[Buddha-l] NYTimes.com: Let Us Pray for Wealth

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

L.S. Cousins schreef:
> Richard,
>
>> It is equally regrettable that many generally well-meaning followers of
>> non-Abrahamic religions cannot seem to focus on anything but the 
>> violence in
>> the history of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Not a few Buddhists I 
>> have
>> known seem to forget all about the Buddhist speech precepts when it 
>> comes to
>> talking about Christianity and Islam.
>
> There are obviously many good things and many bad things to be said 
> about Christianity. But this is not the place to talk about Christian 
> mysticism or Wilberforce and so on. But there is something good we can 
> say about Buddhism: it has a better track record in this area. Better, 
> not perfect. If this is acknowledged, then I will be happy not to 
> point the finger at the theistic religions. They can clean their own 
> stables. Statement of what is true is not a breach of speech precepts, 
> unless there is intention to hurt or divide.
>
That may be a matter of taste or bias. The question remains whether the repulsive actions of Christian Catholic missionaires are caused by the teaching, the theology, the organisation or the history. There was f.i. a missionair in India, Roberto de Nobili, who was quite impressed by the Indian culture. This made him not very populair in the Vatican. I get the impression that the arrogance of the Popes, a phenomenon which is still present was an important factor. It may also be an inheritence from the Roman empire. Augustine saw himself as the successor of the Roman emperors and he was the first pope to prosecute the heretics on a large scale. And things got worse after him. The overall policy of the popes was to call philosophy the housemaid of theology and burn their opponents at the stake. I think Ricci and Xavier were pretty arrogant basterds too.
Last summer I visited the museum of Pakse in Laos and saw an exhibition about the visit a Dutch merchant made to the king of Laos in the 17th century. Not a harsh word! The merchant gave the king some presents and the king promised to support the trade with the V.O.C. and they parted as good friends.

Erik

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