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brian
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| Location: | Chicago South Burbs, Illinois USA |
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| First Name: | brian | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | methodist, evangelical, anglican, catholic |
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Posted: Tue Jun 26th, 2007 03:44 pm |
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There was a free jazz concert downtown on Thursday that I wanted to go to. However, I found out that it is a series of concerts being run by a Buddhist group to promote their group and to promote world peace (I am of course not against this cause).
Is there anything I should consider in deciding to attend or not attend this event? Is it ok for some and not ok with others. I am respectful of Budhists and do not mind knowing them or dialoguing with them if I can, but I am easily made uncomfortable when in settings that I am unfamiliar with or my imagination plays tricks on me and I worry God would not want me to be supporting a Buddhist event, and my fears or anxieties as irrational as they may be could keep me from enjopying myself and maybe even produce some fear because I am out of my comfort zone downtown as well.
Here is a link to the event in case it helps show how religious this event is. I do not think it is religious at all, of course when I was a Baptist we used any event we could totry to appeal to people to convert to our religion, but I doubt that Buddhists would be as aggressive.
concert info http://homepage.mac.com/pamberk/PEACECONCERTS/2005peaceconcertschedule.html
group info http://www.sgi-usa.org/
The Preamble to the Charter of the Soka Gakkai International states:
"We believe that Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, a humanistic philosophy of infinite respect for the sanctity of life and all-encompassing compassion, enables individuals to cultivate and bring forth their inherent wisdom and, nurturing the creativity of the human spirit, to surmount the difficulties and crises facing humankind and realize a society of peaceful and prosperous coexistence."
Its the humanistic philosphy part that gets me upset there. I am all for the infinite respect of the sanctity of life and compassion and sharing beliefs like that but I hate to support a humanistic approach.
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mrsbmoo
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Virginia USA |
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| First Name: | Becky | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | former Methodist. RCA, Presbyterian, Holiness, Wesleyan... Catholic as of June ... |
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Posted: Tue Jun 26th, 2007 05:16 pm |
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| I guess if the concert itself is purely Jazz and not somehow "Buddhist" I would go ahead and attend. Would you not attend a purely secular concert because it was run by an atheist? It says no admission so you are not supporting them financially even. Yes, humanism can deny the supremacy of God but we are not exactly anti-human either and peace, respect for life and compassion are worthy virtues.
____________________
Becky
Wife of Michael(called Moo) and stay at home mom to 5 daughters between 7 months and 16
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David W. Emery
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Posted: Tue Jun 26th, 2007 05:53 pm |
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It’s the humanistic philosphy part that gets me upset there. I am all for the infinite respect of the sanctity of life and compassion and sharing beliefs like that, but I hate to support a humanistic approach.
You are probably thinking of “secular humanism,” which is a western philosophy of anti-religion, or at least of a substitute for religion. Oriental thought does not work in these categories. What a Buddhist means by “humanism” is more like what you and I would call “philanthropy.”
For the rest, I agree with Becky. So long as they are not advocating acts or policies which you would consider sinful, what harm do you see? Suppose the sponsor were a secular advocacy group; would you feel free to attend?
David
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brian
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Chicago South Burbs, Illinois USA |
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| First Name: | brian | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | methodist, evangelical, anglican, catholic |
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Posted: Tue Jun 26th, 2007 05:59 pm |
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You are both right I think. And I did have this thought about how many other things I support that are far worse. Like Holly wood any time I go to a movie and who knows what else we buy and where it comes from...
I guess the reason I was worried here was that it is of another religion in name. It would not bother me if I knew the group were Buddhist or the artists, but it is more that the event is being used to support the religion by name specifically or to furtther awareness of them. Am I showing support of the religion by enjoying their service to me as it is offered under a Buddhist cause?
Anyway, I think that it is probably a good idea to attendand maybe even will open an ecumenical dialogue with someone there or the person who invited me. I think JP II would probably have been willing to attend as he had many friendly relationships with on Christian groups. Any reason I should not be willing to learn more or attend other religious events just in the spirit of friendship? When would I draw a line? Can I visit a Mosque or synagogue to be friendly. I would think so, but at some point I would feel uncomfortable.
But what I am hearing is that the concert would be morally acceptable to attend.
Brian
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David W. Emery
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Posted: Tue Jun 26th, 2007 06:28 pm |
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Am I showing support of the religion by enjoying their service to me as it is offered under a Buddhist cause?
No. You eat food produced by people whose religion differs from yours; does it matter? You are interested in the food, not their beliefs. Anyway, technically Buddhism is not a religion. It is not involved with deities, spirits or souls, but simply with good and evil, suffering and peace. Even political ideologies could be considered fulfill that criterion.
