Man offended by Buddha statue at zoo - but it isn't Buddha

[proud2BlibKansan]

The statues of “Buddha” at the Kansas City Zoo that offended an Overland Park man are not images of Buddha at all, according to a local lama.

“I have seen them,” said Lama Chuck Stanford, executive and spiritual director of the Rime Buddhist Center. “They are statues of Ho Tai, the patron saint of children in China and Japan. He is closer to Santa Claus.”

The Overland Park man, whose family are Christians, complained to a zoo employee after he saw people rubbing the bellies and heads of the statues at the entrance to the Tiger Trail area of the zoo.

http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/981921.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[hobbit709]

1. Funny how they get offended

by the very things they do in their own religion. Worshipping "Christian" idols is OK but any other graven image is a big nono.

[MineralMan]

2. Perhaps the idiot would prefer this statue at the zoo

[Twinguard]

17. Yes!! Buddy Christ

The crucafix is wholly depressing.

:)

[Donnachaidh]

3. a smiling fat man is more offensive than a bloody body nailed to a cross?

REALLY? :sarcasm:

These whackjob christians need to have a braking system for their bigoted mouths. At least until the brain kicks in a bit - and perhaps can spare them the humiliation their comments bring on.

[Enrique]

4. damn Buddhists they're taking over the zoo!

:rofl:

[LostinVA]

5. I hate to tell him, but you can be Christian AND follow Buddhism with no conflict

Many priests and nuns included. Father Kennedy of Morning Star Zendo in NJ, is a highly respected and well known Zen Master.

Buddhism doesn't have to be followed as a religion, and the argument is that Siddhartha never meant it to be a religion but rather an ethical and spiritual path, which is how I myself follow it.

Uneducated morans.

I thought Ji-Zo was the protector of women and children?

[YOY]

31. Yeah LostInVA but I bet this guy's definition excludes Catholics as well.

Something each and every Catholic should be made known about the evangelical right.

I'm sure even a cool sounding open-minded priest like that might not be even considered Catholic by some of the more nutsy Catholics in this world.

[LostinVA]

42. He's the ex head of the Religious Education at St. Peter's College

And he was the Chaplain there for a long time. He's now retired from daily duties. He's written a couple interesting books.

Oh, I agree -- every Catholic needs to know that. I remember when I moved from NJ to NC to start college -- I was still technically Catholic then, and the things said to me?! They still believe that crazy stuff.

[MilesColtrane]

61. I thought he was a rapper.

[eridani]

71. Thomas Merton is SO going to hell too! n/t

[FreeState]

78. Hey thats how I follow it too...

I didn't realize you were on a similar path as me (Im modern Theravadan)... outside of the whole GLBT thing that is LOL:)

[Kalyke]

6. Here he is:

Now, why is that offensive?

[MineralMan]

10. Well, he's obese for one thing...

I don't even want to think about his index number. Secondly, he's half nekkid, and his boobies are showing. What kind of thing is that to put in front of childrens? Thirdly, he looks Chinese to me, and aren't we supposed to hate the Chinese or something.

Buddy Christ would be a much better choice.

[kenny blankenship]

30. He's raisin' the roof

clearly an invitation to "burn the muthafucka down". Why should good Christian children be exposed to that?

[Kalyke]

33. LOL!!

:rofl:

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. LOL

[tridim]

41. Either that, or he's waving his hands in the air, like he just don't care.

[lightningandsnow]

54. ...

:rofl:

[SIMPLYB1980]

56. LMAO!

:rofl:
That's the funniest thing I've read all day.

[Contrary1]

53. Looks more like a sumo wrestler in a droopy diaper...

I am definitely offended.

[MineralMan]

7. Or, since it is a zoo,

they could put in a diorama of a she-bear tearing a bunch of children limb from limb for teasing Elisha. That would fit into the zoo theme, I'd think.

[louis-t]

21. "Don't vote fer Elisha"

Moo.

