[Buddha-l] Unpopular Buddhist

[R B Basham]

> ...
> Some highlights:
>
> "Putnam & Co. asked about Buddhists because, they had discovered,
Buddhists are one of the least popular religious groups in the
country. People like Buddhists less than they do atheists and
Mormons-and only slightly more than they do Muslims. Like
Muslims, Buddhists "do not have a place in what has come to be
called America's Judeo-Christian framework..."
>
> ...

Depends on one's reading and possibly intention, doesn't it? I noted
the following: 

Newsweek? "Lisa Miller is NEWSWEEK's religion editor and the author of
Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination With the Afterlife. Become a fan of
Lisa on Facebook."

"Three quarters of Americans said they would support a large Buddhist
temple in their community, but only 15 percent would explicitly welcome
one."

"Seventy percent of Americans support the rights of Muslims to build the
mosque, but 63 percent believe it would be inappropriate to actually
build it."

The images chosen to accompany the writing.


Then, curious as to how much 'science' was behind this 'poli-sci' plus
what was the data, I found bios 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_D._Putnam and
http://politicalscience.nd.edu/faculty/profiles/david-campbell/ though
not an answer to my questions. 

Anyways, I will say that imagining where to locate a house-of-worship,
community center, restaurant, parking lot, or office building in my
neighborhood or community would be controversial and at odds with our
attitudes toward that being 'okay'. And, without saying more, this area
is only partially developed. Yet, if the closest church (which is two
miles) did burn down, replacement by another faith would be less an
issue; the closest office building (which is 1.5 miles) could be
replaced without hassles.


Richard Basham