want less crime?

[ashby]

It would be possible if we taught some of the basic principles of buddhism in primary/elementary education we could theorectically begin to remove a lot of crime and violence in a society over time.

How?

By the increasing number of people who are more aware of the techniques to deal with their: anger, jealousy and stress. All of which are major precursors to a lot of crime and violence.

What do you think?


I reckon it could work.

[Pekka]

There is a reason for stress. THat should be reduced by looking at the factors creating stress and attacking those. Anger is natural. Principles of Buddhism. What's wrong with teaching kids to be tolerant and respect other people and their property and way of life? Teaching buddhims makes no difference to the kids who won't learn those basic values any better.

Want less crime? Raise the reasons to be happy. That means, build up the living conditions everywhere. Better life, no reason to do crimes, less hate and anger, less conflicts, and definitely less mental problems.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I'm all up for teaching them the Nyingmapa tradition of Buddhism. Get them spending the night in graveyards, sitting on decomposing corpses, playing with bones and eating raw meat, etc.

[Dr Strangelove]

In the US I'm pretty sure that the Supreme Court would be forced to forbid teaching the Buddhist religion in public schools for the same reason it forbids the teaching of Christianity. For that matter Christianity minus the politicking of certain groups is a pretty pacifist religion and as a bonus does not religate women to the status of animals.

[Az]

Hey, I have an even better idea! Let's teach scientology in schools! It will also relieve much of stresses of modern life, and will make students become intersted in the topics of their education.

[Pekka]

I for one vote for Hinduism, but then again McDonalds would pretty much torpedo that idea.

[aneeshm]

@ Pekka

Hinduism's anti-meat bent is a very recent ( historically ) phenomenon . There are instances in the original texts that cows were slaughtered when you entertained a guest of high stature , and that yu should eat the cow [i]because[[i] it is sacred .

In the coastal regions , Hidnuism has adopted , and there is no provision restricting the eating of seafood .

The anti-meat idea was introduced to prevent farmers from killing and eating their assets ( remember , in those agrarian days , cows and bulls were assets that are akin ot the tractors , harvertors , and other farm equipment of today ) , and thus being left destitute/landless/equipmentless when the famine ended .

So Mc Conalds might love the idea , if followed in it's original form - imagine having your fast food labeled sacred . I don't think the Hindu fundies would stand for such an ad campaign , though .

[Zkribbler]

Re: want less crime?

In the U.S., we cannot advocate Buddhism qua Buddhism in the classrooms of public schools because it would be a governmental endorsement of religion.

Originally posted by ashby
By the increasing number of people who are more aware of the techniques to deal with their: anger, jealousy and stress. All of which are major precursors to a lot of crime and violence.

But teaching techniques to deal with anger, jealousy and stress? Most certainly. In fact, these techniques should be taught.

Right now, the only way children are taught to deal with problems is through sitcoms (insult the other guy) or action movies (blow them up).

[Kuciwalker]

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by aneeshm
@ Pekka

Hinduism's anti-meat bent is a very recent ( historically ) phenomenon . There are instances in the original texts that cows were slaughtered when you entertained a guest of high stature , and that yu should eat the cow [i]because[[i] it is sacred .

In the coastal regions , Hidnuism has adopted , and there is no provision restricting the eating of seafood .

The anti-meat idea was introduced to prevent farmers from killing and eating their assets ( remember , in those agrarian days , cows and bulls were assets that are akin ot the tractors , harvertors , and other farm equipment of today ) , and thus being left destitute/landless/equipmentless when the famine ended .

So Mc Conalds might love the idea , if followed in it's original form - imagine having your fast food labeled sacred . I don't think the Hindu fundies would stand for such an ad campaign , though .

I thought that the prohibition against eating meat started with the Buddhists and was incorporated into Hinduism in response to the growing popularity of Buddhism.

[MRT144]

i was hoping the answer was "kill more people"

[Pekka]

aneeshm, thanks for the lesson. I didn't know any of this stuff. Learn something every day.. .. I still claim MCDonalds would not love the idea.

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove


I thought that the prohibition against eating meat started with the Buddhists and was incorporated into Hinduism in response to the growing popularity of Buddhism.

That may have been one of the reasons . AFAIK , recurrent famine , and subsequent destitution was the chief cause .

Let us not forget that Hinduism has existed as an idea almost continuously from the dawn of Indian civilisation , and that at the time of its founding , vast stretches of southern India were virgin jungles , with no dearth of land , thus no problems with eating resource-intensive food like cows and other meat .

The pioneers and colonists who first settled the forests had to subsist on forage and meat - there was no way the jungle would allow farming unless it was cleared from within a sufficiently large area .

The tradition of offering wood and food on a sacrificial fire evolved from the practice of clearing jungles by cutting and burning a large number of days , and these sacrifices ( yagnas as they are called ) literally went on for days , sometimes months , and managed to clear large areas . That is why there was no need to conserve land - grazing space was abundant , and a cow or a few here or ther wouldn't really matter .

The same land , when occupied by an agrarian society , could not afford the loss of even a few cows .

Many here do not realise how dependent the farmers here were on cows for almost everything . Cow dung was used both as fertiliser and to coat mud/straw huts to cool them down a little during summers . Cow urine was used as disinfectant and as fertiliser . Cow milk was obviously used as food . Bulls and cows on plows were used to till the land . So losing a cow or bull was a great loss - it's like you've just lost a chunk of your machinery , source of fertiliser , and food .

So as to ensure that a farmer does not kill his cows and ultimately become destitute , this was introduced ( with , as said before , added pressure from Buddhism ) .

[Space05us]

Want less crime?

Get rid of laws!

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by aneeshm
So as to ensure that a farmer does not kill his cows and ultimately become destitute , this was introduced ( with , as said before , added pressure from Buddhism ) .

It is more likely that religion made sacred what was already a traditional practice, don't eat your wealth.