Any reason I should not be willing to learn more or attend other religious events just in the spirit of friendship? When would I draw a line? Can I visit a Mosque or synagogue to be friendly. I would think so, but at some point I would feel uncomfortable.
When you start to feel uncomfortable, that’s the time to bow out. It would indicate that you feel you are beginning to compromise your own beliefs.
David
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vee12
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| Joined: | Mon Aug 13th, 2007 |
| Location: | Japan |
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| First Name: | vee12 | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Aug 13th, 2007 11:49 pm |
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I just came across this message so apologies for the late reply but
Soka Gakkai is not Buddhist they are a cult hiding behind the screen of Buddhism. I live in Japan so I know what Im talking about. My Japanese friends I ask about Soka Gakkai never consider them Buddhist. The sect of Buddhism they claim to belong to doesnt even consider them Buddhist. It is basically a cult of personality around the founder Daisuke Ikeda. I would say think of them along the lines that you would a Jehovas Witness or Scientologist dont be scared of them but dont give them any personal information on yourself either and be wary if its unavoidable to attend any event sponsored by them.
The cult expert Rick Ross has a site with tons of articles on SG and other cults for the pages on SG http://www.rickross.com/groups/gakkai.html
an article
http://www.rickross.com/reference/gakkai/gakkai19.html
and the wikipedia page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soka_Gakkai_International
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vee12
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Posted: Tue Aug 14th, 2007 12:28 am |
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Reading further I found you were invited! "...I think that it is probably a good idea to attendand maybe even will open an ecumenical dialogue with someone there or the person who invited me."
I would be very careful of the person who invited you as there is a chance they are trying to recruit you. Like I said before think of them like Scientology or Jehovas Witnesses and how you would respond to members of those groups if they approached you. I would say praying for them is the best thing, and avoid being invited to anything by this person.
I think you did the right thing in not attending the first time. A concert is not always just a concert. A so called Buddhist group is not always just a Buddhist group. I have stories from living here about near misses with so called Buddhist groups mine is a long story but involves me and a friend being invited to a so called Buddhist group's ceremony. Turns out they are a cult and I avoided entering the ceremony thanks to the intercession (I think) of St Michael the Archangel who I was wearing on a necklace that day. They wanted me to take the necklace off before entering which is a huge warning sign. My friend (differnt person to the previous story) was approached ( this was years ago) by her neighbor to attend a yoga class several times and was given literature related to that class also, but it turns out luckily my friend was always too busy to attend. Later she found out that the neighbor was a member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult which terrorized the Tokyo subway by planting sarin gas.
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brian
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Posted: Tue Aug 14th, 2007 02:47 am |
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Thanks for the info. I think I could have attended the event, because I would have slipped in and out anonymously and could have maybe spoken later to the person who invited me about religion. But, perhaps it was better that I did not, and now because of your warning I am likely to avoid future events this society runs. Their website seemed harmless enough though, and even commendable on some points. I wonder if I should ever bring up the topic eith the colleague that invited me, or just try to avoid it.
thanks again,
Brian
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vee12
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Posted: Wed Aug 15th, 2007 12:49 am |
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Yes their website looks harmless enough but remember even kittens have claws. The wikipedia page states SGI's alternate title as International Value-Creation Society. Sounds a bit Orwellian to me. Another thing is that rarely is anything in the public free. With tv and radio you still have ads so for a free concert sponsored by SG there must be some sort of promotion of themselves. Of course promoting peace and happiness how can that sound bad but Id rather say a rosary or chaplet of Divine Mercy. The "Buddhist" cult that invited my friend and I to take a look inside said that their goal was happiness too. Beneath that was a hatred of Catholics (one of them told us that!) and a restriction on allowing any religous articles or jewelry into the building.
If you want to try to talk to your coworker, or anyone, about Catholicism get a sacramental and wear it first. How obviously Catholic it is is up to you. I would say medals of saints are less obvious than a crucifix. Or you could also carry around a small rosary or something in your pocket or bag. I have a ten bead one in my purse but dont think of it as a good luck charm but rather as a way of making sure Mary notices me and keeps an eye on me. Kind of a spiritual cell phone. Plus it beats counting prayers on my fingers. These things serve as reminders to you to pray but also as signs to others of where you stand.
If you want to talk to someone how you go about it is up to your judgement of the situation. My life allowes for me to more sit back and wait for questions or situations to come to me, or sometimes I may be more blunt like nicely asking my fallen away family members to go to church with me. Some will some wont but Im nice about it and they know where I stand. I would suggest you read a bit about both the pros and cons or citicisms of SG and wait for your coworker to say something first.
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