[Recovering Ex-hippie]

You may be right. You present some interesting perspectives.

Darn, here was our chance to wipe out a few more "gonna be terrorists" Muslims. Guess I am still workingon my spirituality....9-11 put a big dent in my journey.

They don't want Israeli troops, huh? I wonder if they are going to mind the Navy ship we're sending over there. Yipes, what am I thinking? I forgot, there is nothing the US can do that is right.ha.

[NYFriend]

I could be wrong too. It's just a guess. In Sri Lanka, they are Theravada Buddhist, which is a more non-theocentric branch of Buddhism. It's interesting in that it doesn't really deny the existence of God, but takes a "don't count on any help" approach. In most Asian countries, the practice a different form which, depending on the sect, picks up gods, or other spirits, which are thought to offer help, but in kind of a more internal or mental way. No Red Sea stuff. The Mahayana branch has many sects which borrow from local religions, like Hinduism or Shinto, and keep some of those beliefs. Not that any of this is important to the discussion.

[NYFriend]

Oh yeah, whereas we can argue over whether Islam is a religion of peace, the Theravadas in Sri Lanka are a religion of peace. It doesn't mean you can't has some bad apples, but the organized body would never tolerate any aggression. You won't find many Buddhist terrorist.