Letters: WHY WE WERE PROTESTING THE DALAI LAMA

THE DALAI Lama visited Philadelphia the other day to talk on religious freedom and human rights. How ironic it was that outside the Kimmel Center, where he spoke, hundreds of Buddhists protested against him for restricting religious freedom.

In relation to a particular Buddhist prayer banned by the Dalai Lama, John Ackerly, president of the International Campaign for Tibet, states that the Dalai Lama simply believes it "inadvisable and that people can worship it or not."

This is not the case. The Dalai Lama has condemned this 400-year-old Buddhist prayer which he himself used until he was 50.

The Dalai Lama's actions of discrimination accelerated earlier this year, when he initiated and endorsed an aggressive campaign against the practice. This resulted in the immediate expulsion of 900 monks and nuns from their monasteries.

I am a Buddhist nun and a member of the Western Shugden Society (westernshugdensociety.org), an organization of Buddhists from various traditions throughout the world who are deeply concerned by this problem.

The purpose of the Western Shugden Society is to bring the Dalai Lama's hypocrisy to the attention of the public in the hope that millions of Buddhists will be able to live in peace and harmony again. For this reason we protested in Philadelphia this week and will continue to protest around the world, wherever the Dalai Lama is scheduled to perform.

Kelsang Pema

Buddhist Nun

Crime & ethnicity

Just another Saturday night in the city, only 10 people shot. Lucky for Mayor Nutter, some of these shooters are lousy shots or the homicide rate would be out of sight.

What I don't understand is why the news reports don't give out the race of the bad guys or the race of the wounded and killed. Are you trying to make it look like all the people in the city are dangerous?

You don't want to admit it's not a Philadelphia problem, it's a problem in the black community. Seven of the areas where shootings occurred are black - one is white, and that one is questionable (1800 Hartranft St.).

Maybe Commissioner Ramsey should put more police in these areas or put out an order that would keep the police off their cell phones while they're working. All you see now when a police car rides by is an officer on the phone, especially the female officers. You can't stop crime if you don't see it, and talking on the phone all the time doesn't help matters.

Robert Stewart, Philadelphia

Unruly kids

Re Debbie Burns' July 5 letter about unruly kids in public:

Todd Cohen's parents raised a young man who recognizes when someone is being rude and inconsiderate of everyone around them. Look in the mirror when you say someone is self-centered, disrespectful and inconsiderate. If you can't control your children in public, then cook dinner at home, rent a movie and let the rest of us respectful people enjoy a night out.

Rich McLaughlin, Coatesville