Buddhism Dalai Lama
Spiked Magazine
Is the Dalai Lama a Religious Dictator?
The state of denial in the West about some of the Dalai Lama’s alleged power-tripping, or at least the unquestioning attitude towards the Dalai Lama and everything that he does, highlights the role that he plays for many Western celebs, commentators and politicians today: he’s a cartoon “good guy”, giggling, pure and righteous, who apparently should be unconditionally applauded for standing up to the “Evil Chinese”.
All of the Dalai Lama’s bad points – his origins in the stifling medievalism of 1930s Tibet; his archaic practices; his disregard for “concepts like democracy and freedom of religion”; his backing from the CIA in its Cold War with the Chinese – are
simply ignored.
Published: 20/05/2008