11-12
More here: http://www.salon.com/2014/05/31/11_kinds_of_bible_verses_christians_love_to_ignore_partner/
Not to mention the passages where their god decides to flood the world out of some strange temper tantrum and sparing only one person and his family and a slew of animals (Noah’s ark) or when he suddenly decided to kill off every firstborn son in Egypt. The man sounds even worst than Hitler and yet this is the god that Jews/Christians want to worship?
Even if there exists good Christians who cherry pick the nicer passages from the bible, Christianity still can’t claim to be a “peaceful” religion when the religion itself has so much violence and hatred. You can argue that the bad followers are what makes the religion look bad but it can also be argued that the “bad followers” are simply following some passages in the bible word for word, especially since various violent acts were already condoned by it.
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@secondstrike lol on the Christians. They’re the same ones who preach how “God loves all” yet racism and slavery was very much alive along the Bible Belt states.
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It’s a shame really because I’ve met a lot of white monks in the U.S. and tbh, I don’t think they’re practicing the faith correctly.
lol this wouldn’t be the first time. Remember dem “Christians” coming to save souls?
Hitting people, hitting on women, being hypocrites…it’s just part of their culture.
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@bugoutfever I found an old plugin [modified 2 years ago]. I rather not break the forum. Plugins have broken things in the past. I don’t think people mind. If you are still concerned, maybe show a snippet and put a link to the source for more?
[click to read more here / (url goes here) <--------- replace / with ]
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Why, then, is American Buddhism so white? In a podcast on the Secular Buddhist, Charles Prebish, a pioneering scholar in the field of American Buddhism, counters with the question “Why are Asian American Buddhists so invisible?”
Buddhism in America is “so white” because you have the likes of Angelina Jolie, Orlando Bloom, Richard Gear, Sharon Stone and a bunch of other celebrities and upperclass white people prancing around being proud that they are “different” from mainstream whites who follow Christianity (whites love being “different” for the sake of showing off).
On the flip side, unlike extremist religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam, Buddhists don’t typically force their children to follow their religion. So 1st gen/immigrant/refugee Asian Americans may hold onto Buddhism for a while but once they have kids, they don’t always reinforce it (which personally, I think is a shame because whether we like to admit it or not, religion encompasses a lot of our culture). As a result, the religion dies off by 2nd gen so you don’t see too many Buddhist Asian Americans around.
It’s a shame really because I’ve met a lot of white monks in the U.S. and tbh, I don’t think they’re practicing the faith correctly. As a Buddhist monk (well, at least for Zen, not sure about the other branches), you’re supposed to “give up everything” because everything in life is filled with suffering or will cause you to suffer. In other words, if you care about something too much, you will suffer because of it. That means giving up eating foods you love, sex, hobbies and other luxuries of life.
Well, I can’t even count how many times I’ve witnessed these white monks chatting up and flirting with girls like crazy.
On the other side, most of the Asian monks I’ve met have been very stoic and actually seem to be following the 8-fold path word for word.
