[Buddha-l] Double-edged

[Richard Basham]

Appended are three polarized articles from my day. Each each has
elements of awareness as well as its lack and yet convey some relevance,
or so it seems to me. 

On a related note, I do expect more individuals will refuse to suffer
more of current governance and society. IMNSHO, a few will make the
penultimate complaint, the rest are more dangerous. 


Richard Basham 


http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ed20111124a1.html

EDITORIAL
Aum crimes remain misted
Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Tokyo High Court's death sentence
to former Aum Shinrikyo member Seiichi Endo for his involvement in two
indiscriminate sarin gas attacks carried out by the Aum cult — one in
Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, on June 27, 1994, and the other in five
trains on three subway lines in Tokyo on March 20, 1995.

...

People should not forget the possibility that, given the current social
and economic conditions in which young people see little hope, some may
be attracted by organizations that appear to offer an easy way out of
their difficulties while numbing their judgment with promises of
"salvation," "enlightenment," etc. Such organizations must be monitored
carefully.

**
 
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/rc20111127a1.html

READERS IN COUNCIL
The fruit of bad Buddhist habits
By NYUNT SHWE; Tokyo; Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011

I fully agree with the responsible and most appropriate warning in the
last paragraph of the Nov. 24 editorial, "Aum crimes remain misted":
"People should not forget the possibility that, given the current social
and economic conditions in which young people see little hope, some may
be attracted by organizations that appear to offer an easy way out of
their difficulties while numbing their judgment with promises of
'salvation,' 'enlightenment,' etc. Such organizations must be monitored
carefully."
I would even suggest retrials of some top Aum Shinrikyo leaders who are
now free and continuing their Aum teachings in disguise. They should be
locked up for life, if not executed outright. The state should disband
all Aum-related fake-religious organizations.
And a.ll Japanese people need to do some soul-searching. They should
study Buddhism in depth and correct the practices of Japanese monks,
such as drinking alcohol, playing games, committing adultery, keeping a
wife and family, operating a business, etc. I have full respect for
those Japanese monks who practice celibacy and meditation.

...

http://www.livescience.com/17299-atheists-religious-zealots-believers.html

Life's Extremes: Atheists vs. Believers
Date:Today 08:20 

Nature and nurture play roles in where a person ends up on this
spectrum. 

...