[Buddha-l] NYTimes.com: Let Us Pray for Wealth

[Richard Hayes]

On Tuesday 06 November 2007 23:27, L.S. Cousins wrote:

> The problem for me here is that the kind of claim you are making
> seems to fly in the face of commonsense.

Yes, I hope so. I have very little confidence in common sense. That's perhaps 
what attracts me to the teachings of the Buddha. The sense those teachings 
make is not at all common, and most of them directly oppose common sense. 
When I apply those teachings to a large number of claims about history that 
are commonly believed, I notice the claims turn out to be quite shallow, 
sometimes even vacuous, and not infrequently potentially dangerous. I believe 
the nearly all the claims recently made about the so-called track records of 
theistic religions fall into those categories. They are certainly shallow, 
perhaps meaningless, and probably unnecessarily offensive and biased. 

The Buddha advised his followers to say not only what is true but also 
helpful. I do not think there is any truth to these "commonsense" claims 
about the allegedly poor track record of theistic religions, but even if 
there were some element of truth to them, how and to whom is it helpful to 
state those putative truths? 

> By trying to deny manifest 
> facts, you strengthen and reinforce prejudice.

The very issue in dispute is whether some of the claims being made here ARE 
manifest facts. I claim they are not and that presenting them as if they were 
is a manifestation of prejudice.

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico