Posted: Jul 21, 2022 4:58 pm
I expanded on it for the remainder of that post.
I mean that I don't see how it follows that a campaign which may be successful in Canada, particularly opportune due to fairly recent expositions of Christian church sordid history in Canada, would thereby also be successful globally. I think cultures and the role of religions in different societies make such an idea particular rather than universal.
BrettA wrote:Spearthrower wrote:The culture, politics, legal system, form of religion etc. etc. etc. are all so different between different countries.
For example, here in Thailand a tax on temples is a non-starter. Religion, religious authorities, religious institutions... they're all seen completely different here by the vast majority of the country - 93% of the country describe themselves as Buddhist, and while there's a range of adherence to strictures, such as temple attendance, the idea that it could be taxed is beyond bizarre: monks themselves maintain vows of poverty, temple owned money is used to maintain relics and architecture.
At very very best, Canada could be a prototype for other former colonies of the UK that inherited a theme of Christian supremacism and judicial authority which historically caused pain and problems.
Well, I disagree. If we know all that (and we obviously do), we can design and write a website using generic wording where that applies (Home Page, for example), and have a 'countries' section where the volunteers from the disparate countries update their own areas (we'd have a template, of course). We would mainly be 'marketing to the broad populations to try to sway them for their next election, but details of say, scripture adherence and temple attendance hardly come into play, AISI (certainly not for a prototype effort). Remember that if we get enough support, it's then passed on to the governments to implement.
And, fine, if this does not apply to Thailand, them we pass on it for Thailand. Same as if we can't get enough supporters to start the process in certain other countries, B-bye to those countries. It's not my idea to have 100% countries go for this, but if we can get one person per country for an initial assessment, then that's the time we start dropping countries.
I am just suggesting that I don't think such a goal seems credible, which is possibly one reason why you may not have much interest - it's too grand a target. I'd suggest focusing on Canada, finding like-minded Canadians, and building a ground support there particular to the circumstances in Canada.
BrettA wrote:Spearthrower wrote:[I'm not sure you're following my criticism here, but I wasn't saying you hadn't said X, Y, or Z, but rather that they don't seem remotely feasible or credible objectives. I've got plenty of experience as a project manager, but I wouldn't even consider this task just from first glance given the scope it covers, the multifarious laws and legal systems, and cultural practices one would need to master before even hoping to make headway. If it was just for Canada, I can see how you might be able to achieve something - particularly given recent history - but I think that's already a suitably lofty goal.
What specifically do you think is not remotely feasible or credible, Spearthrower? Again, it's the governments of the countries that need to worry about laws and legal systems - all we're going to try to do is get the population behind us.
I think I've expressed what I find unfeasible here, and recall that I was attempting to 'answer' why you may have not had as much interest as you seem to have expected.
I think the target is too big. It's out of reach. Anyone who has the capabilities to envision this from a practical perspective cannot help but note the extreme difficulty involved.
I don't think there is any universal model here. I don't think you'd find support in most countries in the world, in many you might even find it illegal. Thailand, again just as an example, would almost certainly block such a web-page, and even if transparently challenged, the government could rely on overwhelming support for the role of temples and monks because it's woven deeply into Thai society. Thais know there are bad monks, but this doesn't translate to opposition to the religious organisation here.
The hurdles you'd face would be monumental, and as such, I can't see how it could be performed by anyone on a voluntary basis other than as a deep passion project, and it'd almost certainly require expertise in a range of areas too. Just doesn't seem realistic at all.
However, if it was just in Canada, I think that's achievable - probably still not easy to achieve, but a plausibly attainable goal. I really think it needs a few like-minded Canadians, though.