[Jamastiene]

74. Don't give them any ideas.

They would DEFINITELY ENJOY THAT. They build these things called Hell Houses on Halloween. They get off on that stuff. It never ceases to amaze and perlplex me; the fundamentalist Christians and their violent fetishes. :eyes:

[bananas]

8. Can we get four more recs to put this on the greatest page?

Pleeease?

[meegbear]

9. OH MY GOD ... AN OPPOSING VIEWPOINT!!

Will SOMEONE think of the CHILDREN??!1?

[YOY]

11. Quote: "I wuz offended, cause if dey were crosses, ACLU wuld be all aginst it!"

Hilarious.

We need to stop calling these people Christians. They aren't. They do not follow the teachings of kindness, love, and charity.

[hedgehog]

23. First of all, that quote is not in the article. Second of all, the point made by the

supposed quote is accurate. If people were bowing before a crucifix posted in the zoo, someone would be trying to get the ACLU interested in a separation of powers case. Third, the entire situation illustrates the need to keep government out of the business of placing religious objects. How many of the people rubbing the belly of the statue respect and understand the teachings of the Buddha? The Thai government sharply restricts the purchase of any images of the Buddha by Westerners because we tend to treat these statues as decorative objects rather than as objects of reverence.

[YOY]

27. It wasn't a real quote. It was in jest.

Mocking the ignorance of the man. Nothing more.

[hedgehog]

32. Ironically, I believe your apocryphal Christian does have a valid point.

If posting of religious symbols constitutes government Establishment of a religion, then it doesn't matter whether the symbols are Christian, Buddhist or Wicking!

I'm against government posting of religious symbols because I feel it trivializes religion!

[Jamastiene]

76. Wicking?

What you got against candles?

[lildreamer316]

81. Did you mean Wiccan?

Color me either ignorant or confused.

[hedgehog]

88. Ooops! I did have Wiccan typed in there, but I let spell check change it!

[Telly Savalas]

98. I live in Kansas City and my taxes pay for that zoo.

That asshole lives in the burbs and mooches off the amenities that my tax dollars subsidize. What he thinks doesn't matter.

[Norrin Radd]

90. The statues are only sacred when an eye-opening ceremony

is performed upon them.

[LiberalEsto]

26. How about Khristians? nt

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

85. No. We need not.

And it doesn't matter what they put on their porridge, either.

[Coventina]

12. It's a common mistake. Many people think Ho Tai is Buddha.

Just due to ignorance. Since I teach Asian Art History, it's a mistake I'm constantly correcting in my classes. My students come out of my classes knowing what a "real" image of the Buddha looks like.

However, I'm sure the guy would have been offended anyway....

[TahitiNut]

16. "We are all our own Buddha."

;-)

[TahitiNut]

13. It's a fairly common error made by non-Buddhists ... it's called "the laughing Buddha."

It's also not the only Buddhist statuary that honors people who are thought to have been able to pass to Nirvana but chose to remain (i.e. Bodhisattvas).



If this story shows anything, it's that we could sure use more Bodhisattvas.
:shrug:

[DCKit]

14. Hush Xian! Your ignorance and prejudice are showing. WWJT(hink)? n/t

[GoddessOfGuinness]

15. Some call Ho Tai the "Laughing Buddha"...

I'm sure this would make no difference to the asshole who was offended. The statues were placed in an Asia exhibit at the zoo. I'm guessing the guy would have been thrilled to see Our Lady of the Bamboo ornamenting the exhibit.

[InternalDialogue]

18. When he drives by a cattle ranch, does he complain that it's an obscene Hindu ceremony? nt

[shireen]

19. Definition of Buddha

I think I understand their confusion, but think it's still a ridiculous thing to be offended about.

When most people think of Buddha, they're referring to Siddharta Gautama Buddha.

