This letter comes in from an irate British reader, whom we shall call "Mr. A," although his real name is George Jackson, 32A Milton Avenue, Houndslow, Middlesex, Telelphone 01 246 8047 (Monty Python's "Mouse Problem").
As the self-appointed Morality Police in Charge of Purity and Vice in Western Publications Alleging to be Buddhist, Mr. Jackson has a COMPLAINT:
Hey, this cartoon's inappropriate! Cancel it!
[Feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own comments, complaints, or compliments in the Comments Section below.]
The following are recent titles of articles published by Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal(wisdomquarterly.com):
"Chasing the Phallus," Bhutan (2022 doc)”
"Penis worship in US and Buddhist Bhutan"
"The Vagina Museum, England"
Chasing the Phallus video still (Bhutan, 2022)
In the first article, I disagree with the vulgarity of the photo attached. [It shows four Bhutanese Buddhist pieces of penis art, shown here].
In the second, I disagree with the vulgarity of the song [by American singer Kate Leah] it links to:
Vulgar: "10 Things I Hate About You"
TRIGGER WARNING: Ms. Leah utters an unacceptable expletive [F-word] referring to intercourse!
We say [Richard] all day long, but try to say
In the third, the article [about the world's first female-run, body-positive, pro-feminist "Vagina Museum"] references a "Femigani Workshop."
Here are some of the lines from that article: "Femigami specializes in hosting playful and thought-provoking workshops using the art of origami to create unconventional paper creations (including vaginas and penises)."
"Workshop attendees have ranged from 10 to 80 years old (no one is too young or old to enjoy making Femigami!)" I disagree with children being exposed to such [dangerous, vulgar, body-positive] content!
Gendered violence is wrong.
Another article, "10 Things I Hate About You" [new Kate Leah music video] references the Heath Ledger film 10 Things I Hate About You.]
In that film, violence against men and boys is trivialized; as a male victim of female-perpetrated violence, I disagree with the film being given any platform. [As a rom-com for teens, it should be canceled, banned, and removed from critics' Top 10 lists of popular American comedies!]
If these articles were, for example, simply a matter of disagreement on grounds such as religion (theism vs. atheism), or political persuasion (Democrat vs. Republican), etc. then I would not have an objection to having my own articles published by Wisdom Quarterly. [But I won't allow them the privilege of broadcasting my voice and views unless they take down these three articles. Otherwise, I would never allow them to print my ideas!]
In the examples I have raised, it is my moral objection to the subject matter (and the journal seeing fit to publish them or give them a platform) which has resulted in my firm decision [to never allow them to publish my words].
*DISCLAIMER: The characters and events depicted are entirely fictitious. Any similarity to names or incidents is entirely coincidental.
While we agree with "Mr. A" that these articles, or recent posts, are objectionable, we reason with him not to condemn Wisdom Quarterly for the decision to give these views a voice or platform. Unlike the openminded British, with their toplessPage 3 Girls in every publication exposing children and others to titillating nudity, we American Puritans are closeminded about venises, paginas, and violence directed at males by females. But these are hard realities, particularly in a patriarchy and insidiously sexist culture, as we in the West enjoy as our first world problems. We plead with Mr. A not to cancel his subscription or avert his gaze, but rather to look for the good in all. The women of England behind the "V Museum" are feminists attempting to humanize the female body and its procreative components so denigrated by our fatherly and male-centric mentalities, with the male gaze and voice colonizing our minds. As a privileged white male, it is admirable that Mr. A sees fit to speak up for the oppressed and take on the white man's burden of being upright, acting as the self-appointed Purity Police that finds fault with the rest of the world in general and us in particular, wayward post-British Americans on this side of the pond. We further hope that by bringing attention to these matters, a wave of complaint comments can be avoided, and that no other Letters to the Editor (addressed to Ms. Ashley Wells of the Ashley Wells Foundation) be forthcoming. What will Tricycle, Access to Insight, Shambhala, and America's paper of record The New York Times (to say nothing of The New Yorker) think of us now?
