Monday, April 5, 2021

"Buddhist Nazis"? (The Conservative Buddhist)

Family Guy; The Conservative Buddhist, ZOOM EVENT REVIEW, Editors, Wisdom Quarterly
How could a Buddhist defend Hitler or Nazis? Could our propaganda history books be wrong?

Buddhist Culture Wars: Snowflakes to Alt-Right
The Snowflake Sanghas Zoom was a success. Three of the most surprising eviscerations by the two female/LGBT+ scholars, UCF Prof. Ann Gleig and researcher Brenna Artinger (who spoke to host Karin Meyers about their forthcoming paper), were the analyses of Jordan Peterson (general framing device) and:
  1. Hindu-Jewish former Buddhist monk and world traveler Jason Manu Rheaume,
  2. American Soto Zen priest Sensei Brad Warner (author of Hardcore Zen and teacher at Angel City Zen),
  3. Canadian Nazi and lay Buddhist meditation teacher Brian Ruhe (website Brian Ruhe: Canada's Highest Speaker of Truth).
Does tenure give one the right to question?
Fired college instructor Brian Ruhe was accused in the live chat of being a "Buddhist Nazi." Could there be such a thing?

Nazism is perhaps the most "conservative" of American values, it was pointed out, at least for regressive reactionaries and Capitol Riot types. But is it true, or is Ruhe being misunderstood and unnecessarily criticized?

Can Eric Dubay defend Hitler?
Ruhe seems to be saying some of the same things as Eric Dubay, an American expat in Buddhist Thailand who presents scientific evidence that NASA is lying, that the earth is not a globe but more like Hindu and Buddhist cosmology describe, and that Hitler is purposely being maligned by revisionist historians that have become mainstream traditionalist for reasons other than being a horrible dictator.
Jason Manu Rheaume on Facebook
Presenter Alliance for Bhikkhunis Pres. Brenna Artinger (FB)began her Zoom revelations by exposing Jason Manu Rheaume, critically reviewing his Facebook posts, articles, and public statements:

While claiming to be one-third Jewish according to DNA tests, Rheaume is a self-proclaimed "right wing Buddhist," a political conservative, a hardcore Trump enthusiast, a racist, and a white supremacist opposing Black Lives Matter and Critical Race Theory. Is he a dangerous thought leader, or might he just be an Internet troll attempting to trigger opponents for attention?

To foment controversy Rheaume interviews an eccentric American monk

The ACLU would defend the right of Nazis to march or exercise free speech, and many progressives and conservatives might not like that.

But do we not have an obligation to let public speakers have their say without prior restraint censorship? It's one thing not to want to hear them, but it's a whole other thing to not want anyone else to hear them.

Cancel culture is alive and well, and no one is safe in the dystopian brave new world of 1984. That means no one can question authority, the university gatekeepers, or government propaganda propping up our consensus reality.
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