Robert Thurman On Academia, Religion, and the New Atheists

Robert Thurman may be the first western Buddhist monk, but he's no poster boy for hippie love and idiot compassion. The guy is very opinionated and sharp with his tongue. Case in point: Check out this The Bwog interview with Robert Thurman. Below are some relevant quotes I find insightful and somewhat entertaining.

On academia:

"It is critical and crucial that in an academic setting that there is objectivity and that people don't proselytize so that religious competition and conflict doesn't happen in the academy. The university should be a place based on pluralism.

"On the other hand, all of the so-called religious traditions have multiple veins. That is to say, there is something like Muslim medicine. Buddhism has its own psychologies and philosophies. When you study Plato in the philosophy department, no one thinks, "This person is proselytizing the worship of Apollo." Plato had his own religious views, but you're studying his thought. Confucius' philosophy should be taught in a philosophy department and so should Buddha's."

On religion:

"Today, we are in this situation where religious fundamentalism has reared its ugly head all over the planet. It's very dangerous and it isn't just as simple as Christopher Hitchens or Sam Harris or Richard Dawkins writing some big blast that religion is all crazy.

"It's very important that the clash of these ideas happen in a dialogue form. The department is creating a new center for the critical study of the world religions, which will be a place where basically we'll go after the fundamentalists."

On the New Atheists:

"I like Dawkins and I like Sam Harris. I don't like Hitchens at all—he's just a wannabe. He doesn't know anything about religion. Whatever's trendy he gets in there to try and get himself a bestseller. It's just a pain, but he's a good zinger writer."

I wonder whether Thurman likes or dislikes Dennett. I think Thurman would welcome Dennett's proposal to compulsory teach world religions to children.

Robert Thurman is a good example that Buddhists can kick ass and stay still. For more example of Thurman's passionate opinions, see Robert Thurman's Big Think videos.