skippy. wrote on Apr 14^th, 2010 at 2:36pm:



Ever heard of Burma, skip?

skippy. wrote on Apr 14^th, 2010 at 3:02pm:



Computer sayz 'no'...


Many religions are practised in Burma. Religious edifices and orders have been in existence for many years. Festivals can be held on a grand scale. The Christian and Muslim populations do, however, face religious persecution and it is hard, if not impossible, for non-Buddhists to join the army or get government jobs, the main route to success in the country.[172] Such persecution and targeting of civilians is particularly notable in Eastern Burma, where over 3000 villages have been destroyed in the past ten years.[173][174][175] More than 200,000 Rohingya Muslims have settled in Bangladesh, to escape persecution, over the past 20 years

skippy. wrote on Apr 14^th, 2010 at 3:16pm:


No, I haven't noticed any of that. The Christian ( 4 % of the population)  are dominating the rest? Wow!  Must be with divine help, don't you think?


China, Japan, Vietnam, Burma and Thailand have the largest number of Buddhists. Not exctly a bunch of  hippies.

Quote:


China- an agnostic state, nup no Buddhist monks in charge there.
Japan- no, no Buddhist monks in charge there,Japan places very little importance on religion.
Vietnam, invaded by the Christian USA to keep out those bloody commos from China.mmmmmmmm.The USA failed and Vietnam has been under a regime since 1975, nup ,no Buddhist monks in charge there.
Burma, under a military coup since 1962, nup no monks in charge there.
Thailand,  very peaceful people( I lived there for 2 years) and see much more violence at the SCG on a Sunday,the Thais are a bit like the Italians, they like to change their government often, whilst living there I've seen 2 coups occur,and never felt threatened once. but again, no Buddhist monks in charge there, maybe they'll be next,then you can try and put your misjudged opinion to practice.

Soren wrote on Apr 14^th, 2010 at 11:52pm:

Sounds more like evangelists and Pentecostals... Except they perceive their mania to be evidence of a divine rapture and their depression as demonic torment.

Look at the history of western thought, art, literature, music and you will see a creativity unmatched by any other civilisation, ever. It leaves all of them, Buddhism included, in the dust.
Spiritually speaking, only neurotics and eccentrics dabble in Buddhism.

Soren wrote on Apr 13^th, 2010 at 3:20pm:


Actually they do to a large extent when they get into the last few years of High School. Theoretically the parents have the final say, but in practice, kids make the decisions on their education path depending on their interests.

Mozz - If you want to remove all that is irrational in teaching, then your target needs to be much broader than religion. You might consider English Literature for one.

The works of James Joyce should definitely be banned for being subversive. Let's add DH Lawrence and hmmm let's see - William Shakespeare - all that irrational stuff about star crossed lovers who commit suicide - sounds very subversive and dangerous to me. The next thing we'd know teenagers would be doing away with themselves.

In fact, let's take anything that provides insight into the human condition. Dangerous irrational creatures, these humans. We must avoid Christianity, and Hinduism and ....Art of any description.

Teaching kids about adults - now that's just downright disgusting.  J D Salinger can go on the bonfire straight away.

OK comrade, which books shall we permit in this Brave New World?

Dawkins?

No way. Have you seen what the suicide rate in Atheists is like? That's positively subversive stuff.

So at this stage, we're kinda on a parallel with the Khmer Rouge. Is that where you see your brave new world heading?

Soren wrote on Apr 15^th, 2010 at 10:01am:

Seems we're moving from bipolar disorders to eccentricity and neuroses in general.

Given most brilliant minds manifest eccentric behaviour, I don't think Buddhists will necessarily be too worried about being called eccentric. And, of course, some cultures cherish eccentricity, al la the English, the Scots and the Irish.

Many religious people are frankly neurotic if not severely disturbed and I'd bet you'd find far more dangerously disturbed Muslims and Christians (particularly among adult-age converts who have stumbled through life on the fringe) than Buddhists.