our wise Roshi once said...

NOTE FROM JUNDO: I AM LEAVING UP THE ARTICLE THAT AIKOKU QUOTES (THANK YOU FOR THAT, AIKOKU) JUST SO THAT PEOPLE CAN SEE THE CONTENT, WHICH I CONSIDER HATEFUL AND BIGOTED. I DO NOT WANT ANYONE TO MISUNDERSTAND WHY IT IS HERE.

" religions can be made into a very dangerous weapon"

paraphrased naturally... and I apologize Jundo roshi if I took it out of context....

but I wanted to share something I just found that I feel really demonstrates that saying

Let me stress that I do NOT believe this way, nore are these my words
.. allow me to set this up.

I am an American Mangaka " manga ( japanese comicbook) artist" and I sell hand made merchandise, like necklaces, and art prints on a site known as ETSY..a one shop stop for people looking for hand made art " think of it like a giant craft fair online 24/7...alot of lovely work.."

well, in their forums its no shock that the political situations in the U.S is a major deal...one thread that was set up for the republican members on etsy to join together and talk had a rather brutal twist when a certain member made a one time appearance and left something...

Quote:

---

" Times are scarry. We really need to pay attention this election year.


CAN MUSLIMS BE GOOD AMERICANS?


This is very interesting and we all need to read it
from start to Finish and send it on to anyone who will read
it. Maybe this is why our American Muslims are so quiet and
not speaking out about any atrocities. Can a good Muslim be
a good American? This question was forwarded to a friend
who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years. The following is
his reply:

Theologically - no . . . Because his allegiance is
to Allah, The moon God of Arabia



Religiously - no. . . Because no other religion is
accepted by His Allah except Islam (Quran, 2:256)(Koran)



Scripturally - no. . . Because his allegiance is to
the five Pillars of Islam and the Quran.



Geographically - no . Because his allegiance is to
Mecca , to which he turns in prayer five times a day.



Socially - no. . . Because his allegiance to Islam
forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews



Politically - no. . . Because he must submit to the
mullahs (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of
Israel and destruction of America , the great Satan.



Domestically - no. . Because he is instructed to
marry four Women and beat and scourge his wife when she
disobeys him (Quran 4:34)



Intellectually - no. . Because he cannot accept the
American Constitution since it is based on Biblical
principles and he believes the Bible to be corrupt.



Philosophically - no. . . Because Islam, Muhammad,
and the Quran does not allow freedom of religion and
expression. Democracy and Islam cannot co-exist. Every
Muslim government is either dictatorial or autocratic.



Spiritually - no. . . Because when we declare
'one nation under God,' the Christian's God is
loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as
Heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in The
Quran's 99 excellent names.

Therefore, after much study and deliberation....

Perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS
in this country. - - - They obviously cannot be both
'good' Muslims and good Americans.



Call it what you wish it's still the truth. You
had better believe it. The more who understand this, the
better it will be for our country and our future. The
religious war is bigger than we know or understand ..


And Barack Hussein Obama, a Muslim, wants to be our
President? You have GOT to be kidding! Wake up America !

Obama even says if he wins the election, he will be
sworn in on the Quran---not a Bible!

Footnote: He was sworn in on the Quran for his
current office and he refuses to pledge allegiance to the
United States or put his hand over his heart when the National
Anthem is played! The Muslims have said they will
destroy us from within. Hello! Having a Muslim president
would seem to fit the bill! Will you trust this man with
our national secrets?


SO FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.

THE MARINES WANT THIS TO ROLL ALL OVER THE U.S."

---

Without even hinting at my political standings.. and I beg for those here to keep this as nuteral as one can...I do wish to read this and wonder.. who is teaching things in such a way to inspire so much hate and distrust? I know every faith/non faith in the world has had it's zealots...but this just screams " weapon" to me.

And Barack Hussein Obama, a Muslim, wants to be our
President? You have GOT to be kidding! Wake up America !

Obama even says if he wins the election, he will be
sworn in on the Quran---not a Bible!

Footnote: He was sworn in on the Quran for his
current office and he refuses to pledge allegiance to the
United States or put his hand over his heart when the National
Anthem is played! The Muslims have said they will
destroy us from within. Hello! Having a Muslim president
would seem to fit the bill! Will you trust this man with
our national secrets?

Hi Aikoku,

It is a lie ... both about Mr. Obama and about most Muslims. If I reached into the Judeo-Christian Bible, or around the Buddhist Sutras for that matter, I could make a similar case. Even if true for some or many, it is not true for most ... who are just trying to get on with their lives, raise their families, follow what their view of diety instructs them. (Mr. Obama, if it matters, is not Muslim either).

