tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post7488410052884900255..comments2024-01-23T16:25:46.293+13:00Comments on Canterbury Atheist: The Dalai Lama – Hail the Neo-Medieval Tibetan DictatorCanterbury Atheistshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09900223059660267657noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-59885611089815726612014-02-28T09:54:20.676+13:002014-02-28T09:54:20.676+13:00A respectful response to the blogger:
Sorry, but ...A respectful response to the blogger:<br /><br />Sorry, but you are asking people to believe you when you offer no evidence. You list off things you expect your readers to believe because you yourself believe them, not because you offer any credible backing for your claims. It's no different from the arrogance of a missionary who understands only too little about the cultures against which he preaches, and which he seeks to destroy. <br /><br />(this last fact is no small matter, since your unsubstantiated arguments have the effect of white-washing armed global hegemonies, without ever thinking about why or how.) <br /><br />The fact is, if you are going to make the kind of damaging and loaded cultural assertions which you do (some of which are justified, but much of which require far more faith than sight from your readers) you are going to need reliable references and citations. (No, it's not just a formality, it allows your readers to see how you are constructing your arguments, and what you are using to prepare them.) <br /><br />You provide no such citations nor any references (and no, other blogs are not citations... they are blogs. You could never reference them in a history paper.)<br /><br />That means you expect to be taken as credible while offering no basis for your claims. Creationsits do the same thing everyday. You might not believe in a god, but you certainly believe that your assumptions trump historical research. That reflects very poorly on your argument. <br /><br />As a secular humanist with no real love for Lamaism, I find your enthusiasm for cultural libel a discredit to secular rhetoric. Even your tone reads more fanatical than philosophical. <br /><br />Any good secular humanist knows that reliability trumps polemic, and you are basing your polemic on websites and blog-spots. The public library can offer much more substance for your discussion -that is, if you wish your polemic to be taken seriously. Talk to historians, curators, even religious figures with whom you might disagree. THAT is how research is done. (If you cant be bothered to do that, then why engage in the dishonest cultural libel that you have made such a priority?)<br /><br />Otherwise, you are just leveling a faith-based parable of a hot temper spring-boarding from a thinly-veiled edge of racist entitlement ("faith-based" because you assume your word is greater than the research it makes the effort to neglect.)<br /><br /><br />The crux of humanist arguments lies in rooting those arguments in reliable research, and understanding the limits and advantages of the frameworks employed in such research. If you won't make the effort to do that, you should not pose as an authority on the subject, and you should think twice bout assaulting other people's cultures. <br /><br />After all, New Zealand has a pretty checkered, and racially genocidal history. (See "The Great White Flood" By Anna Pattel-Gray, or "Genocide and Settler Society" by A. Dirk Moses... btw. these are "references."). Maybe you should channel your efforts at correcting the real imbalances in your world, rather than pretending to be an authority who must scrutinize them elsewhere. <br /><br />(FYI, research means being open to data that might contradict your arguments.. blogging is more about never having to question your assumptions.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-39021298581734158492010-12-17T06:34:51.256+13:002010-12-17T06:34:51.256+13:00Rightly said. Tibet was a medieval place and you m...Rightly said. Tibet was a medieval place and you might want to check out how the first DL was appointed in the first place. As a puppet emperor with divine powers by the Mongolians to stop the Tibetans from raiding their tea caravans and money. China was always prominent in Tibet until the country disintegrated in the early 20th century. I live in China and nothing disturbs me more than sitting in a hotel bar and being bothered by pissed drunk and obviously pretty wealthy Tibetan monks. Corruption amongst the divine elite has not disappeared and a return of the Hypocritical DL would not improve the lives of the Tibetans a single bit. As a matter of fact the theocratic reach of his clique will only strengthen. Just leave him sitting in India.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-59787635755016376642010-07-14T03:33:58.012+12:002010-07-14T03:33:58.012+12:00perfect symmetry paul! enjoy your fortune at this...perfect symmetry paul! enjoy your fortune at this incarnations blessing to be in new zealand! pala-jéAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-47034111266767011192010-07-14T03:31:36.687+12:002010-07-14T03:31:36.687+12:00dear paul, applause for your ´´perfect balance´´ t...dear paul, applause for your ´´perfect balance´´ there in new zealand. i think i palatonically-lov you! i ´´hope´´ that you find time to enjoy this precious incarnation and fortune at being a new zealander to enjoy the heaven sent bounty that appears to be your ´´karma!