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"I was not aware that the statue was even on the set of the video until now. I would never set out to offend or desecrate anyone's religion or religious beliefs. I myself am a spiritual man, so I can understand why they are offended, but violence is never the answer and I am disheartened to hear about what happened yesterday in Sri Lanka." says Akon, in an official response to the recent incidents in Sri Lanka.
The so called "libereal minded" bloggers who commented on my previous post, must answer the question "is it ok for producers of the music video, to use a Buddha statue in the backdrop of that video?". A clear "Yes or No" answer is admired. Akon himself, admits it was wrong, and he admits it has offended the Buddhists.
As I always said, people are "culturaly programmed" and, we have to interpret things in that sense. We don't have an ideal state of "Buddhism" here (or anywhere in the world for that matters). It's funny how people become Buddhist philosophers, when only they need to justify things they like.
All in all, we must appreciate the fact that Akon responded to this with such a good open minded attitude, without ridiculing the feelings of Sri Lankans who protested. It looks like to me, Akon do respect differences we have in our cultures, than some of our own people who brought up in western cultures.
