a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment
bluFox  ·  3517 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: When progressives satirize themselves by accident

    You see a lot of similar stuff in the fetishization of eastern religions among college youth: embracing and appropriating cultural elements without an understanding of where they come from. I've seen white yoga instructors give lectures on Buddhism (not bothering to specify which branch, omitting all mention of Jainism, and emphasizing the elements of mysticism) to rooms full of only white participants. Then said participants repeat the few words they remember from the session afterwards, feeling a bit more spiritual and enlightened, but still ignorant of the tenants of those religions and regions.
Why is this bad?

I belong to the above said culture, and I celebrated Christmas for quite a number of years before I understood what it was about. As a kid growing in a normal household in India, we had the cross on our sacred place too (where it share the space along with a number of other idols), and the Bible was considered sacred, along with our own sacred books, even though it was deeply boring, and I could not get through more than a few pages -- much less understand what it was about. Were we wrong to do that without understanding what it meant, the differences (and similarities) between Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and also the sects in Christianity?

I would like to give the benefit of doubt to people who are using eastern religious symbols for harmless purposes. I don't see how it harms the cause of these religions (or the culture) if some one does not understand the subtle differences between the different religions (or even neglect to explain them to their audience if they do understand it).