How many other Buddhists have been given the lecture about worshipping false idols.
I have been accused once of worshipping a dead man,a man that never existed another time and a religion that was formed by the Devil.
A taxi driver became quite upset when he saw my Buddhist chain around my neck and began preaching,I tried so hard to change the subject and he ultimately kicked me out of the taxi, nice.
I understand different points of view are expected, but what surprises me is how angry they often get.
my favourite is your not Asian or Chinese, I explained to the last one that jesus was not an Aussie so whats the difference.
I'd come across that too when I was a practicing Buddhist. My kids would often hear that they need Jesus to escape my fate of burning in hell. Talk about a mind**** that I thought they were trying to throw onto my kids, but fortunately, my offspring let it all roll off their backs. They eventually knew those kinds of threats were all BS.
I sometimes would be surprised at how hostile some folks would get. It seemed as if it wasn't enough that I was practicing a different religion, but that I was unapologetic and confident for doing so. If enough conversation was offered, and they discovered I once identified as a Christian, then whatever hostility was present magnified ten-fold.
The way I see it is that people tend to identify personally with the religious concepts they hold near and dear to their hearts. So, if I seemingly reject their religious views, they often will interpret that as me rejecting
them. Of course, as untrue as I feel about that, many times we culturally identify our egos with our religious beliefs, and therefore interpret rejections personally.
That's how I see the source of the hostility. Then and now, I perceive the source of their hostility as rooted in ignorance.
