I can see why they would think that(I think they feel that way about a lot of born-with, genetic stuff?), although the idea that it is a punishment for bad behavior doesn't really imply transgendered people deserve a heck of a lot of sympathy.
Buddhism has a lot of that 'hate the sin, love the sinner' sort of sentiment going on.
Of course, Buddhism teaches that simply being female is the result of bad karma, placing the individual lower on the spiritual totem pole.
Buddhism has some really good ideas, but people who think it's the shit and is a philosophy rather than a religion do not, as far as I can tell, actually have a very good grasp on it. It's still a religion, still has a bunch of wacky mystical shit and is still quite deeply intolerant and misogynistic. They just do it thoughtfully.
Plus, for all of the good stuff it teaches, Chinese people and 'casual Buddhists' aren't any less hypocritical than christians are.
I do think that philosophically, Buddhism has a lot more good to teach the average person than the vast majority of major religions. In fact, it had a lot of insight into the mind before psychology was a science, and although there have been philosophers of the mind for a very long time, Buddhism was probably the first to teach many of those principles to the masses.
I think, as far as religions go, you could worse. Even if it carries some old outmoded ideas.
Though I guess one could argue that Western philosophy and science also rose out of Christianity, and is, if not responsible, certainly influential on positive things such as laws, morals and general organization of society. The Bible is of course horribly outdated today, but it had some very good advice in it for its time, including what food you shouldn't eat because of disease risks and not cross-contaminating your crops and the whole love thy neighbour. The people we'd consider the scientists of that era were naturally going to be Buddhists because everyone was, some of their good ideas seeped into the religion and into society along with the baggage, etc.
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I can see why they would think that(I think they feel that way about a lot of born-with, genetic stuff?), although the idea that it is a punishment for bad behavior doesn't really imply transgendered people deserve a heck of a lot of sympathy.
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Of course, Buddhism teaches that simply being female is the result of bad karma, placing the individual lower on the spiritual totem pole.
Buddhism has some really good ideas, but people who think it's the shit and is a philosophy rather than a religion do not, as far as I can tell, actually have a very good grasp on it. It's still a religion, still has a bunch of wacky mystical shit and is still quite deeply intolerant and misogynistic. They just do it thoughtfully.
Reply
I do think that philosophically, Buddhism has a lot more good to teach the average person than the vast majority of major religions. In fact, it had a lot of insight into the mind before psychology was a science, and although there have been philosophers of the mind for a very long time, Buddhism was probably the first to teach many of those principles to the masses.
I think, as far as religions go, you could worse. Even if it carries some old outmoded ideas.
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