Because I Said So!
15 December, 2007 by Cittasamvaro
[ Getting a theological bashing in a cafe - all the ultimate proof you could ever need. ]
“Because I Said So” was the title of a recent movie, with ex-Gilmore Girls Lauren Graham, and it refers to a common mother’s ‘explanation’ of something when asked “why?“.
It must be in the mother’s handbook for childrearing - “why can’t I go to the party?”,
… “Because I said so!”.
Yesterday several of us were bible thumped in a restaurant. I think that proselytizing Christians take particular pity on a Western monk because we are not just ignorant and misguided, but have actually been subverted.
He knew his Bible and continually thumbed through it to find references; something he was good at. It was quickly obvious that the only justification he needed for any point of view, was that he could find a reference for it. If it was referenced, it was understood. It is true because it says it is true.
His training was impressive too. He had been to missionary school which had taught him a few basics of Buddhism and how to try and use that in converting people. Curiously, he had a list of statements of the Buddha’s that he could show/prove to be ‘wrong’. But if he agreed with a point in Buddhism, it was something “admitted” by the Buddha. For instance, the Buddha ‘admitted’ that he was not God, but was ‘wrong’ to demand people follow the precepts when plainly no one is capable of that. It was clear he had been taught these arguments systematically in both English and Thai, to arm him against quiet monks in cafes who are trying to partake in an innocent coffee. He was in attack mode.
The difference in the approaches of our religions was plain to see. Our group of three had been talking about how to train our minds, so that we can penetrate the truths we don’t yet understand. But for him the path was already completed - all the answers are given and all we have to do is beleive them. That is the only task God has given us. To him the ultimate truths are already revealed, and there is proof of this. It says so in the Bible. So it is not necessary to ask questions, the Bible has told us the answers already. “Because it says so, that’s why!”
Good luck to him.
Very impressive. It explained to me why he just came straight to attack a western man wearing bright orange ropes whose head’s shaved instead of the rest of us. Isn’t that such an obvious sign of a non believer? To my surprise he didn’t mention the ‘kalama sutta’, the sutta which signifies the teaching that is exempt from fanaticism, bigotry, dogmatism, and intolerance.
He was lucky enough that day….
One other difference is compassion for compassion’s sake. In my past experiences with Christianity (which were not bad, but just unfulfilling), I remember compassion being almost a commandment, when in Buddhism it’s something you come to realize through insight and such.
Just a thought.