Buddha yard statues in Puna

[missydog1]

But what you describe is not classic Buddhism, robguz. That is more like cultish behavior, and that stuff happens with all religions. It is not at all a standard of mainstream behavior. Go to Buddha's writings and you will not find anything that would condone or encourage what you just described.

"A good path is free from torture and groaning and suffering." ~ Buddha

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." [Buddha]