Buddhists don't feel left out

I've heard 2 different npr/pri reports this week about new products in the entertainment world, each of which is a treatise on the role, the negative role, of religion in the modern American cultural climate, and neither include Buddhists in their list of guilty parties. The first is the much ballyhood Bill Maher movie, Religulous. No doubt many of my fine readers have heard of this skewering of all things religious from Maher and the maker of Borat, Larry Charles. Apparently he also left out the Hindus, although I'm not sure how innocent they are with all the hubbub they regularly stir up with the Muslims. The 2nd just this evening on the Tavis Smiley show was an interview with Larry Beinhart about his new book Salvation Boulevard, a mystery thriller thing with lots of differently religious people, all except any Buddhists. I, for one, am pretty happy about all this. One thing, an important thing, that has attracted me to Buddhism is the reality that they don't seem to start as much trouble as the other religious groups. So far they have no apocalyptic war under their belt, and at worst are guilty of practicing non-violent passive resistence during various southereastern Asian conflicts. Hey, non-killing is one of the 5 Precepts, precepts which Buddhist seem to keep better- at least that one- than Xristians. Oo, that's a slap, but God-mongering Bush and Palin certainly both think God told them to attack other people. The Dalai Lama doesn't tend to espouse such things.

Food for thought.