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What is NewBuddhist.com?

BrianBrian Detroit, MI Moderator
edited February 2012 in NewBuddhist.com
This question comes up often, so I'll post it here for the record:

I started this site in 2003 for people, specifically Westerners, who have zero experience with Buddhism. I'm talking utter ignorance like my dear, sweet departed grandmother who thought Buddhists were orange-robed Christians—her worldview literally couldn't comprehend a non-Christian existence.

Many of us are raised in cultures that completely ignore Buddhism; at most it's a footnote in the local bookstore, a "religion for Asians", or a special on evening television. In Western pop culture, it's a religion for weirdo celebrities, and most middle Americans would be hard pressed to tell you the difference between Buddhism, Hare Krishna, Hinduism, and Kung Fu movies.

This site was founded on the idea that Westerners who come from these types of backgrounds need a safe place where there are no stupid questions. Do Buddhist celebrate Christmas? Was Buddha a real person? Is the fat Buddha in Chinese restaurants a God that Chinese people worship? How can I be happy?

Anything else that this site has become is a direct result of the people who choose this as their online home. We have monks, laypeople, born again Christians, Muslims, and people from every internet-connected nation on Earth visiting here. It's going to be wild and diverse and crazy; that's what we love about it.

There is no single answer to the question "What is this site?". It is a place where the moderator team and myself will keep things nice so that everyone can talk about Buddhism at any level, freely, and without fear of being ripped a new asshole for saying something someone else disagrees with or thinks is stupid. Nothing more, nothing less.
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Comments

  • LincLinc Site owner Detroit Moderator
    edited January 26

    NewBuddhist values inclusivity and being a welcoming community that does better than simply not discriminating. We believe "Right View" means compassion and mutual support, both to your fellow posters here and the humans in your broader community, regardless of their identity. We do not accept intolerant or uncompassionate beliefs, and will aggressively remove them from the community.

    Don’t Do This:

    • Sharing content advocating for intolerant or uncompassionate views, promoting the mass-accumulation of wealth or material goods†, or glorifying any behavior that aligns with those views & actions.
    • Supporting & sustaining negative states of mind rather than attempting to cultivate & promote positive ones.
    • Harassment which includes (but is not limited to) unwelcome & offensive conduct based on gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, level of ability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), theological perspective, technology choices, or relationship status.
    • Social or peer pressure, deliberate intimidation, bullying and/or stalking, and any other behavior which is likely to cause alarm or distress to a reasonable person.
    • Targeting and/or intentional misgendering or deadnaming individuals, including in a passive-voice or sarcastic tone and/or structure. (Accidental misgendering is not a violation of policy and is encouraged to be addressed in a respectful, gentle manner by all parties involved.)
    • Unwelcome sexual or other personal attention. Be aware of and respect the personal boundaries of other folks, which may differ from your own.
    • Theft or extortion, including by deception.
    • Mocking or sarcastic patterning/behavior towards rules and regulations.
    • Retaliation against any individual who reports an incident or concern.
    • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior, or any behavior that is against the law.

    Do This Instead:

    • Mediate First: If you are being subject to unacceptable behavior, notice that someone else is being subject to unacceptable behavior, please first consider informing the person or persons responsible that you would like them to stop. Often the offending behavior is unintentional and those involved will resolve the incident amicably.
    • Hold Space: Normalize talking about feelings, what makes you uncomfortable, and how to feel safe in spaces even if parts of it are uncomfortable.
    • Follow the Platinum Rule: Treat people how they would like to be treated. If you don't know how they want to be treated, ask respectfully. Honor differences and lead with curiosity, not shame.
    • Report to Inform: We encourage you to report posts, even if only for awareness. You can specify it is for informational purposes only and requires no action. It helps the moderators understand context, even if we don't read every post daily.

    When in doubt, ask questions. No rules are perfect, we're simply trying to communicate intent & growth with our words the most skillfully we can today.


    †: "mass-accumulation of wealth" refers to billionaire culture & monopolist behavior, not "I'm investing in the stock market to retire early" — We're not anti-personal success within the system we must cope with, we're against the exploitation that must exist to reach its highest echelons.

    lobsterKotishkaShoshin1
This discussion has been closed.