On Free Exercise of Religion

* The comment by Cynthia Duffy in the March 6 article about Yorba Linda’s refusal to allow a Buddhist group to build a monastery in the city was unfortunate for two reasons.

First, she appears to know little about Buddhism. Buddhists--especially of the more traditional Theravada variety, which is followed by the Myanmar Society of America which requested the building permit--are atheistic. They worship none of the “pagan gods” to whom Duffy referred. Instead, Buddhists venerate the historical Gautama Buddha, who founded the religion, as well as other Buddhas who have helped humans on their quest for enlightenment and Nirvana.

Second, Duffy seems to have forgotten that the 1st Amendment guarantees religious freedom to all Americans. God may have commanded the ancient Israelites to drive the pagan deities from the land of Israel, but this is modern America, where we treat all religions with tolerance and respect. Were this not the case, Duffy’s brand of highly conservative Christianity might, at some future time, find itself threatened with expulsion from the land.

I suggest that Duffy become better acquainted with Buddhist teaching, whose doctrines of compassion and of respect for all living things might actually resonate with some of her Christian beliefs. She might then be able to accept a society in which we try to live together despite our deepest differences.

BENJAMIN J. HUBBARD

Chair

Department of Religious Studies

Cal State Fullerton

* Separation of church and state must continue. Christianity is attempting an improper empowerment through the imposition of prayer, which is an inappropriate and illegal placement of a belief system on the affairs of government and education.

The government’s reason for being has deteriorated to some degree because of its own propensity to self-perpetuation. However, it still does essentially function to protect individual liberties, even if only as an ancillary necessity in the democratic tradition.

The question may very well be: Has the balance already shifted to an extent that the principle “by the people” is really no longer applicable, and is that further threatened by a religious agenda which is attempting to make inroads in the ways we have functioned?

ANDY WING

Laguna Beach