[Buddha-l] Hinayana (was: Monk/nun or lay person)

[Franz Metcalf]

Gang,

Yesterday, Stefan Detrez asked Bruce Burrill,

> I guess we'll have to put the H word on the taboo list, then.
> Is that what you want?

I can't answer for Bruce, but my answer is, "of course." I can direct 
Stefan to a very long thread on this topic, during the first week of 
September, 2004. The subject line was "Hinayana." Check it out. The 
result of the debate? Mixed, but I'd say the best cases were made on 
the side of not using the word. Why on earth would anyone want to cling 
to using a term that does all the following?

1) refers to no actual lived religion tradition
2) confuses rhetoric with reality
3) intentionally insults sincere religious practitioners

And all this when the term can be easily replaced with others that not 
only don't hurt and anger reasonable people, but are also more accurate 
and specific! There's simply no defense for it (excepting the very 
limited use Bruce quoted Reggie Ray advocating).

Basta!

Franz Metcalf