Racist and bigoted propoganda, and I don't care who someone supports in this election. Disgusting.

So that the posting is not misunderstood, I would like to leave it up a day or two so people can see, then delete most of it. I hope you concur.

Gassho, Jundo

PS - Without any political endorsement (although I sure know who I am voting for), I found this on the web. I like it.

PPS - Don't "Roshi" or "Sensei" me. "Jundo" is fine.

http://thepeoplescube.com/images/Obama_buddha_335.gif

What did Joseph Goebbels say about repeating a lie? That's basically the Karl Rove tactic in politics.

it still shocks me every day that this mindset is so prevalent anymore, and saddens me greatly to even phantom the effects it has on the attacker, and one being attacked.. as again, I in NO WAY agree with this, or any such debasing of anyone or anything.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aikoku tora

it still shocks me every day that this mindset is so prevalent anymore, and saddens me greatly to even phantom the effects it has on the attacker, and one being attacked.. as again, I in NO WAY agree with this, or any such debasing of anyone or anything.

---

Hi.

Explain, please.

May the force be with you
Tb

Hate is a byproduct of ignorance, and fear. In the past it was used as a great tool of war, be it of the political- or spiritual nature...to sway others into your way of thinking through aggression, be it painting a rival as " less than human" or " abominations of ( insert deity name) "

King James the first was well known for recreating the bible in his words to install fear into the lower classes of eternal punishment for those who did not attend and pay higher taxes, or shares of crop to the church of the crown...to deepen his own pockets and ego....promising the jews a way to escape the inquisition by offering them an island to live on, and be safe, only to drop them off on a rocky island that would be swallowed by the next tide....

he was by far not the first, or the last to use such tactics... nor is it limited to a specific culture or era...

it was easier back then for these fears and lies to take root as truth to the general population..education was limited, if not made exclusive only to certain individuals...and even then the understanding of the world was limited to an isolated little patch of various encounters with others from other lands.

today we live in an era with an open source of information...exposed to various cultures and languages daily due to immigrations, tv, books, games, the internet... all of us know others of various human species, and cultures...all of us know atleast ONE word in a language not native to our own, own a item developed by a different culture, use a skill born from a different culture...

I myself, though born into a very old world Scottish clan system, in which my grandfather was the chieftain was raised to look just as deeply into the ways of other people, as I should my own...
I'm even known as " hakujin magomusuko" by my best friend growing up's grandmother.. who adopted me as a member of her clan, and family...treating me, and teaching me as if her own flesh and blood...her own culture, and language...sharing her life growing up in Nara and what she had learned from her elders...

However......the sad truth does eventually roar as it pushes itself to the forefront....With the vastly superior ways in which truth, and knowledge can be shared with everyone... so to can the words of destruction, and suffering, anguish, distrust and deceit...

I bring in the above comment because I felt it shows us just that.... that the lessons to hate, and distrust those that differ is still common...no, I do not agree with a single thing she said...As one who studied cultural anthropology for many years can point out SO MANY flaws in her " facts"


what saddens me is the simple fact that...unlike the generations before us, we have a much greater ability to look into anothers windows, and see life in various new ways...we have the better opportunity to actually understand what it is we are looking at...

many of us these days don't even bat an eye when we pass by daily examples of the worlds cultures.....

There are times I've gone to pick up my son from school... Im clad in a Black Yakata, white juban, black hakama...wearing traditional silk or streach tabi. and zori....and not once have I been asked why, or received an odd look....only questions are normally " Kendo?....Akido?"...,Juditsu? etc " from those who know the dress as something also common in a martial art they once took....or want to take....

take this situation and lets go back say.....even 30, 40 years, and the publics reactions would have been very different, many would have wondered why I was in pajama's

I know Im dragging this off alittle..so let me bring this around and let it finish it's point....

our ability to learn and experience the lives and cultures of others has never been more vast, and easily accessible to every man, woman , and child re4gardless of social class than it is now...

but sadly...the flip side to all of it, the ignorance, fear...they too have found new ways to spread...and that individuals still chose to cling to them.

So how do I respond to this type of propaganda with out breaking the precepts :lol:

Politics and its spin doctors of death sadden and worry me :cry:

I find that propaganda sad, simplistic, and ridiculously dualistic. The fact that people buy into it makes me sad. Can we add brains to our metta practice? Maybe just a sprinkle of wishing critical thinking on people?

it is sad, and seems that no matter how much is out there for us to learn to see the difference of truth, from hyped up conspiracy theories, and bigotry, there are still those who cannot, or perhaps refuse to make that distinction.. :cry: