[Buddha-l] Re: Panchen Lama

[curt]

Officially the Chinese Communist Party takes the, if you'll pardon the 
expression, "orthodox" Marxist view that Religion is a by-product of the 
class-struggle - specifically that it was invented by the ruling 
minority to bamboozle the oppressed majority (an awfully attractive 
hypothesis, in my opinion - but still awful, nevertheless). But there 
have always been leftists, socialists, communists, anarchists - even 
marxists, who have held that Religion, or possibly "spirituality", is 
compatible with a leftist analysis of human society. The most common 
case is leftist Christians, such as the late A.J. Muste (probably the 
true originator of the phrase "There is no way to peace - peace is the 
way.") Muste was a preacher and a social activist who got involved with 
working-class radical politics back in the 30's (he was the leader of 
one of the major industrial actions that eventually led to the formation 
of the CIO) - and he eventually, at least for a while, allied himself 
with far-left Trotskyist movement in the U.S. He later became on of the 
most important leaders of the antiwar movement during the Vietnam war, 
in part because he had credibility both with pacifists and with more 
hard-core leftist revolutionary types. Another example would be the 
Catholic Worker Movement, which is pretty openly socialistic.

- Curt

Steven Rhodes wrote:
> There's a more *fundamental* question here:  do Communists "believe" 
> in religion?
>
> Steve
>
>
> jkirk wrote:
>> Please explain why this question interests you---what is its point?
>>  
>> You must know that there are millions of communists and ex-communists 
>> in China today--which ones do you refer to? Government functionaries? 
>> ordinary people in Chengdu, for example?
>> Or are you trying to figure out why they picked a different (their 
>> own selection) Panchen Lama and why they are promoting him? If that 
>> is your concern, I can assure you that the official promotion of this 
>> Panchen Lama is purely political and does not necessarily signify 
>> that they "believe" in rebirth.     
>> Best wishes,
>> Joanna
>>
>>     ----- Original Message -----
>>     *From:* Ngawang Dorje <mailto:rahula_80 at yahoo.com>
>>     *To:* Buddhist discussion forum <mailto:buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
>>     *Sent:* Sunday, April 16, 2006 5:38 AM
>>     *Subject:* Re: [Buddha-l] Re: Panchen Lama
>>
>>     Hi,
>>      
>>     Let me rephrase my question. I thought I was understood. Do
>>     Communist hina believe in rebirth like Tibetan Buddhist do?
>>      
>>     Best wishes,
>>     Rahula
>>
>>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>