Buddha, please! I'm Christian!

[Boozy]

The Buddhists I know don't give a fig about that kind of thing.

Buddha isn't worshipped by Buddhists, anyway. He's an aspirational figure, not a deity.

[HYHYBT]

One point which, to me, changes everything: they're decorative statues. Ornamentation, not objects of worship. So the Christians ought not to object so much anyway. Now I could see *Buddhists* complaining about their religious symbols being misused...

[Nyoibo]

With the Kirpan, it can be carried by having the blade fixed in the scabbard.

As for the second one, if they recieve government funding they can't practice discrimination or they chance loosing their funding, I think, I'll ask my mother, given that she used to be the person who approved funding for nursing homes.

[fireheart17]

http://leader-messenger.whereilive.c...a-to-stay-put/

In short, one cranky resident at a retirement home demanded that the Buddha statues be removed from communal areas because they're Christian.

Two points I can see here:

1) Australia is secular. Not theocratic. Therefore, we do have religious freedom with some slight changes-that is, as long as the religious beliefs do not clash with certain laws, it's fine. Examples: one particular religion has requirements once you are baptised into their faith. One of these is carrying this: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirpan). Given it looks like a weapon, while it IS a religious artifact, for safety reasons, it may not be allowed to be carried around at all times. AFAIK, some people get around this by wearing one in a brooch or belt buckle.

2) If the retirement home/village is Christian funded/founded/run, then they MAY have a point, but I didn't see anything in the article to indicate this. Also, as far as I DO know, one particular group of retirement houses is a branch of Christianity known as the Uniting Church of Australia-in short, they're more tolerant of other people's beliefs and such than most other branches.

Discuss freely.