Oh regarding the Christian-style texts on the website:
i just received a very interesting email this morning:
Subject: Re: New Updates on 04 July 2004 (off-list)
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 00:24:01 +0700
Hi Henry,
You wrote:
> New updates on 04 July 2004
>
> Controversial Buddhist Traditions A - Z updated:
> - Panna Youth Centre
I had a look at your article on PYC. This group came to my
attention about a year ago when they started posting their
Harvest Newsletter to a Theravadin list that I was
moderating.
You correctly note that their language is more like that of
Evangelical Christianity than Buddhism. But this is more than
a
mere coincidence. I noticed one day that several of the
'scriptural verses' they quoted seemed very familiar.
Searching
Google I found that they had just taken some verses from one
of
St. Paul's Epistles and changed a few words to make them seem
vaguely Buddhist. With further searching I discovered that
nearly
everything in the Newsletter was plagiarised from Christian
websites with small changes (e.g. changing 'Jesus' to
'Buddha').
If you read any of their past newsletters, pick out a few key
phrases and search Google you will nearly always come to a
Christian article that is nearly identical. A couple of
examples:
Compare the "intercession prayer" here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheMonthlyHarvest/message/168
with the "prayer to conquer fear" here:
http://shaun99.freeservers.com/aprayer.htm
Compare Pst Jack Chia's article "Is Money Power?"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheMonthlyHarvest/message/128
with a Christian article, also called "Is Money Power?"
http://www.lasan.org/meditations/daily-bre...b-0%20(187).htm
Buddhist:
"Money is power." That principle drives most cultures of the
world. People scramble for wealth, often at the price of
personal
integrity, in order to gain the power to live where and how
they
want, drive the kind of vehicle they want, and get whatever
else
they want.
Christian:
"Money is power." That principle drives most cultures of the
world. People scramble for wealth, often at the price of
personal
integrity, in order to gain the power to live where and how
they
want, drive the kind of vehicle they want, and get whatever
else
they want.
Buddhist:
In a culture that worships money, we as believers in
Lord Buddha are in danger of doing the same if we are not
mindful. Some use their money to control their family, or
they
may threaten to stop giving to help those who need it if they
don't get their way.
Christian:
In a culture that worships money, believers in Jesus Christ
are
in danger of doing the same. Some use their money to control
their family, or they may threaten to stop giving to their
church
if they don't get their way.
Buddhist:
How unlike Buddha! He had power over disease, and He used it
to
minister the sick. He had power of concentration and
enlightenment, and He used it to remove fear and ignorance.
He
had power to Teach, and He taught for 45 years for the
goodwill
of all sentient beings. He had power over the universe, and
He
became the Teacher of all gods and men. He had power over His
own
life, yet He willingly dedicated His life to find the way to
Enlightenment to save all who would call upon Him and attain
Nibbanic Bliss.
Christian:
How unlike Jesus! He had power over disease, and He used it
to
heal the sick. He had power over the sea, and He used it to
remove fear. He had power to create, and He fed thousands. He
had
power over sin, and He forgave sinners. He had power over His
own
life, yet He willingly gave up His life to save all who would
call upon Him (Romans 10:13).
And so it goes on and on. The weirdest thing of all is that
even
the "personal testimonies" about people's conversions to
Buddhism
are also copied from Christian accounts of people being born
again!
This PYC is one incredibly kooky outfit. I've sometimes
found myself wondering if the whole thing isn't just some
kind
of sophomoric joke by these poly students.
Best wishes,
Dhammanando
