[Pauldo]

Figured since Abe hasn't been very active lately I figure I could get a chance to post here.  12 of the last 20 posts under this section were started by Abe.  As if a large volume of posts and reply's gives one credibility.  What a weirdo!?

>>By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN

I am a big fan of the Dalai Lama. I love his trademark smile and I hate the fact that I missed his talks this week in New York City. But I cannot say either “Amen” or “Om” to the shopworn clichés that he trots out in the New York Times in “Many Faiths, One Truth.”

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/26/the-dalai-lama-is-wrong/?hpt=C2

[cosmicvibrations]

LOL at the sad attempt to provoke Abe. You must be missing something without him. 😉

[destroysound]

I don't think you can rationally state that all modern forms of religious expression are vehicles for compassion by any stretch of the imagination, but in general the problem is not people being too inclusive, but people behaving in the opposite manner as the Dalai Lama. Also, even Islam was originally built on a foundation of personal transformative experience. If you take an honest look at the history of religion you will probably find that it is typically the later fundamentalist distortions of religion that are responsible for intolerant behavior… however wildly popular these fundamentalist distortions may be in the world today, they are not the source of the religious tradition. If you want to act intolerant and exclusive, you can find justification for that in any religion, or just any old idea you choose to latch onto. If you want to be compassionate and loving, you can find justification for that too.

The Dalai Lama is affirming the essential decency of everyone by saying that all religions support compassionate behavior. He is being the change that he wants to see. It doesn't matter if that's actually true by whatever metric you choose to use or not (try to start out by defining exactly what “compassionate behavior” is). It's kinda a douche move to call him out on it.

[Pauldo]

LOL at the sad attempt to provoke Abe. You must be missing something without him. 😉

LOL at the sad attempt to read Pauldo's intentions.  I'm not looking to provoke him.  I hope he doesn't even respond to this.  I do hope he get's the point that a large volume of posting does not give one credibility.  I've been wanting to express this for awhile now.  I've been specifically annoyed how he jumps into every post to at least make some comment like “cool post Mr. Trancer”.  Like he's positioning himself as a leader.  Lame.   

[aktif]

I've been specifically annoyed how he jumps into every post to at least make some comment like “cool post Mr. Trancer”.  Like he's positioning himself as a leader.  Lame.   

This

[Machi]

I think Pauldo loves Abe and pisses him off that he chooses Jessica not him, that's all  ;D

[zensphere]

I've been specifically annoyed how he jumps into every post to at least make some comment like “cool post Mr. Trancer”.  Like he's positioning himself as a leader.  Lame.   

This

Cool post, bro…

[Machi]

ok, now, I see this thread as another one that has a lot of potential….too bad it will trigger all the bad emotions again before such a wonderful event coming up….

[aktif]

I've been specifically annoyed how he jumps into every post to at least make some comment like “cool post Mr. Trancer”.  Like he's positioning himself as a leader.  Lame.    

This

Cool post, bro…

Thanks for your comment on my post trancer

here is a picture of the coolest thing ever to win you over

[cosmicvibrations]

Ah well, the emotions will be at the event whether or not we talk about them here. Let's all embrace our darkness, right along with the abundant light. 😀 It can't ALL be morning trance, amirite?

(Derek jumps in: Yes it can.)

[Pauldo]

I think Pauldo loves Abe and pisses him off that he chooses Jessica not him, that's all  ;D

You think too much Machi.  I'm only into Polski's.  ;D

[zensphere]

I've been specifically annoyed how he jumps into every post to at least make some comment like “cool post Mr. Trancer”.  Like he's positioning himself as a leader.  Lame.    

This

Cool post, bro…

Thanks for your comment on my post trancer

here is a picture of the coolest thing ever to win you over

I like you!

[esmokah]

our old receptionist at work had a brick with her name embossed into it. if you can one up that we'll talk..

[Nameless One]

You really have to water down the different religions to derive a universal message of 'compassion.' Maybe he was thinking of preparing a homeopathic dilution of every religion… if that's the case then sure, you end up with the same shit in the end, but it's utterly contentless.

[Nameless One]

It's been a great week for vapid defenses of religion…at least for atheists, that is. It's been a sad week for the godly, given that their paladins are all such flabby purveyors of tepid tea.

First up, let us consider the Dalai Lama, revered all around the world because he's such a nice guy and is always smiling – and I agree that he is an awfully nice fellow, considering that he's the representative of a medieval theocracy. He has an op-ed in the NY Times, sadly, which reveals that behind his happy face is a bubble of confused cortex. Anthony Grayling has already dealt with the core of his argument, that the many faiths are all facets of one truth, which is ragingly dishonest. The only equality between them is their entirely comparable falsehood – while there are relatively few ways to answer a question correctly, there is endless diversity in error, and that's all we're seeing…swarms of priests vigorously asserting that their weird and substanceless take on the universe is the one truth. And no, you aren't going to arrive at the truth by splitting the difference between the inmates of an asylum.

I want to focus on one other assertion the Dalai Lama made. What is the central core of all religions? Compassion. I disagree, of course, since the religions I get hammered with day after day here in the US are all militant, evangelical, aggressively hegemonical faiths, and compassion isn't what you see if you are confronted by them. Even their putative compassionate outreach in such things as missionary work are often attempts at cultural conquest. That compassion business is just a tool to win over minds for the Lord/Prophet/Messiah/Cult.

But also…what is uniquely religious about compassion? I don't have to be a Muslim to give to the poor, I don't have to be a Christian to abstain from excess. You don't have to believe in ghosts to be kind, and what Tenzin Gyatso is doing is more of that hegemonical impulse – he's seen something he likes, so he rushes to land on it and plant the sacred flag of religion on it, declaring this the property of all the holy people of the world…without noticing all us pagans and infidels already occupying it. Lama go home! We don't need you, or your pious ilk!

From: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/05/oh_the_inanity_the_dalai_lama.php

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