• Christian school teacher arrested for alleged sexual assault; more victims suspected
    (archived link)

• Christ the King bookkeeper gets 2 years in prison for embezzling church funds
    (archived link)

• Ex-teacher at Pope John XXIII High School is sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking upskirt photos of students
    (archived link)

• Pakistani religious body declares using VPN is against Islamic law

• Hate pastor renegs on promise to refund tithes

• Priest faces life imprisonment over third child sex offences conviction

• Church of England head resigns over handling of sex abuse scandal
    (archived link)

• Ohio pastor accused of raping a juvenile facing 6 felony counts
    (archived link)

• Televangelist Kenneth Copeland says people who didn’t vote for Trump will hear the names of aborted ‘babies’ for all eternity

   
Previously

  • @andros_rexEnglish
    2•1 month ago

    The picture is not of the Buddha. That’s a picture of Budai, who was a Buddhist monk and has a variety of religious traditions and worship associated with him. Fat Buddha =|= the Buddha.

    Some varieties of Buddhism are nontheistic, but not all varieties. There’s the “little wheel” versus the “big wheel.” Some varieties of Buddhism have hundreds of gods.

    Edit:

    I do see someone that looks like “the Buddha” in the background - that is, Siddhartha Gautama.

    But the idea that Buddhism is some rational atheist philosophy is very much a western gloss. Friend did a study abroad in Myanmar - the Buddha is so revered that having tattoos/casual iconography is sacrilegious and dangerous. A very popular form of Buddhism is “Pure Land” Buddhism, where the goal is to not necessarily reach nirvana, but to be good enough to get to chill in a nice place with the gods in your next life. Buddhist traditions tend to recognize their gods as trapped in samsara just as much as we are, but again, lay practice is going to treat various Buddhas as Demi-gods.

    • @UnderpantsWeevilEnglish
      1•1 month ago

      Fat Buddha =|= the Buddha.

      And icon to contemplate is very different than a god to worship.

      • @andros_rexEnglish
        1•1 month ago

        Budai/Hotai is worshipped though. He’s not treated as an “icon to contemplate” - in some traditions he’s even considered a messianic figure (the Maitreya Buddha) himself. That’s why there are statues and shrines.

        You are reading a lot of western understandings of religion into practices that are not western. The Alan Watts style of Buddhism is not the style of Buddhism that is practiced by the majority of Buddhists.