Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Must not Call the Buddha Fat

Except in Thailand, the Buddha is ALWAYS depicted as fat. Apparently some official ignoramuses in Britain do not know that:

"The Durham, England, City Council has rejected a restaurateur's request to name his Chinese eatery Fat Buddha.

Buddhist businessman Eddie Fung said he cannot understand why council member Tracey Ingle opposed him on the restaurant's name, The Mail on Sunday reported. "I cannot believe that this woman should go to so much time and trouble to take issue over an inoffensive name like Fat Buddha," Fung said.

Ingle called the name "provocative" and her fellow council members agreed.

Fung said the council just doesn't understand Buddhism. A Buddhist Society spokesman said Buddhists regard the fat Buddha as lucky. "To suggest this is offensive is to misunderstand the faith," the spokesman told the newspaper.

Source

It's probably just one of those bigotries that are accepted these days: Anti-fat bigotry. The fact that people of middling weight live longer than slim people must not be mentioned, of course.