On the ex-Czech President Havel; DISCLAIMER: the post below this one is more interesting honeslty. Purely ramble for my talkative thoughts.

Jana Dvmolvo Hostel
Prague, Czech Republic
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
5:46 PM (USA)/ 11:46 PM (CR)



...

We watched a film on Havel, the first president of the Czech Republic, and as it turns out he is actually best friends with the Dali Llama. That might not seem significant; however, there is actually some meaty detail here.

Under Havel's presidency, Tibet was first recognized as a free nation. Havel and the Dali Llama became very good friends; however, that part was kept out of the documentary and it was Anaiel, who is half Czech and half Parisian and works at the Institute, whom informed us of the friendship. We all wondered why something so important to Havel, the president, would have been kept from the public eye?

Answer: the majority of Czech people are Agnostic or Atheist.

Under the communist regime you were punished or shunned for having a faith, and even before that, in ancient times, so many occupiers of this land forced their different religions onto the natives; therefore, they've had a rough time when it comes to religion. But honestly, what country hasn't? Either way, that is a fact, they are majorly Agnostic/Atheist and it is my belief that in order to hold the position that he held, he had to keep some personal details quiet.

My interest on the topic lies in the choice of Havel's "religion" (mind you he is not a self pronounced buddhist). This is the definition:

Buddhism has no creator god and gives a central role to the doctrine of karma. The 'four noble truths' of Buddhism state that all existence is suffering, that the cause of suffering is desire, that freedom form suffering is nirvana, and that this is attained through the 'eightfold path of ethical conduct, wisdom, and mental discipline (including meditation).

I can see perfectly why Havel would be attracted to Buddhism because it is basically a set of morals as there is no creator god. Anaiel told us that, in her opinion, that, "the new religion is money."

I don't want to call the situation dismal; however, the kids being raised today are being brought up in Agnostic/Atheist households; therefore, there probably will not be a rise in religion here in the Czech, even with a new crop of kids.

I'm not saying that religion is essential for any group of people to operate, that's not it at all, it's just that with no higher power to believe in, to center one's self around, I can now understand all the hopelessness that I saw, and see in the streets. It explains why things are they way they are here.

One of the politicians on the movie was talking about the Czech people and he was talking about how they had no morals, fought and stole constantly. The Czech people are not pansies, that's for sure.

Basically, it seems to me if they could adopt a set of morals, maybe something like our Bill of Rights or the Ten Commandments, they could begin to at least organize around something that would help direct their mentalities which is ultimately something religion does, not that that is the point, aligning what is acceptable and right is what religion does inadvertently. If you all believe in something, the mentality of the group will usually be on the same page, minus a few exceptions.

Either way, I feel that the Czech people need something to center themselves around, a way to define themselves in the cosmos because for so long they have held the identities of those who have occupied their land; they've been subject to the highest level of identity theft and there isn't much trace of it left.