However, in Buddhism, anyone who has achieved enlightenment is referred to as a Buddha. Therefore, there are other historic figures who are referred to as "Buddha." There's a good overview of Buddhism at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism

Ho Tei is also known as the Laughing Buddha, hence their confusion.
More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai

[Canuckistanian]

20. How embarrassing

There's nothing worse than moral outrage based on sheer ignorance.

I'm sure he'll apologize profusely.

[Obamanaut]

22. I wonder if the guy was offended by the picture of the fundies laying

hands on the Wall Street bull a few weeks ago.

[MineralMan]

24. Were they trying to milk it?

[myrna minx]

25. It was more like Ba'al v2.0. n/t

[Obamanaut]

39. Not milking, but asking god to intercede in the financial crisis. The

CBN (christian broadcasting network) people were told to do this - I guess in some sort of vision or dream or flashback to their 70's misadventures. This link http://www.iproceed.com/blog/?p=871 has a picture and a quote from one of them.

[backscatter712]

57. Ah, yes...

[WI_DEM]

28. Typical uninformed Amerikan

[goodhue]

29. The complaint is ridiculous but note that although Ho Tai is not “the” Buddha, it is “a” Buddha

[TahitiNut]

34. "We are all our own Buddha."

:shrug:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

51. "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him." Zen Koan

[TahitiNut]

77. Exactly!

I was wondering if anyone would recognize the reference. Not surprising that YOU do, my friend. :fistbump:

(I'd guess you do well at Jeopardy, too.) :silly:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

83. I have a feeling that the guy squawking about Ho Tei was not seeking enlightenment.

And, I'm not at all surprised that you recognized, and understood, the Koan.

:fistbump:

I've been toting around a little wooden carving of Ho-Tei I got at a yard sale about 30 years ago. Amazing how that little fat guy can always give me a lift and a smile.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

36. I'm going to have to agree with the lama on this one.

it's like confusing Santa with Jesus.

[immoderate]

43. Santa Clause is god in a red suit.

--IMM

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

45. Sure.

And Buddha's the solemn guy who, if not skinny, is at least well proportioned.

[LostinVA]

44. Correct -- even "The" Buddha didn't believe he was "The" just "A"

Everyone can become a Buddha.

[Javaman]

35. ignorance is bliss. nt

[mainer]

38. The comments on the original article are hilarious

Esp. the one that says, "If he's so offended by foreign cultures, then we should take out all the foreign animals and just make it a zoo of Kansas animals. Then everyone could enjoy viewing the dogs, cats, horses, and cows."

[proud2BlibKansan]

55. I can't believe they forgot about the prairie dogs!

Must not be a native Kansan who left that comment. LOL


My favorite prairie dog story involves this very zoo. There was a rich man here in KC and his wife decided she wanted to donate animals to the zoo. So she hired a firm to go out to western Kansas and capture prairie dogs to add to the prairie dog town at the zoo. Only problem is they were a different breed of prairie dog than the ones in the zoo and the two breeds didn't exactly get along well.

So they bring in the shipment of new prairie dogs to the zoo and add them to the prairie dog exhibit. Next morning zookeepers described a bloodbath. The new prairie dogs had killed every single one of the prairie dogs who lived at prairie dog town and several of their own as well. Zookeepers had to work feverishly to cover up the carnage before the zoo opened, especially since prairie dog town was part of the children's zoo and was right next to a playground and across from the donkey rides.

Anyway shows you really shouldn't mess with mother nature. LOL

[Dukkha]

40. the family was then taken to the Lions pen for feeding time

typical uneducated christian with their phony outrage fueled by cultural ignorance.

[petronius]

46. In the strictest sense, I agree with this guy - religious iconography isn't an appropriate

design element in publicly funded space, no matter what the religion is. From a pure 'separation of church and state' perspective, I would view Buddhist statues the same as the 'Under God' motto or words in the pledge, prayers in Congress, or nativity scenes on state property.

