Hey, I'd rather have Tulsi in a Reason Rally then in a SIF kirtan. I'd rather have her rub shoulders with critical thinkers then to associate her campaign and public image with butler. Even if it is a sham and or on some agenda pretext. At least outwardly it is promoting and supporting critical thinking and organizations that promote realistic agendas and objectives—as opposed to mythical ones.
I can understand the skeptics and we're all jaded on it here and can see though it all, but in light of where she could be taking things—this at least keeps her in a zone that is responsible. It is funny that she is so completely flexible in her stance on issues and ideals. It makes you really wonder how attached to the hip she is with butler. I mean, butler made a career of slamming these types of groups and various other institutions and beliefs. And now that he is old and living under pounds of tinfoil, how much are his personal views really changing? He is obviously not coming out and preaching anything new, so it's hard to tell what he believes and his stance on things. One can only assume and relate what his current beliefs are based on what his disciples, like Tusli, are reflecting and supporting. So, is it safe to assume that Butler's stance is now protective of science and atheism and religious tolerance (that all faiths have a place—not just krishnaism)? Is it safe to assume butler is pro-gay marriage and that maybe he is hiding his face because it would take too much energy to explain his sudden change of heart? Needless to say—it's confusing. Without an official statement from SIF it's up to the average person to speculate what butler really represents and stands for.
On a side noe, and back to the ISKCON abuses—having been in butler's illegal schools and having seen and endured the idiocy of the whole affair, I have to say that the biggest challenge was this superiority complex that most devotees have. We grew up being taught that we had something of eternal value and the rest of the world did. And that is one reason why this Tusli reason rally thing is really great in some respects. Because it sheds light on the fact that she is not touting her religion as superior or a better approach to spirituality or self reflection etc. And if she even mildly attempts to, the other speakers at reason rally will have a field day with it.
Lets rewind a few years. If I had been in butlers school being taught that all beliefs have a place and none are any more superior than the next in light of them being appropriate and unique to the practitioner, I'd have had a very different world view. If I had heard butlers lectures and they were about openness to all faiths and belief systems that promote compassion and kindness and ethics and morals, critical thinking—well, lets just say I would not have as much gripe with it all.
Instead, we grew up believing certain ideas and ideals. Many of those resulted in a crippled view of the world and what we stood for. In a school with no counselors to deal with mental breaks that students where having, all we had was butlers bigoted lectures and scriptural mythology as a guide to try to make sense of what was going on in ourselves and the world around us. This is a far cry from reason rally and support for rationalism.
In many ways, Tulsi represents the very chaos and confusion that the vedic scriptures claim the age of Kali to have. Here we have a self avowed hindu, swearing on the gita which condemns reason and logic as lesser (even domniac) approaches to ascertaining truth). Who supports gay marriage and equality even though her guru and own father made a campaign of opposing such lifestyle choices. She fought in a bogus bush-era war and now uses her military position to climb social ladders and yet denounces the BS reasons for said war. What's crazy, is that this double standard and back and forth (well, progressive, evolving stance, to be nice) is rarely reflected in the media as suspect or something to question.
But as a public figure—she is no doubt being perceived as promoting and standing by progressive values and evolving/unifying humanistic ideas.
On the topic of chaos and confusion. If you look up christ butler or siddhawarupananda—there is literally several dozen URLs that show up. They are all simple sites that have pleasant butler quotes and pictures. It's hard to know what's official and it also ends up making them look bad as if they are hiding something. How many sites do they really need? It's comic really.
I can understand the skeptics and we're all jaded on it here and can see though it all, but in light of where she could be taking things—this at least keeps her in a zone that is responsible. It is funny that she is so completely flexible in her stance on issues and ideals. It makes you really wonder how attached to the hip she is with butler. I mean, butler made a career of slamming these types of groups and various other institutions and beliefs. And now that he is old and living under pounds of tinfoil, how much are his personal views really changing? He is obviously not coming out and preaching anything new, so it's hard to tell what he believes and his stance on things. One can only assume and relate what his current beliefs are based on what his disciples, like Tusli, are reflecting and supporting. So, is it safe to assume that Butler's stance is now protective of science and atheism and religious tolerance (that all faiths have a place—not just krishnaism)? Is it safe to assume butler is pro-gay marriage and that maybe he is hiding his face because it would take too much energy to explain his sudden change of heart? Needless to say—it's confusing. Without an official statement from SIF it's up to the average person to speculate what butler really represents and stands for.
On a side noe, and back to the ISKCON abuses—having been in butler's illegal schools and having seen and endured the idiocy of the whole affair, I have to say that the biggest challenge was this superiority complex that most devotees have. We grew up being taught that we had something of eternal value and the rest of the world did. And that is one reason why this Tusli reason rally thing is really great in some respects. Because it sheds light on the fact that she is not touting her religion as superior or a better approach to spirituality or self reflection etc. And if she even mildly attempts to, the other speakers at reason rally will have a field day with it.
Lets rewind a few years. If I had been in butlers school being taught that all beliefs have a place and none are any more superior than the next in light of them being appropriate and unique to the practitioner, I'd have had a very different world view. If I had heard butlers lectures and they were about openness to all faiths and belief systems that promote compassion and kindness and ethics and morals, critical thinking—well, lets just say I would not have as much gripe with it all.
Instead, we grew up believing certain ideas and ideals. Many of those resulted in a crippled view of the world and what we stood for. In a school with no counselors to deal with mental breaks that students where having, all we had was butlers bigoted lectures and scriptural mythology as a guide to try to make sense of what was going on in ourselves and the world around us. This is a far cry from reason rally and support for rationalism.
In many ways, Tulsi represents the very chaos and confusion that the vedic scriptures claim the age of Kali to have. Here we have a self avowed hindu, swearing on the gita which condemns reason and logic as lesser (even domniac) approaches to ascertaining truth). Who supports gay marriage and equality even though her guru and own father made a campaign of opposing such lifestyle choices. She fought in a bogus bush-era war and now uses her military position to climb social ladders and yet denounces the BS reasons for said war. What's crazy, is that this double standard and back and forth (well, progressive, evolving stance, to be nice) is rarely reflected in the media as suspect or something to question.
But as a public figure—she is no doubt being perceived as promoting and standing by progressive values and evolving/unifying humanistic ideas.
On the topic of chaos and confusion. If you look up christ butler or siddhawarupananda—there is literally several dozen URLs that show up. They are all simple sites that have pleasant butler quotes and pictures. It's hard to know what's official and it also ends up making them look bad as if they are hiding something. How many sites do they really need? It's comic really.