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pezar
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16 Sep 2014, 3:14 pm

Interesting story out of a tough neighborhood in a tough city.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/johnson/a ... 757592.php

To deter crime, one guy impulsively buys a statue of Buddha, and places it on one of the worst street corners. People start coming around to pray and leave offerings. And then the criminals go away. I know the Buddhists here would like to read this.



BuyerBeware
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16 Sep 2014, 3:47 pm

Well, I suppose positivity begets positivity. Which by default displaces negativity.

I also suspect that frequent visits by non-involved others probable deters crime. If I was going to, say, mug someone, I would not pick a street corner with a Buddha where people came to pray. I wouldn't pick one with an altar to [deity of choice] where people came to give offerings, either. Nor would I choose one with a shrine that people visited often, or a crucifix where people came to pray, or a prayer rug where people regularly made supplications, or a nice comfy chair where people regularly meditated.

Observation, especially by physically present witnesses, deters crime. Cause, even if they won't interfere, they might well make a police report. It also appeals to the "good" in people who will be "bad" if they think nobody is watching, but behave under other circumstances (sadly, that accounts for a lot of Homo-self-proclaimed-sapiens).


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16 Sep 2014, 5:19 pm

Nice article.Maybe more street shrines will be coming.


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khaoz
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16 Sep 2014, 7:18 pm

Thank you. This is a great story.



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17 Sep 2014, 3:12 pm

Namaste.

Thanks!



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17 Sep 2014, 3:32 pm

Just make sure the Buddha's aren't made of anything valuable like copper or bronze or the pikeys will have 'em.


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17 Sep 2014, 5:15 pm

^Or gold.
http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mi ... le/13.html


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pezar
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17 Sep 2014, 7:58 pm

TallyMan wrote:
Just make sure the Buddha's aren't made of anything valuable like copper or bronze or the pikeys will have 'em.


I believe this one is simply reinforced concrete that's painted. If you read the entire story, somebody DID try to pry it loose, but the guy had glued it down with super strong glue, so the thief couldn't budge it.



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17 Sep 2014, 10:01 pm

A Sri Lankan Temple was established near here about ten years ago and it was promptly robbed and three monks murdered. I don't recall what all was stolen and don't want to elaborate on what kinds of things one is likely to find of value, particularly in Temples from that area and Thai and Laotian originated Temples. I don't think I would venture to put a Buddha statue outside in my neighborhood, and there is more crime in the Mickey Mouse pantry than in this community. My community is about 40 miles north of the afore mentioned Temple