´´ philosophically yours! hahaaaa pala-jé<br />a.k.a paula jean kantpala-je´noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-49849295289858177552010-07-14T03:09:36.596+12:002010-07-14T03:09:36.596+12:00dear ´´paul´´ que perfect balance, i applaud the ...dear ´´paul´´ que perfect balance, i applaud the symmetry- the ´´hypocrisy´´ is bilateral in nature, one might spend much time dissecting the ´´hypocrisy´´ intellectually/philosophically multilaterally-but i bet it is fantastic there in new zealand today-and since time in ´´precious´´ hahaa physical ´´shell´´ is limited- although many lives to accomplish enlightend state and that ´´privilege´´-as new zealander, i applaud your precision, pala-je´palahttp://pala@palaterra.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-53514368520507641962010-03-17T08:43:19.107+13:002010-03-17T08:43:19.107+13:00This article is one of three I’ve researched on Ti...This article is one of three I’ve researched on Tibet – using mostly the books from the shelves of The Christchurch Public Library. The reason why I point this out is the information/history of Tibet is freely available to anyone who cares to ignore the rhetoric and sort fact from fiction. Nor am I an apologist for The Chinese administration which as a libertarian I despise with a passion. ‘The Man who would be King’ by Kipling is doubtless based part on the allure and mystery of Tibet targeting a Victorian English readership. I am sure someone could just as easily write a history of Tibet that ‘twinked-out’ the unpalatable bits such as sacrifices and skinning. I decided to focus on these instead. Thanks for your feedback. Paul.Canterbury Atheistshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09900223059660267657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-62448316393728847762010-03-15T03:38:58.834+13:002010-03-15T03:38:58.834+13:00Hi,
Thanks for making your investigations public, ...Hi,<br />Thanks for making your investigations public, It is always good to read both the sides of the argument. But I have two points to make.<br /><br />1. Human sacrifice is very prominent in most cultures. Please explain your reason to find it really shocking as you dont seem to have a very recent concrete evidence for this practise in Tibet.<br />the same can be said about serfdom, it existed everywhere. i mean EVERYWHERE.<br /><br />2. Isnt your talking about "sanitation, longevity etc" sounding a little bit like "White man's burden" (Kipling)? How do YOU know that that's what is good. <br />Thanks again, hoping to learn more about this argument.Sprynnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09188697428283704947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-39147954999409160152008-12-22T09:42:00.000+13:002008-12-22T09:42:00.000+13:00???????????Shocking!!!!!!!!!!!???????????<BR/>Shocking!!!!!!!!!!!Crochet Fun Hubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03174589998706373923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-41986163952625653182008-12-13T14:05:00.000+13:002008-12-13T14:05:00.000+13:00In a fairly amazing coincidence I stumbled upon a ...In a fairly amazing coincidence I stumbled upon a podcast on this very issue today: http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4111Josh Ourismanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15548385605742617379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-69044118367152651162008-12-12T15:00:00.000+13:002008-12-12T15:00:00.000+13:00and just in case the Dalai Lama ever denies his kn...and just in case the Dalai Lama ever denies his knowledge of the idea of having the plebs regard their terrible lives as a deserved consequence of past negative actions, here's a video and transcript of him actually saying it: <BR/><BR/>http://daserste.ndr.de/panorama/archiv/1997/erste6852.html<BR/><BR/>and here is the link to the google translated version:<BR/><BR/>http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://daserste.ndr.de/panorama/archiv/1997/erste6852.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwdr%2Bdalai%2Blama%2Bsieben%2Bjahre%26hl%3Den<BR/><BR/>This section here is the relevant bit, but it's a bad translation:<BR/> "A poor Tibetans had little reason to change its rich Gutsherrn to envy or anzufeinden, because he knew that all the seeds from his previous life reaps. We were simply happy." <BR/><BR/>A better translation is this:<BR/>"The poor tibetan had little reason to be jealous of or be angry with his rich feudal lord, because he knew that everybody is reaping the seeds sown in previous lives. We were simply happy."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-23816771149399988752008-12-12T14:44:00.000+13:002008-12-12T14:44:00.000+13:00And that man got the nobel peace price.Paul, pleas...And that man got the nobel peace price.<BR/>Paul, please keep investigating.