DAVID MARCUS: If the Pope asked a child to 'suck' his tongue, he wouldn't be the Pope anymore. The Dalai Lama does it and there's almost universal silence. It looks like child abuse - and the inaction is shameful
By David Marcus 15:46 EDT, 11 April 2023
What a strange commentary on our times. One of the only prominent American voices reacting with the appropriate degree of disgust to a horrifying video of the Dalai Lama appearing to abuse a young boy is rapper Cardi B. If you haven't seen the viral footage of the Dalai Lama's February event in northern India – you should. It's shocking and the world cannot look away.
The video shows the 87-year-old spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, considered by his followers to be the living embodiment of the virtues of the religion and the reincarnation of the living Buddha, kissing a child on the lips and then asking the boy to 'suck my tongue.' We must scream that this was not justflat out wrong, it appears to be sexual abuse. Cardi B tweeted in response to the sick display, 'This world is full of predators. They prey on the innocent. The ones who are most unknowing, our children.'
And the singer's reward for stating this obvious and vital truth? She was pilloried on social media, threatened in her direct messages, and made out to be some kind of bigot. I applaud her courage. But I ask: where is the chorus? Why is the performer among few public people expressing fitting moral outrage and revulsion? Meanwhile, there are =crickets from pro-Tibet Hollywood celebrities==, like actor Richard Gere.
Over at the New York Times, there is one lousy straight news report with the bizarrely milquetoast headline: 'Dalai Lama Apologizes Over anExchangeWith a Boy' If you haven't seen the viral footage of Dalai Lama's February event in northern India – you should. It's shocking and the world cannot look away.
'Exchange'? What a maddening perversion of the English language.An exchange suggests equity. A give and take. This was not that. This was one of the most powerful and influential men on earth, the leader of one of the world's five great religions, appearing to treat a child as a plaything.
The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a U.S.-based advocacy group for victims of spiritual and religious exploitation, hit the nail on the head: 'An 87-year-old man asking a young boy to perform a blatantly sexual actin a public setting is very disturbing. We feel it is important that every single person who sees, suspects, or suffers child sex crimes, regardless of the level of crime, contact law enforcement to report it. Correct. But this outcry may be falling on deaf ears.
It took weeks for the Dalai Lama's office to even release a statement; representatives of the Dalai Lama conceded that the leader of millions 'regrets the incident,' but then went on to disturbingly explain it away. 'His Holinessoften teasespeople he meets in an innocent and playful way,' they write, 'even in public and before cameras.'
It is basically the Eastern version of former New York Governor AndrewCuomosuggesting that he may have inappropriately touched women, because Italian Americans areemotional and handsy people.
Sticking out one's tongue is a sign of respect or agreement and is often used as a greeting in traditional Tibetan culture… (This is utter bullshit, they made it up for this moment)
Asking a child to suck on your tongue is not, however, part of any acceptable religious, philosophical, or cultural code. This isn't Western chauvinism.Child abuse is an evil that existsand we must not allow a veil of authority, or cultural sensitivity, or anything else, to be pulled over it.
A prominent children's rights group in India, where the exiled Tibetan leader lives,called the incident 'child abuse' and dismissed this twisted cultural defense. 'and even if it is, such cultural expressions are not acceptable.'
Hear, Hear. The bottom line is that we cannot ignore what we saw.Where arethe American Buddhist organizations decrying the incident? Where are our politicians?
If we allow ourselves to overlookthe abuse of children because of the power, the prestige, the cultural sensitivity, or even the holiness of the culprits, then we are failing our children in an unforgivable way.
So, shout it from the rooftops.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11961745/DAVID-MARCUS-world-afraid-call-potential-child-abuse-Dalai-Lama.html
look at the monk to the left, he watched the DL very closely with squinted eyes, I've been with monks they usually look very somber, not like they are his guard to prevent him of the DL does something stupid or evil.