The Lost World of Tibet is an archival, BBC documentary. Om mani padme hum[translation: "Hail the jewel in the lotus"]. FREE TIBET NOW! Long live the pope-king, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in the holy land [of his feudal kingdom ruled by a "Vatican" of wealthy and powerful bishop-monks, rimpoches, in a Potala Palace in the capital of what was once a Himalayan empire extending from Mongolia to Bangladesh] surrounded by snow-capped mountains. O, Great Lama [of the Yellow Hat sect], you are the source of all benefit and happiness! May your lotus feet [as kissed by this supplicant calling himself DALAI LAMA 168], O, powerful Chenrezig, Tenzin Gyatso, remain in this world until samsara[all rebirth] ends
The New Tibet China 2014 Tibet: Freedom in Exile China has completed its imperial ambitions in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which is now a fully owned subsidiary of China, Inc., a Han Chinese capitalist (leadership)-communist (workforce) corporate entity with headquarters on Mars and the new Forbidden City within the Great Wall. We came, we saw, we conquered because our planet was ruined by some nuclear explosions.
Taboo-busting sex guide offers advice to Muslim women seeking fulfilling love lives The Muslimah Sex Manual: A Halal Guide to Mind Blowing Sex is praised for empowering women seeking fulfilling love lives.
It was a confession by a newlywed friend about her disastrous sex life that gave Umm Muladhat an idea for a groundbreaking book.
"Women's rights are human rights."
Published last week, The Muslimah Sex Manual: A Halal Guide to Mind Blowing Sex [halal is to Muslims what "kosher" is to Jews] is the first such guide written by a Muslim woman. The author has chosen to stay anonymous, using an alias.
Candid advice is offered on everything from kissing to cowgirl positions -- with the core message being that Muslim women can and should enjoy a varied sex life and take the lead in physical relationships.
While some critics have accused the author of fetishizing Muslim women and encouraging promiscuity, the book has been welcomed by readers who have lauded her as a Muslim Belle De Jour, bringing a taboo subject into the open:
“I’ve received encouraging feedback, but also a significant number of demeaning and disgusting messages,” said Muladhat.
“One woman said it’s not needed; they learn everything from their mothers. I doubt any mother speaks in as explicit detail as I have.
We know nothing of sex. These are accidents.
“I put an emphasis on having sex only with your spouse, but having the full range of sexual experiences with that spouse. Islamically, there’s an emphasis on enjoying physical relationships within the context of marriage, not just for procreation [like Catholicism dictates to its followers]. It is the wife’s right that her husband satisfy her sexually.”
Muslim women’s organizations have praised her, saying the book will empower Muslim women and protect them from entering into sexually abusive relationships. More
"Daddy"? Yuck! I don't want to marry a much older man! - But I already paid your dowry.
I am not sure about this book. Let us ban it in Saudi Arabia, home of the CIA's Wahhabism.
"It's all sextortion and revenge porn"The woman fighting cyber abuse in Pakistan: With women in Pakistan suffering increasingly lurid and dangerous forms of online harassment, Nighat Dad is leading the battle to make cyberspace safer.
Beliefnet.com (Interdependence Project, 9/16/09) The Buddha-Dharma -- despite there being religious organizations called "Buddhism" -- is not inherently a religion. It is a technique and way of living that is applicable to anyone, EVEN IF they choose to continue identifying with a religion.
The Buddhist way of being is one that fos-ters compassion, kind-ness, and cooperation. If a condition of being Buddhist is that you must forsake your religion (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or otherwise) for something called a "Buddhist religion," the chance of Buddhism spreading wide becomes exponentially slimmer. I would have sorely misunderstood what the Four Noble Truths mean.
Buddhism is a path to liberation from dissatisfaction (dukkha). It does not condone war or killing others on the way to liberation. Buddhists do not defend physical or mental territory with knives, guns, and bombs (or bows and arrows, as pictured here with a "lost tribe" in the Amazon jungle that does not want contact with the modern world). Although religions like Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and others all have beautiful teachings and have been engines of civilization at various points in history, each of them also succumbs to combat when their geography or beliefs are challenged.
There is a whiff of the primitive origins of religion that makes itself known whenever religious organzations (or governments claiming a divine right) kill other people for not believing in the spiritual or physical boundaries that they have drawn.
When I hear of wars being conducted with the blessing of Christ, or a Jewish God, or a Fatwah, or in the name of a Mormon divinity, I cannot help but picture a caveman with a stone in his hand standing outside his rock house bashing in the head of a threatening neighbor going "Me mine, no come here!"
Spiritual teachings that are truly based on compassion and interdependence -- that offer the tools to actually manifest compassion -- do not require guns, knives, and bombs. More>>
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