All religions are not identical.

The Dalai Lama is in Indiana.

The Dalai Lama, 72, is scheduled to deliver 12 hours of teachings and two public speeches this week. His 15-minute chat Tuesday was a teaser he used to talk about the world’s religious diversity.

It was an appropriate topic for an interfaith service that featured a procession of Buddhist monks and Dominican friars, recitations from Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Sikh scriptures and a prayer from a pipe-smoking Shoshone sun dance chief.

Hrm. There seems to be a major world religion (with a terrorism-affiliated spokesgroup up the road in Plainfield) not represented here.

“There are differences. But these differences have the same purpose — to strengthen and educate us on the importance of compassion,” he said. “All religions use different methods and different ways of approach. But they have the same end.”

Maybe, at the level of the individual believer and his relationship to the divine. But on the earthly level, one religion has very different goals than the others. If you can cite a authentic text where the Buddha tells a devotee to kill the unbelievers where he finds them, or that he wants his followers to conquer neighboring territories until the whole world is united under a global Buddhaphate, I'll buy you a beer.

The concept of war in the name of faith, he said, brings sadness to God.

Unlike God, Allah demands war in his name.

“True followers of God must express compassion.

“The concept of war is out of date,” he said. “Killing your neighbor is not your victory but your mutual self destruction.”

Nice philosophy. Lousy national defense policy. If you roll over for the neighbors bent on destroying you for the glory of Allah, the self-destruction is pretty one-sided.

The whole thing reminds me of the Mark Steyn column where he noted that if a military power ever tried to actually free Tibet from the ChiComs, all the "Free Tibet" bumperstickers would be replaced overnight with "Invaders out of Tibet Now!" stickers.

I probably have more to say, but I have to go to work so I can pay for worthless shit around Wisconsin. Looks like brewpubs got the shaft yesterday, too. Apparently the state legislature wants to encourage folks to drink and drive, instead of getting a growler to take home.