Alas, Buddhists are doing it too. No doubt about it The Song of the Evil Urge includes us all. No exceptions. The song is a parody of a Cole Porter standard, the content of which seems to be behind a lot of what's going on these days. I will explain.
l.
Cole Porter was a great genius of American song. Rarely have a gift for melody and a gift for language been so delightfully combined--like Wagner, he wrote the music and the words One of his greatest songs is Let's Fall In Love which begins as follows:
Birds do it, bees do it,
Even educated fleas do it;
Let's do it, let's fall in love.
While reading the news, I often hear a parody of this song, seemingly composed by the Zeitgeist, which I call The Song of the Evil Urge:
You do it, I do it,
Christians, Muslims and Hindus do it,
Let's do it, let's act like thugs!
I am certainly not amiss in including Christians as prominent examples in the history of thuggery. It is said, with reason I think, that a good way to evaluate the decency of a people is in the way they treat minorities. To put it mildly, Christians have not treated Jews very well during the course of their common history. Muslims must be included, too--there are hordes of unhappy, underemployed young people who do horrible things in the name of Islam. (Islam is at fault just as much as Christianity is at fault in the first example.) Hindus, of course, aren't innocent either. Often admired for their religious tolerance, Hindus have not scored high on social tolerance; yea, they do it too, and, increasingly, alas! in the name of their religion.
The song as above is not complete. Jews, for centuries after Constantine's conversion, lacked power and have been on the receiving end of acts of great evil. However, after obtaining power with the creation of Israel, Israeli Jews have not been always fair to their minorities--a fact, which I'm sad to report, is becoming increasingly more obvious..
What about atheists? Are the atheists justified in contending that religion is an evil in itself and once it's abolished a secular Peaceable Kingdom will arise? As one says in the vernacular, Yeah, right. Cambodia. Rwanda. Stalin. The harsh treatment by Chinese atheists of the people of Tibet. (It is obvious that the conflicts today, as always, are about greedy, ignorant power struggles among people who refuse to walk a mile in the moccasins of their neighbors. I want to make it clear that I am convinced that the religions themselves are not at fault; the fault lies in the fact that they are not followed. Evil acts are done by people who may or may not use religion as a cover for their lust for power. A quip by Gandhi is appropriate here. When asked what he thought about Western Civilization, he replied that it is a good idea and should be tried sometime. Similarly with Christianity at its best, and all religions at their best.)
In order to include atheists in the song, I coined a new word. Richard Dawkins, a staunch atheist, refers to the community of non-believers as consisting of brights. The English word troglodyte refers to cave dwellers, but, by extension, includes all those who act like boors. Here's my word for boorish atheists: troglobrites. (I changed the spelling of bright, since I don't think the implication that religious people are necessarily dull in comparison to atheists holds.)
So here is the expanded version of the song:
You do it, I do it,
Christians, Muslims, Hindus,
Troglodytes and Jews do it;
Let's do it, let's act like thugs!
Well you might have noticed, I left something out. No longer. There have been frequent reports of Buddhist atrocities against Muslims in Myanmar. Thousands of Muslims are confined to concentration camps--there is no other word for the horrible camps in which they are confined. The hatred of Muslims by large swaths of the population of Myanmar is painfully palpable. In addition, today I read in the NY Times about a group of Buddhist thugs, called the Bodu Bala Sena, led by monks which has burned down houses of Muslims in Sri Lanka.
Et tu, Buddhe?
(The word Buddha here is used as a synecdoche for all Buddhists; the founder of the religion is, of course, blameless.) Yes, Buddhists are noteworthy for their advocacy for peace. Their activities around the world in this regard, and the wisdom it has brought to countless millions, leave no doubt: Buddhism has had a very positive effect for over two thousand years. Yet, contrary to my own prejudice, Buddhists are apparently just like everyone else. So the full version of the unfortunate song must be as follows:
You do it, I do it,
Christians, Muslims, Hindus,
Buddhists, troglodytes and Jews do it--
Let's do it, let's act like thugs!
2.
We live in an ambiguous world. Fundamentalists might imagine they have certainties, but they do not. Life is not clear-cut, , whether they like it or not. The Good News is that the Song of the Evil Urge is not universal. There is a lot of good things being done around the world by people of all faiths, including by those without a traditional faith. I have witnessed some very good things volunteers are doing in the Dominican Republic. In fact, much good is being done everywhere. Doctors Without Borders. Catholic Charities, The Islamic Relief Fund, etc. Many Hindu professionals have returned to India to significantly improve the lives of the poor. Buddhists, Jews and atheists are struggling for justice and peace everywhere. I admit I'm a seasoned optimist; I have faith that another version of the song, The Song of Justice, will eventually--eventually! there's the rub-- prevail:
You can do it, we can do it,
Christians, Muslims, Hindus,
Buddhists, atheists and Jews can do it--
Let's do it, let's live and love!
Which version of the song are you doing? Admit it--I certainly do, regarding myself--our moral lives are ambiguous. But it's up to everyone of us to make the human condition less murky. It can be done. If we put this version of the song into action, and, as it were, sing it together, the ghost of Cole Porter, and the good spirit in all of us, will be in for a very pleasant surprise.
l.
