Given the recent summit on Value Voters, and the crisis on Wall Street I thought it might be interesting to ask a non-Christian on what values informed his approach to the public square. I sent an email to Robert Thurman, a Progressive Revival blogger and Professor of Buddhism at
"The main Buddhist values would be compassion, tolerance, generosity, ethics and intelligent service of others. In this moment of total crisis caused by excessive selfishness and greed on the part of the excessively rich, who can find no satisfaction in it anyway, we should all be reflecting on how to bring altruistic concern for others out of the realm of suppressed impulses and into the center of our public life.
I know this is very slight, but perhaps it could be helpful for conservative Christians to realize that members of other traditions have these values at the center of their daily lives - though they may, at times, not live up to them that much better than any other religious persons.
Certainly exclusiveness, violence against others, callous disregard of the poor and downtrodden, intolerance of those of other faiths and ideologies, and so forth should find no place in the hearts and behaviors of followers of Jesus or Buddha or any of the other great spiritual teachers of humanity."
And let us all say - Amen.
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A Minnesota Prosperity Gospel church essentially endorsed a Republican who was running for Congress a couple of years ago. That drew down the ire of the IRS, and a full-scale investigation of the church is underway for its , um, "creative" accounting. That included buying the minister an airplane and then leasing it back from him for more than it cost.
Is that an indictment of all Christians and Christianity as a whole?
There are many "denominations" and centers of Buddhism in the US. Finding one in the whole country that was misused by political operatives is hardly a comment on the faith of nearly a billion people in the world.
Strange comments from Thurman, especially considering he's been spewing forth a lot of vile about Shugden community, where he's even referred to them as the "Taliban of Tibetan Buddhism."
I'm not a Shugden practioners, but I've been following the controversy from the beginning, so maybe it's time for him to practice what he teaches, but I wouldn't hold my breath... he's nothing more than an academic hack who wouldn't know the truth if it bit him in the butt.
The Buddha came from a warrior caste and was naturally brought into association with kings, princes and ministers. Despite His origin and association, He never resorted to the influence of political power to introduce His teaching, nor allowed His Teaching to be misused for gaining political power.
Lisa
Hedge Fund Jobs
There is much to be said for Buddhist values. Musashi attained enlightenment by killing sixty-three men in single combat.
With the exception of Paul, Elizabeth and Lisa all I see here is hatred. Where does hatred get us? Worry not what "Buddhists" and "Christians" are doing. Seek the Truth and try to love others, as Buddha and Jesus taught.
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