MICHAEL PARENTI – TIBET TALK

Michael Parenti: Friendly Feudalism « Tibet Talk

http://tibettalk.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/michael-parenti-friendly-feudalism/

Michael Parenti: received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University. He has taught at a number of colleges and universities, in the United States and abroad. Michael Parenti has won awards from Project Censored, the Caucus for a New Political Science, the city of Santa Cruz, New Jersey Peace Action, the Social Science Research Council, the Society for Religion in Higher Education, and other organizations.

http://www.michaelparenti.org/biography.html

Essay:
I’m sure a few of you have already read this essay before since its quite popular but here is a link to the full copy:http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html

Overview:
The basic message of this essay is that Buddhism is no less violent than all of the other religions of the world: Christianity, Islam, etc… Since historically Buddhism has blood on its hands just as most other religions do. Thus the notion of Buddhism being a religion that “stands out in marked contrast to the violence of other religions” is a false perception. Parenti’s essay states that Tibet was not the Shangri-la movies and western people perceive it to be before China’s invasion. He explains how it was only a “Shangri-la” for Lords and Lamas and how torture and mutilation as present in Tibetan society as a form of punishment.

“What I have tried to challenge is the Tibet myth, the Paradise Lost image of a social order that actually was a retrograde theocracy of serfdom and poverty, where a favored few lived high and mighty off the blood, sweat, and tears of the many. It was a long way from Shangri-La.”
-Michael Parenti