the Dalai Lama

My amazing Lead-Pastor husband sent me this article he received via email after the Dalai Lama visited the northwest with Seeds of Compassion. He wanted to know my thoughts on the article, so my thoughts to Pastor follow. (You asked for it, Honey!)

Here's a link to Pastor Fuiten's article:


Dalai Lama: Seeds of "Compassion" or Seeds of Deception?



Here's my response to Pastor:

A couple thoughts:

1) The way the first half is written makes one think that the Dalai Lama has done nothing to help anyone in his country. I wonder if that is wholly true.
2) The author definitely paints an "us vs. them" picture of which I am always wary (cynical).
3) Assuming the article he sighted at the end is valid, that whole demon possession thing is really scary and should be of great concern.
4) I really didn't like the idea that he thought the Dali should be interrogated by the media - that's how his questioning sounded to me. I don't think the facts should be hidden by any means, but I also think we should treat him with respect - just like I would want the media to treat you with respect. Just think if the media came after you because you had these grand ideas of love and community within the church and the media came at you with an oh ya, show me the proof! What are you REALLY doing to make that happen attitude. I'm obviously reading in to the tone of the author's questioning, but it doesn't seem like a very big leap. I also don't expect that the Pope or Billy Graham or some Christian figure (icon) should get that kind of treatment either. On the other hand, like I said, that doesn't mean that I don't think that these issues should be researched....

5) Mostly me thinking beyond this article: I personally find this type of article unproductive and finger-pointing which I don't believe is necessary or Christian. Especially since Christians (read right-wing conservatives) don't really need any help in the intolerance arena. I suppose it's a fine line between making people aware of the facts as a gentle warning and defaming someone's name. To me, an article with this kind of tone would do two things: a) persuade conservative Christian's that the Dali is at worst the anti-Christ and at best a demon-possessed hypocrite. and b) persuade pre-Christians that here is even more proof (as if they needed it) that Conservative Christians are intolerant, war-loving, unreasonable idiots who can't see someone else's point of view.

What do you think?