Buddhist not Hindu!!!

 The blog that I chose for Buddhism was a clip from the Simpsons. This is a positive stereotype. I chose this clip because it allows the viewers to see that American really do not know what Buddhism is. In this clip, Bart calls Lisa a Hindu. He calls her that because he says she is supposed to be nice and love everyone. This is not a true statement because Hindus can dislike someone as well. He really did not know what she really was so he just picked a religion and told her that is what she is. Lisa finally tells Bart that she is not a Hindu. She is a Buddhist. This clip really opened my eyes because it allowed me to see what the average American does when it comes to different religions or faiths.

We as Americans may see or experience a certain thing and before we consider looking something up or asking questions, we make assumptions about it. This is true about a lot of religions because before I enrolled in this class I use to believe that all other religions besides Christian use to just pray all day. As I have learned about new religions, I learned that praying is not what they do all day long. Some people have lives and do other things as well. I did not realize it until now but I stereotype other religions as well. I do not stereotype them in a bad way though. I just always thought that praying is their main form of worship and that they did it all day. Brad Warner’s book taught me a lot about Buddhism. This book taught me that Buddhist practioners are supposed to behave and carry themselves in a certain matter. The book says, “ The Zen Master Rama was not your average stereotypical  Buddhist practitioner is suppose to be like he wore a "sexy leather jacket"(13) and practices "Tantric Zen". This quote shows the stereotype about Buddhist practioners and their clothing. People expect them to wear cloaks and the long gowns when they can dress like normal people if they want to. Stereotypes can be good or bad but before people feed into them, they should research a little more.