While on the Red Carpet at the Cannes Film Festival she apparently opened her mouth and this foul comment was let loose, "I've been concerned about how we should deal with the Olympics, because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine. And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma - when you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"
There isn't much I need to say that hasn't already been spread like wild fire over the internet, but here are my two cents.
Firstly, for a Buddhist practitioner Sharon Stone sure needs to do some research on karma. Karma is when you say something offensive and hurtful to a Nation and you get your films pulled. Karma is when you compare 65,000 innocent people dying to a abuse by a government and you get all of your advertisements pulled.
Karma is not a natural disaster killing innocents to pay back the crimes of a draconian government. Make no mistake, I completely disagree with the Chinese government's politics in many ways (Tibetan occupation, media and internet censorship, disregard for their lower class,segregation of its minorities, obstruction to the freedom of religion and freedom of speech to name a few). But to claim that karma is enacting against the people of a nation for it's government's actions is making karma to be a cold-hearted vindictive force, and not a universal energy that works towards equilibrium through cause-effect(as I believe it to be).
This point reminds me of another article I read somewhere a few weeks ago. Many people are seeing the horrors of the Chinese and relating them directly to the people, and the nation as a whole. Many people are calling for the boycott of the summer Olympics due to China's occupation in Tibet, or their abuse of religious groups not recognized by the state. The article pointed out that doing so would only penalize the people as well. The Chinese people are a very proud and dignified people. The entire city of Beijing has been turned upside down, residents learning how to stand in line, memorizing English phrases, converting their shops to accept credit cards; all to become gracious hosts to the thousands and thousands of tourists that will soon flood their city.
I visited China a few summers ago, and it was an amazing place. The people there are so hospitable and kind. You would walk into a house and they would feed you all of their food before they would even eat. They are a proud people, extremely loyal to family and friends, and exceptional hosts. To them the olympics is something they are proud of being a part of, they're hoping to show the Nation their best face. Of course all of this is getting over-shadowed by their government, but we should learn to divide these two constituents. A poor car does not make a poor driver, and visa versa. In America we should all be to aware of the fact that poor leadership can damage our image. If anything the Olympics will shine a spotlight onto all of China's dark spots, allowing its people to speak up against the government under the International eye. Which can only be a good thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment