[Buddha-l] Batchelor

[Richard Hayes]

On May 17, 2010, at 1:44 PM, Alberto Todeschini wrote:

> Is this what he really says? I suspect that the vast majority of
> atheists spend no money and very little time ranting against religion.

It's hard to rant effectively these days without a blog site. To have a blog, one needs access to a computer and an internet connection, and those luxuries are not inexpensive. The days of going down to the local park and bellowing truths, platitudes and fantasies through a megaphone from atop a soapbox are just about over. Even buying a soapbox sturdy enough to support one's weight in this age of obesity is liable to put one into debt. And that's just the cost of ranting. Raving is even more costly.

> Incidentally, there have been calls from people like Dawkins for
> atheists to come out of the closet, precisely because they are well-nigh
> invisible in e.g. politics.

Dawkins is probably better at science than at giving workable political advice. Coming out of the closet as an atheist in the United States (anywhere outside of San Francisco) would lead to a very short political career. My advice to aspiring American politicians is to deny global warming, proclaim that peace is bad for business, call for strip mining in all national parks and nuclear power stations in all wildlife refuges, insist that all immigrants be deported (except for properly registered slaves), urge the police to stop all dark-skinned people and make them blow into a machine that can detect the levels of chile in the blood, and promise a cabinet position to Rush Limbaugh. For best effect, it's best to say all these things while lovingly fondling an assault rifle. In all other matters, best stay inside the closet. That's where all the most interesting people are anyway. (Oh, and Alberto, if you are thinking of a political career in this country, change your name to Albert Toodamnskinny or something that Americanos can relate to.)

Sarah Palin was in my town yesterday. She wore a skin-tight black leather outfit and designer eyeglasses and had her hair tied back in a fashionable pony tail (or perhaps it was a horse's ass). She urged the crowd to support tough immigration policies and to give generously to pro-life anti-government candidates who advocate abolishing all regulations restricting the ownership of guns. I'm guessing that since she is totally opposed to governments passing laws, she can't want governments to regulate immigration by passing laws, which means we'll all be needing our guns to form vigilante posses to chase all those Mexicans away before we go protecting life by shooting abortionists. (Erik, are you sure you don't need Sarah over there in Holland? Does Geert need a new wife?)

The more I see of this land of no buddha, the more feverish becomes my going for refuge. Trouble is, I'm not even sure a fleet of buddhas and bodhisattvas could save America at this stage. We've gone over the event horizon of a karmic black hole. The cockroaches shall inherit the earth.

cheerfully yours,
Richard