[Buddha-l] Buddhist stupa to be moved from NM Petroglyph Park

[Richard Hayes]

On Oct 1, 2012, at 8:45 PM, Christopher Fynn <chris.fynn at gmail.com> wrote:

> Was this stupa already there when the NPS acquired the land?

Yes, it was. The land was acquired by the National Park Service in 1990, at which time the NPS purchased the stupa as well. There is an organization called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) that demanded that the stupa be removed. PEER was originally formed to protect whistle-blowers in government service, especially public employees who leak information about government projects that damage the environment. 

> If so, what is the harm in keeping it there?

It's a remarkably ugly stupa. It's an eyesore that clashes with the terrain in Petroglyph National Monument (but not as much as the highway that goes through it and not much more than the vault toilets that the Park Service puts everywhere). 

The only reason I have seen for why PEER petitioned for the removal of the stupa is that having a religious structure that is used as such by a religious community is a violation of the principle of separation of church and state.

The Buddhist community has not voiced any protest whatsoever. A Tibetan lama deconsecrated the structure. It will be moved to a Buddhist temple in Albuquerque. The cost of the removal will be defrayed by US dollars that bear the sacred mantra "In God we trust."

Richard Hayes