On the other hand, religion is a major part of life and culture for many people, and there are plenty of ways for it to appear harmlessly in public space. So, I would no more object in practice to the statues than I do to the things above. However, I wouldn't say this guy is wrong or necessarily an asshole (or at least, no more an asshole than people who get upset over crosses and creches...)

[bigmonkey]

50. Speaking as a fellow who self-identifies as "mostly Buddhist"

I'd just like to chime in that it's a little strange to me that Buddha and Ho Tai statues are considered to be "design elements," although I'd guess that they were installed for that reason, not for religious reasons. I'm not mad, and I'm certainly not mad at you for your opinion, but my guess is that most Buddhists, out of respect, would actually prefer to keep these images and statues out of contexts like this. Crucifixes introduced as design elements would seem pretty odd to most Christian-raised folks, and Buddha and Ho Tai statues at the zoo seem a little disturbing to me, because of my familiarity with that tradition.

So, here's a religion-friendly poster who would prefer that religious images of any kind not be installed in public places, unless that were a respectful, inclusive space dedicated to sharing that type of thing.

Just saying. By the way, that atheist plaque from the Xmas season that caused the furor would be welcome in my imagined respectful space.

[petronius]

58. I wondered about that, but since I'm not Buddhist (no religion at all)

I didn't want to speculate about how Buddhists would view the decorative uses of their imagery.

My gut feeling sometimes is that the way a lot of things are used decoratively in our U.S. culture (e.g. 'tribal' tattoos, Pacific Islands statuary in island-style patio bars, and crucifixes worn as cleavage accessories), may be offensive to some, but they're not recognized as sacred because they're not sacred in our mainstream cultural tradition. Personally, I try to be careful about misusing such items (but at the same time I'm not going to get offended on another culture's behalf or tell someone of another faith that they should be offended).

I agree with you that respectful, open inclusion of religion (including atheist viewpoints) in public space is appropriate - it's silly (IMO) to try and structure our public landscape as if religion doesn't exist...

[goodhue]

52. Laughing Buddha is commonplace statuary all over the world, and not particularly religious

The guy is an asshole, and I get upset over crosses and creches.

[Beausoleil]

47. The bozo needs to read his bible

"And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire."
Matthew 18:9 (KJV)

Or maybe actually following the bible is hard work. Rather than resisting the temptations of the outside world, they'd rather have the outside world conform to them.

[mainer]

48. Would a statue of Apollo or Venus be as offensive?

We're talking about a statue of a pre-Christian figure. If Ho Tai is considered offensive, then wouldn't any of the ancient Egyptian and Roman/Greek gods also be offensive? Somehow, I don't think this man would be bothered by a statue of Venus. Maybe it's because Ho Tai is a far eastern figure, and he considers it foreign.

[Norrin Radd]

Good point.

[Pacifist Patriot]

94. It would depend on whether she was nekkid or not.

;)

[LeftHander]

49. Because of this story....That statue will be taken down.

A huge campaign will get underway by the likes of the "My way or the Highway" Christians.

Major donors will withhold funding. End of story.

[proud2BlibKansan]

59. Here's another article and a poll:

Overland Park man complains about zoo’s Buddha statues
By MATT CAMPBELL
The Kansas City Star

David Engle said he felt a chill down his spine Sunday on a visit with his family to the Kansas City Zoo

He could hardly believe it when he saw zoo visitors rubbing the heads and bellies of two large, smiling statues of Buddha at the entrance to the Tiger Trail area.

“We can’t have a cross or a nativity scene on public property,” said Engle of Overland Park, who complained to a zoo employee. “It is phenomenal to me that the zoo would put up Buddha statues.”

Engle, who said he and his family are Christians, said it was idolatry and “infuriating to God.”


more (and a poll - should the zoo remove the stautes?) http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/979947.html

[knitter4democracy]

92. Oh, good gravy.

He needs to get a life.

