The truth is, regardless of the historical inequality and injustice Aaron Alexis suffered as a Blackman living in America, he was not a violent man, as the details of his ordinary life confirm.
Tag: racism
Buddhist Monks, Sunglasses & the UK Rightwing Press
The above article entitled ‘Buddhists Behaving Badly’ appeared on page 3 of the Tuesday edition dated the 18.6.13. Astonishingly, this story takes up around three quarters of a page. It is not an original, or even a new story, but rather a report lifted from Youtube. The story evolves around apparently high-ranking Thai Buddhist monks flying in private jets, and wearing designer sunglasses. It may or may not be a troubling story for Buddhists, but the Metro reporter responsible for the story – Nicole Le Marie – demonstrates no knowledge of either Buddhist or Thai culture.
Buddhism & Islamophobia
There are a number of Buddhist monks from Myanmar and Thailand, who are advising the lay people in their communities to attack and kill their fellow citizens who happen to be Muslim. A recent BBC Radio Four documentary investigating this phenomenon found that it was a minority of high ranking Buddhist masters (in Myanmar) who were responsible for this behaviour, and that the majority of masters did not agree, or had no opinion. This demonstrates that theses rogue masters are behaving in an unBuddhist manner and not only creating hellish karma for themselves, but also causing hellish karma for all those who unthinkingly follow their delusion without question.
Buddhism is a Philosophy of Non-Racism
These events have occurred in predominantly Theravada Buddhist countries, and have led to an intellectual climate which feels comfortable enough to routinely express sentiments of Islamophobia – an expression that legitimises itself by masquerading as a manifestation of Buddhist wisdom, when in reality it is nothing more than the product of greed, hatred, and delusion.
The Sun Newspaper: Right Wing Weapon
‘The middle-class, through the use of the Sun newspaper, turns the working-class against itself. It perpetuates hatred, racism, and envy, encouraging unjust action against blacks and ethnic minorities, as well as migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. It attacks the NHS and the Welfare State, pouring scorn and criticism upon those who are required to make use of their facilities and benefits. It once described a young woman defending herself against a baton wielding mounted police officer as ‘scum’, and routinely calls for the working-class to attack the very institutions that have been built-up over the years that were designed to assist the balancing of society.’
Ancient Astronauts – and the Search For History! (26.9.2012)
The loss of a one sided certainty has paved the way to an unbounded creativity that has led a number of thinkers to radically re-conceive history, and suggest – as Erich Van Daniken does – that human development upon the physical and psychological planes has not been the product of a straight forward Darwinian evolutionary process, but is rather the consequence of interference at the genetic level, carried out by technologically advanced alien civilisations who visited the planet Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago, and who, whilst finding human beings in a very primitive state of development, improved their DNA and bequeathed certain clues for the future development of advanced technology. Van Daniken expressed this ‘ancient astronaut’ theory in his 1968 book entitled ‘Chariots of the Gods – Was God an Astronaut?’ This book has sold millions and has been in print ever since with many reprints occurring in the early 21st century.