The history of Haiti is more complicated in world history than Pat Robinson has indicated. It has less to do with voodoo and the devil than with real struggle, suffering, and poverty. James Dobbins, the special envoy to Haiti in the Clinton Administration wrote in the New York Times: "...the United States will give Baghdad 200 times more economic assistance than it will to Haiti, which is in much worse shape than Iraq even after the invasion." That fact will probably be true even after the earthquake. Ten Million people in Haiti today are cut off from basic supplies of food, water, medicine, or shelter. The earthquake buried Port-au-Prince, a city of three million people under rubble with huge numbers of deaths. For some who have voice and power in media, the dialogue should move from taking shots at Haiti to helping people out of a situation which in horrible.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
BASHING TIGER WOOD'S RELIGION
On "Fox News Sunday" (Jan. 3, 2010) Brit Hume called on Tiger Woods to switch from Buddhism to Christianity to obtain "forgiveness and redemption." Hume said:
"Whether he can recover as a person depends on his faith. He's said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.'"
In suggesting that Christianity is better than Buddhism, Brit Hume was obviously not thinking about the effect Christianity has had on the lives of Christian examples like Senator Larry Craig, Gov. Mark Sanford, Senator Strom Thurman, and President Bill Clinton. Congressman Newt Gingrich, who served his dying wife divorce papers while she was in the hospital, outed Brit Hume's son. Hume's son committed suicide. Newt, of course enjoyed broad support from the Christian right.
"Could Hume get away with saying something like that about Jewish people or black people or the Muslim Faith?" ask Kyle Lovette on TheReformedBuddhist.com. Lovette believes that Hume may get a pass on this one because Buddhist are only 3% to 4% of the population in the USA.
Hume may be ignorant about Buddhist teaching. Here is a Buddhist prayer:
[I pray], "O Endowed Transcendent Destroyer Vajrasattva, I myself and others request that you cleanse wrongs and hindrances from all sentient beings and purify every weakened and broken sacred word of honor." Having requested like this, from the HUM and the mantra-rosary in his heart shine out radiant lights, cleansing the wrongs and hindrances from all sentient beings, who come presenting offerings that delight the Awakened Beings and their spiritual sons. Every excellence of their body, speech and mind collects in the form of light and dissolves into the mantra-rasary and the HUM. From there a white stream of nectar flows pouring from the place of union of the Lord and consort. It enters through the pour aperture at the crown of my head, filling my whole body with a stream of nectar of pristine awareness. I become puri-fied by the cleansing of all evils and hindrances from my three doors.
"Through my ignorance and delusions I have transgressed and weakened my pledges. O my spiritual master, protectt me and be my refuge. Lord who holds the adamantine scepter, the embodiment of great compassion, the chief of beings, I go to you for refuge."
In answer Vajrasattva replies, "O child of my family, your wrongs nd hindrances and every broken and weakened commitment are cleansed and puri-fied." Having spoken thus, he dissolves into me and my three doors become inseparable from the perfect body, speech, and mind of Vajrasattva.
Cakrasamvara Tantra
"Whether he can recover as a person depends on his faith. He's said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.'"
In suggesting that Christianity is better than Buddhism, Brit Hume was obviously not thinking about the effect Christianity has had on the lives of Christian examples like Senator Larry Craig, Gov. Mark Sanford, Senator Strom Thurman, and President Bill Clinton. Congressman Newt Gingrich, who served his dying wife divorce papers while she was in the hospital, outed Brit Hume's son. Hume's son committed suicide. Newt, of course enjoyed broad support from the Christian right.
"Could Hume get away with saying something like that about Jewish people or black people or the Muslim Faith?" ask Kyle Lovette on TheReformedBuddhist.com. Lovette believes that Hume may get a pass on this one because Buddhist are only 3% to 4% of the population in the USA.
Hume may be ignorant about Buddhist teaching. Here is a Buddhist prayer:
[I pray], "O Endowed Transcendent Destroyer Vajrasattva, I myself and others request that you cleanse wrongs and hindrances from all sentient beings and purify every weakened and broken sacred word of honor." Having requested like this, from the HUM and the mantra-rosary in his heart shine out radiant lights, cleansing the wrongs and hindrances from all sentient beings, who come presenting offerings that delight the Awakened Beings and their spiritual sons. Every excellence of their body, speech and mind collects in the form of light and dissolves into the mantra-rasary and the HUM. From there a white stream of nectar flows pouring from the place of union of the Lord and consort. It enters through the pour aperture at the crown of my head, filling my whole body with a stream of nectar of pristine awareness. I become puri-fied by the cleansing of all evils and hindrances from my three doors.
"Through my ignorance and delusions I have transgressed and weakened my pledges. O my spiritual master, protectt me and be my refuge. Lord who holds the adamantine scepter, the embodiment of great compassion, the chief of beings, I go to you for refuge."
In answer Vajrasattva replies, "O child of my family, your wrongs nd hindrances and every broken and weakened commitment are cleansed and puri-fied." Having spoken thus, he dissolves into me and my three doors become inseparable from the perfect body, speech, and mind of Vajrasattva.
Cakrasamvara Tantra
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