I'd bet he has at least one piece of Jesus artwork at home, so is that idolatry? Figurines of cats or puppies? Any artwork depicting anyone? I guess it's all idolatry if a statue at a zoo that people not of his faith like but not when it's in his home or at his church, right? Grrrr. "Christians" like this guy tick me off.

[proud2BlibKansan]

93. And of course today we have LTTEs in our local paper

discussing this nonsense instead of many other far more important topics.

[knitter4democracy]

96. Oh, sheesh. Don't they have anything better to do?

Well, I guess not. Humph.

[MilesColtrane]

60. They should set up a hot dog cart in front of the statue,...

...so that visitors can request 'One With Everything'. (even if it's not THE buddha)

[Shardik]

86. LOL! Thank you.

I had forgotten that one.

[Oak2004]

97. The hot dog stand belongs in front of a suitable Hindu statue.

In front of a Buddhist item you'd have to find some concession where you can order huh? with nothing.

If there is no mirror bright, where can the dust alight?

[crimsonblue]

62. Yay, that's my state.

God, I hate people.

[proud2BlibKansan]

63. You lucked out

It's MO. :)

[crimsonblue]

66. KC is still kansas. even the mizzery parts.

We worked it out: Missouri gets St Louis and Kansas gets KC.

[proud2BlibKansan]

67. Well thanks for letting me know

LOL

[crimsonblue]

69. oh, you didn't get the memo?

we voted on it last year, I think. You must have missed that meeting. :P

You know what I mean, though. To Kansans, KCMO is considered a part of Kansas (not just the slums of KCK).

[Terran]

79. Overland Park is in Kansas, not Missouri

It's a nice town, but at least I don't have to claim this idjit as a Missourian (we have *far* more than our share).

[proud2BlibKansan]

82. The zoo is in MO

[QueenOfCalifornia]

64. Is your area

of the country way more fucked up than the rest? It's like you post a new "raging idiot" story every day. Offended?.... I am offended that this guy has kids.

[proud2BlibKansan]

68. Must be

We've had a run of raging idiot events lately. Maybe it's the harsh winter weather. :)

[QueenOfCalifornia]

84. They DEMAND

THAT we all tolerate their form of delusional thinking but expose them for one second to another culture and they scream like fucking babies.

[sakabatou]

65. Aww those poor, poor fundies...

:rofl:

[yellowcanine]

70. That guy better stay off college campuses then. Typically the mascot statue is the subject of

rubbing for good luck on exams, etc.

[Jamastiene]

72. ALL YOUR BELLIES ARE BELONG TO US!

Me rub you long time. :rofl:

Some people get offended at the simplest, most innocent things. Those people are ENTIRELY too much. Those poor things must sprain their brains just waking up in the mornings.

[Ignis]

73. Overland Park Christian man: "They all look the same to me!"

:eyes:

[KansDem]

75. I have a Ho Tai statue!

My family brought it over from Hawaii in the 1954. I grew up with it as we kept it by the front door of the living room. During my late teens and early 20s, I would rub its belly for good luck as I started out on a date! ;)

It didn't work...:(

edited for proper preposition...

[lpbk2713]

80. Woops.

Never mind.



:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[proud2BlibKansan]

89. Perfect!

:rofl:

[1monster]

87. Ho Tei is the Chinese Happy God. I once had a Chinese doctor who had

a figurine of Ho Tei sitting in his office. I commented on it, knowing that he was the Happy God.

The Chinese doctor told me that Ho Tai was no God at all... just a priest who drank too much beer (apparently a happy drunk rather than a Happy God)...

[Lucian]

91. What a moran.

[Dorian Gray]

95. I get offended

by idiots. Like this Overland Park man.

[RagAss]

99. What a "Dick with Ears"....I bet he thinks he actually did something noble....n/t

[TheFarseer]

100. I nominate this for top 10 conservative idiots! n/t