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

[jo]

On Behalf Of Richard P. Hayes
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 2:55 PM


On Mon, 2012-09-24 at 17:31 -0600, I wrote:

> ALBUQUERQUE (AP) ― A Buddhist stupa has been order removed from New 
> Mexico's Petroglyph National Monument.
> 
> The National Park Service said Monday that park service will remove 
> the religious item from the park this week after getting an opinion 
> from the Department of Interior's solicitor general. The solicitor 
> general ruled last month that keeping the Buddhist stupa violates the 
> Constitution on established religion.

Needless to say, I was delighted by this decision. A Buddhist stupa has no place in a national monument or on any other federal lands. When I heard this story reported on NPR, there was a further piece of information that I found deeply disturbing, namely, that the Department of Interior is still dithering about the plaques that fundamentalist Christians have placed in Grand Canyon National Park, informing visitors that the Grand Canyon was formed a few thousand years by Noah´s flood.
(It is not explained why Arizona was left with a deep canyon by the flood while Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas were left almost perfectly flat.) I have seen those plaques and was appalled that the National Park Service had allowed them to remain for almost thirty years. Apparently efforts to remove them have been met with vociferous outcries. For those who have the stomach to read it, here is a link from an offended Christian, who sees the efforts of the National Park Service to remove the signs as part of the government´s (and the ACLU´s) war on Christianity. 

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2003/07/28/God-grand-canyon

I especially love the reference in this piece to geological features named after Hindu gods, by which the author is undoubtedly referring to the Vishnu schist, the Brahma schist and the Rama schist. I saw no objection to the Bright Angel shale, however. I reckon we can eventually expect to see demands that the Hindu features be renamed the Jesus schist, the Paul schist and the Peter schist, to be known collectively as the Holy Schist. And just to be on the safe side, I think the Dox sandstone should be renamed the Orthodox sandstone.

If it is completely ridiculous claims one craves to see, there is no need to visit the mountains of Afghanistan or Pakistan. There are plenty to be found all over the United States. I wouldn´t be entirely surprised if even one or two Europeans have said something silly, but that is really just a Wilders guess on my part.

--
Richard Hayes
Department of Geological Theology
Universidad of Nuevo México

_______________________________________________
Hilarious--one of the better posts on this list seen in some time. 
I agree your point about putting religion--edifices or signage-- into federal lands --should be a no-no.

However, I wonder who imposed those Hindu deity names on parts of the Grand Canyon, and when. Was it done in conjunction with the famous Parliament of Religions confab in Chicago? Or maybe later, after the founding and success of Vedanta Societies around the states?

Joanna