Buddhophobia in Japan

Hat tip Gates of Vienna


Someone send this is to the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Center at UC Berkeley. A Saudi graduate student has been arrested in Tokyo after he went on a rampage attacking Buddhist statues at a downtown  temple.

http://gatesofvienna.net/2014/06/bamiyan-comes-to-japan/

Here is a timely anecdote: Just this week, I was asked by a young Saudi man why some people in the US don't want to learn about other religions. ( I took it to mean that that he was referring to Islam.) His English was limited, and I didn't want to go very deep into the conversation except to say that in the US, we believe in freedom of religion and respect for other religions. In the same conversation, he asked about people in Asia who don't believe in one God. "How can they believe that?" he asked. Again, I was not willing to delve into this except to say that we come from different parts of the world and subscribe to beliefs that go back thousands of years. I again stressed that their beliefs should also be respected.(There were Asians present, but they chose not to say anything.)

Respect is a two-way street.