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-61858065416977245342008-12-12T13:57:00.000+13:002008-12-12T13:57:00.000+13:00Gidday there,I am going to research the issue of t...Gidday there,<BR/><BR/>I am going to research the issue of the skinning further and gather more info on this, along with human sacrifices – so give me time to get to the library, search the net and send emails. This is a subject in itself. One thing I will say is we need to view even grim practices like this, against the brand of Buddhism adhered to. To sacrifice ones child to a living-God could be seen as furthering the victims chances at a better life next time round. <BR/><BR/>Robert Ekvall (American Missionary and Anthropologist) reported human sacrifices and he was in Tibet between 1923-1938.<BR/><BR/>Sir Charles Bell (traveled extensively 1905-1920 ish and published the first book on Tibetan language) reported seeing two children ‘slain for the purposes of a religious ritual’. <BR/><BR/>So one thing is for sure human-sacrifice were happening last century, how prevalent this practice was, I have yet to ascertain. <BR/><BR/>If anyone can add to the issues of human sacrifice in Tibet - then please add to this.<BR/><BR/>Cheers.<BR/><BR/>Paul.Canterbury Atheistshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09900223059660267657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-22794076552042246512008-12-12T12:21:00.000+13:002008-12-12T12:21:00.000+13:00I don't know about the children's skins either, bu...I don't know about the children's skins either, but I have also heard from Tibetans that much of what you are saying about the serfdom of Tibetans was true.<BR/><BR/>I can also attest from experience that the Dalai Lama has theocratically banned the practice of an well loved religious practice, and that its followers are persecuted. More and more evidence of this is coming to light. Check out: http://www.shugdensociety.info/newsEN.html and http://www.dorjeshugden.com/ and http://www.wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.blogspot.com for more about all this. <BR/><BR/>This persecution has been hidden for many years, and when practitioners first drew attention to it, they were vilified by press who could not understand that the Dalai Lama could behave this badly. However, that is now changing, and this year there has been a lot more press coverage to show the ban and persecution.<BR/><BR/>See http://www.westernshugdensociety.org/en/press/coverage/<BR/>for some of this coverage.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your article. Hope you find some of these references interesting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-39469576208540563222008-12-12T04:38:00.000+13:002008-12-12T04:38:00.000+13:00I find this post very intriguing, but I feel the n...I find this post very intriguing, but I feel the need for some references. A little bit of Googling hasn't revealed much except for people making similar claims without evidence. There are a few links provided in places, but all the ones I've found so far are dead. Wikipedia, of course, has nothing on the issue.<BR/><BR/>For example, that's clearly a picture of human skin, and almost definitely children's. But the picture provides no evidence that they were skinned alive, or even that they died of anything other than natural causes to be skinned later.<BR/><BR/>I'd very much like to read more about this though.Josh Ourismanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15548385605742617379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-78283144905964289452008-12-12T03:52:00.000+13:002008-12-12T03:52:00.000+13:00I agree that Tibet does not need to return to theo...I agree that Tibet does not need to return to theocracy. <BR/><BR/>But I have been there, and every Tibetan I met was very anxious to get rid of the Chinese...not only to regain a lost way of life, but to gain some measure of autonomy. Indeed, the Tibetan government in exile has committed to democracy if it ever returns to power, and I think enough of the Tibetans on the ground are into that that the government wouldn't be able to easily snatch it away. <BR/><BR/>In addition, Tibetans face plenty of oppression from the Chinese occupation. Again, I've seen it. Horrible things do happen under theocracy, but remember that China does have a powerful propaganda machine.<BR/><BR/>In short, I think it's a mistake to view any invading country as a liberator.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13620233743954190263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-52819404186930553442008-12-12T03:32:00.000+13:002008-12-12T03:32:00.000+13:00Not everyone is taken in by this imposter.http://w...Not everyone is taken in by this imposter.<BR/><BR/>http://wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html<BR/><BR/>http://www.wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.blogspot.com/<BR/><BR/>http://www.wisdombuddhadorjeshugden.blogspot.com/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5352263427762940860.post-47265110576546503442008-12-12T02:42:00.000+13:002008-12-12T02:42:00.000+13:00This is very interesting. Do you have any citation...This is very interesting. Do you have any citations or bibliography?<BR/><BR/>Thanks~Amandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06951287548964893818noreply@blogger.com