Something I remember reading about when I was a teen, so many years ago - and it applies now

Back when I was younger I was reading a lot of books on Tibetan Buddhism (among other things) and came across something which still stands out to me today.

Forgive me for paraphrasing it all, but the lesson is the same:

A young man was traveling with his master and they came to a lake, the lake of many (spirit) flags (there is a lake there like this actually, beautiful place). The young man inquired about it all - how is it these people believe in the spirit of the lakes, when such, according to our teachings, do not exist? The student further wondered why his master and others paid homage to said spirits when they traveled there to trade.

"How is it you say they do not exist?" he asked his student.

"Well, our teachings do not mention such spirits, and it does not fit with the teachings of the Buddha." he replied.

The master smiled and replied to his young student "Indeed they do exist, for they exert an influence on the people of the lake. If you wish to trade with the people here you must respect them and their beliefs, because what they believe is an integral part of their life. To you and I such ideals seem strange, but to them it is a part of their life - thus the spirits are real. If you do not know and respect the cultures of others you will not get far in dealing with them. For they may well see our beliefs as silly and wrong yet they are willing to respect us and trade with us, should we not do the same?"

Somewhere in all of that there is a message we would all do well to heed.

I agree that is the way things should be

what if they believe the spirits are the only source of healing, and to mistrust the spirits by seeking outside help for sick children will bring on their wrath?

what if they believe the spirits want them to forcibly convert the world to their religion?

what if they believe the spirits laid down laws that say homosexuality should be punished?

what if the spirit teachings include the idea that slavery is acceptable?

what if the spirits claim that black people aren't fully human?

what if the spirits teach that the world will soon come to an end, making it all but impossible to convince the worshipers that they will pay a price for their rampant ecological destruction of the lakes?

what if the spirits were like the real world beliefs, and religions, that they are unrealistically supposed to be analogous to?

EDIT: to be clear, the body was added after the first response was posted to this.

Didn't see anything in the NT about all of that....

:thumbsup:

All I have to say is: holy shit, that's some weapons grade hypocrisy. I just want to sit here and point at you for a while, and hope a few people come to look. When you preach religious tolerance, you actually only mean your *own* religion. Or some subset of religions that you personally approve of.

Well, I don't tolerate the New Testament any more than I do the Koran. They both have been used for millennia as sources of, and justification for unfathomable evil. Your spirits are not nice, and never have been.

And even if you belong to a minor cult whose imaginary spirits are relatively benign, I will oppose them. To your face, and otherwise. I do *not* respect your belief in them. The capacity to believe in nonexistant sources of authority is one of the deepest wellsprings of tyranny and suffering in this fucked up world.

Or... "zing" if you prefer. You shameless hypocrites.

Really?

Wasn't the whole Jesus thing prophesied in the OT?

If you go to a country where all those horrible things happen you better show respect for them or suffer the consequences. They won't like you telling them they're wrong.

Somehow, I don't think that was supposed to be the moral of that actual fable, though it has much more basis in reality I readily admit.

It was about a couple of gay men and their trials and tribulations of trying to be together in the early 60's. I didn't even know what it meant to be gay, I barely knew about hetero sex, and I'm not sure why I kept reading it, but I did.

They were in their early twenties and one guy was from a very wealthy family, the other wasn't. They hung around the rich guy's manor a lot because the parents were frequently traveling and they had a confident in the older, "colored" maid.

And what she said is what I'll always remember, and it was a great lesson to me.

The guys were made to feel ashamed, made to hide, and suffered persecution, so she told them, "I figure with all the ugliness and hate in this world, wherever you can find a little more love, the Lord won't mind."

Amen.

How bad we are because we are not the exact same.

If we were all meant to be the same then God would have made us robots.

They seem compelled to instruct those not sharing their lack of belief.

There are predictions of future war stemming from their zeal for nihilism -- and of course to empower bigger badder banks.

.

Be well my religion-foe and anti-Republican friend.

May our sparring hone each of our skills for the betterment of us both and lead to a more perfect union.

:crazy:

what a wonderful world this would be.
Thanks for posting.

yourself to convert them to your belief system. Accept that there are other 'religions".

Sorry, Some things are absolutely Right or Wrong, "Culture" be damned.

is that the moral?