So, I'm a Buddhist now.

[dexeron]

"Gutei raised his finger whenever he was asked a question about Zen. A boy attendant began to imitate him in this way. When anyone asked the boy what his master had preached about, the boy would raise his finger.

Gutei heard about the boy's mischief. He seized him and cut off his finger. The boy cried and ran away. Gutei called and stopped him. When the boy turned his head to Gutei, Gutei raised up his own finger. In that instant the boy was enlightened."


And by enlightened, I think they meant: "realized just what a psychotic maniac his teacher really was." ;)

[Despanan]

[Rip]

Wow, I didn't think this thread could suck more D:

[Despanan]

[dexeron]

Hitch was much like Dawkins is today: brilliant in his chosen field, but not merely wrong in others, but actively harmful. Both of them (along with Harris) stand as perfect examples that being an atheist means nothing more than not believing in god. It doesn't mean anything about being immune to comforting lies, about being rational, or about being moral. In the case of Hitchens, it didn't prevent him from supporting policies that resulted in millions of deaths and continuing unrest and violence around the world. In the case of Dawkins and Harris, it hasn't stopped them from continuing to spout bullshit that is actively harmful to some of the most vulnerable among us.

[Despanan]

[Samurai]

Hitchens is, IMHO, a loon these days. And Dawkins appears to have forgotten that nearly-always-true aphorism about flies and vinegar. Attempting to understand and find common ground with one's enemies is proven to trend towards peace -- q.v. Northern Ireland and the impending end of the world's longest extant armed conflict, in Colombia. Engage, debate and reject arguments, fine -- but refusing to engage at all, at least with a movement's more moderate elements, rarely seems to be the right approach.

[Despanan]

Hitchens is dead these days.

[Despanan]

Unexpected side-effect of being religious: street preachers don't piss me off like they used to.

Like, I have to walk the "gauntlet of crazy" at the 42nd street subway station every day on the way to work. There's a tunnel that works like this:

Before the tunnel you have the Jehova's Witnesses. They sit there with their signs and smile, but don't say anything unless you engage them.

After the Jehova's witnesses, there's the church of Scientology. They hand out flyers and offer "free" "stress-tests" - they're probably the worst but rarely get up in your face so I rarely have to confront them.

After the $cilons there's usually a befuddled old white man, or old Korean Ladies handing out pamphlets titled "Don't receive the mark of the beast!" they just stand there and are easy to ignore.

Halfway down the tunnel is a Latin preacher who walks up and down yelling about Jesus and holding a bible. He's medium crazy. I have confronted him several times, usually if he said something particularly egregious, but he's not the worst offender.

All of this leads up to the real nutjobs: lines of signs about how you're going to hell. Chick Tracts, May 21st Judgement day people. This is where I've had enough and when they would get in my face, or stand in my way I would lay on the Blasphemy as thick as I could.

Anyway - Zealots gonna zeal. I find though that their shit is more "odd" or "funny" or "sad" now that I'm a Buddhist, where before it was sometimes rage-inducing. I think this is because I always felt a decent amount of social pressure to have a religion and these guys represented not only awful aspects of it, but they were a reminder of that pressure. Like there was some sort of hole of crazy you could get pulled into.

But now that the box is checked? Unless they do or say something really shitty, my commute is easier emotionally, and I can appreciate the days that they are replaced with a Peruvian pan flute band, or violinist, or even Hari Krishnas, since those guys are basically a musical act on their own.

[Samurai]