Cole Porter was a great genius of American song. Rarely have a gift for melody and a gift for language been so delightfully combined--like Wagner, he wrote the music and the words One of his greatest songs is Let's Fall In Love which begins as follows:
Birds do it, bees do it,
Even educated fleas do it;
Let's do it, let's fall in love.
While reading the news, I often hear a parody of this song, seemingly composed by the Zeitgeist, which I call The Song of the Evil Urge:
You do it, I do it,
Christians, Muslims and Hindus do it,
Let's do it, let's act like thugs!
I am certainly not amiss in including Christians as prominent examples in the history of thuggery. It is said, with reason I think, that a good way to evaluate the decency of a people is in the way they treat minorities. To put it mildly, Christians have not treated Jews very well during the course of their common history. Muslims must be included, too--there are hordes of unhappy, underemployed young people who do horrible things in the name of Islam. (Islam is at fault just as much as Christianity is at fault in the first example.) Hindus, of course, aren't innocent either. Often admired for their religious tolerance, Hindus have not scored high on social tolerance; yea, they do it too, and, increasingly, alas! in the name of their religion.
The song as above is not complete. Jews, for centuries after Constantine's conversion, lacked power and have been on the receiving end of acts of great evil. However, after obtaining power with the creation of Israel, Israeli Jews have not been always fair to their minorities--a fact, which I'm sad to report, is becoming increasingly more obvious..
What about atheists? Are the atheists justified in contending that religion is an evil in itself and once it's abolished a secular Peaceable Kingdom will arise? As one says in the vernacular, Yeah, right. Cambodia. Rwanda. Stalin. The harsh treatment by Chinese atheists of the people of Tibet. (It is obvious that the conflicts today, as always, are about greedy, ignorant power struggles among people who refuse to walk a mile in the moccasins of their neighbors. I want to make it clear that I am convinced that the religions themselves are not at fault; the fault lies in the fact that they are not followed. Evil acts are done by people who may or may not use religion as a cover for their lust for power. A quip by Gandhi is appropriate here. When asked what he thought about Western Civilization, he replied that it is a good idea and should be tried sometime. Similarly with Christianity at its best, and all religions at their best.)
In order to include atheists in the song, I coined a new word. Richard Dawkins, a staunch atheist, refers to the community of non-believers as consisting of brights. The English word troglodyte refers to cave dwellers, but, by extension, includes all those who act like boors. Here's my word for boorish atheists: troglobrites. (I changed the spelling of bright, since I don't think the implication that religious people are necessarily dull in comparison to atheists holds.)
So here is the expanded version of the song:
You do it, I do it,
Christians, Muslims, Hindus,
Troglodytes and Jews do it;
Let's do it, let's act like thugs!
Well you might have noticed, I left something out. No longer. There have been frequent reports of Buddhist atrocities against Muslims in Myanmar. Thousands of Muslims are confined to concentration camps--there is no other word for the horrible camps in which they are confined. The hatred of Muslims by large swaths of the population of Myanmar is painfully palpable. In addition, today I read in the NY Times about a group of Buddhist thugs, called the Bodu Bala Sena, led by monks which has burned down houses of Muslims in Sri Lanka.
Et tu, Buddhe?
(The word Buddha here is used as a synecdoche for all Buddhists; the founder of the religion is, of course, blameless.) Yes, Buddhists are noteworthy for their advocacy for peace. Their activities around the world in this regard, and the wisdom it has brought to countless millions, leave no doubt: Buddhism has had a very positive effect for over two thousand years. Yet, contrary to my own prejudice, Buddhists are apparently just like everyone else. So the full version of the unfortunate song must be as follows:
You do it, I do it,
Christians, Muslims, Hindus,
Buddhists, troglodytes and Jews do it--
Let's do it, let's act like thugs!
2.
We live in an ambiguous world. Fundamentalists might imagine they have certainties, but they do not. Life is not clear-cut, , whether they like it or not. The Good News is that the Song of the Evil Urge is not universal. There is a lot of good things being done around the world by people of all faiths, including by those without a traditional faith. I have witnessed some very good things volunteers are doing in the Dominican Republic. In fact, much good is being done everywhere. Doctors Without Borders. Catholic Charities, The Islamic Relief Fund, etc. Many Hindu professionals have returned to India to significantly improve the lives of the poor. Buddhists, Jews and atheists are struggling for justice and peace everywhere. I admit I'm a seasoned optimist; I have faith that another version of the song, The Song of Justice, will eventually--eventually! there's the rub-- prevail:
You can do it, we can do it,
Christians, Muslims, Hindus,
Buddhists, atheists and Jews can do it--
Let's do it, let's live and love!
Which version of the song are you doing? Admit it--I certainly do, regarding myself--our moral lives are ambiguous. But it's up to everyone of us to make the human condition less murky. It can be done. If we put this version of the song into action, and, as it were, sing it together, the ghost of Cole Porter, and the good spirit in all of us, will be in for a very pleasant surprise.
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