[Buddha-l] Was Buddhists Taking a Stand Against Isllamophobia

[Dan Lusthaus]

>> Joanne and Curt had it right.
>
> Both of them say many things. What in particular are you referring to?

Check the archives for their most recent comments on the topic.

>> The rest of you are trying to visualize a muslim-pure-land that has never 
>> existed and doesn't exist now.
>
> I would not characterize anything I have seen on Buddha-l in that way. 
> What I have seen is a simple appeal to mindfulness that nothing is served 
> by focusing on the fanaticism and destructiveness of one particular group 
> of human beings when there are destructive thoughts and actions 
> manifesting everywhere in the world.

This a common but ineffective tactic for neutralizing (aka denying) the 
facts, relativizing them to insignificance. The Sunday NYTimes had an 
interactive section called "The New World"
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/09/23/opinion/sunday/the-new-world.html?HP

which attempted, with a map and some discussion, to show how in the 
post-coldwar period, liquid borders (nations presently united becoming 
separate, or forming new subdivisions, etc.) are the new political dynamic. 
Of the eleven hotspots, eight are in the muslim world (the exceptions are 
Congo, Belgium, and Siberia). Pretending it's the same everywhere ("it" 
being the human condition) is a form of self-blindness.

> For those of us who do not live in the Muslim world, [...] might our time 
> not be better spent dealing with the forms of greed, hatred and delusion 
> that are making people suffer in our own neighborhoods?

This is not an either/or question. Do both. (those greedy corps. are 
probably already making deals -- or hoping to -- in that part of the world.) 
You can deal with the realities of the Muslim world now, or wait for them to 
complicate your local situation. E.g., to take what today might seem an 
unlikely situation, but in 10 years will be a major concern: the current 
university economic model is not working -- students incur too much debt, 
schools need too much money, which does not go to teachers' salaries, but to 
ever increasing bureaucratic bulge, which they will soon only be able to 
raise from donors, such as China, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi -- who have 
been chomping at the bit to bequeath endless $$ on many schools, the ones 
with some modicum of integrity left still resisting, but not for long; 
needless to say, the money comes with strings; many of the mosques in the US 
are funded by Wahhabi associations in Arabia, and many of the imams are 
trained in wahhabi theology. If that's not the case in your neighborhood 
(yet), consider yourself fortunate.

Or this sort of thing:
http://tinyurl.com/9vqqfh9

But one doesn't have to become alarmist, or wait to see how close it comes. 
The injustices already being inflicted elsewhere deserve attention and 
action.

Of course, if one has one's hands full dealing with local corporate 
shenanigans, fine. But then don't lecture others about what to think or do 
about international situations.

Dan