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From: gsmith@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Gene Ward Smith)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: The Most Memorable Character I Never Met
Message-ID: <15880@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Wed, 1-Oct-86 23:11:52 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.15880
Posted: Wed Oct  1 23:11:52 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 3-Oct-86 06:56:47 EDT
References: <2754@pogo.UUCP> <15818@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <3584@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU>
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Reply-To: gsmith@brahms.UUCP (Gene Ward Smith)
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In article <3584@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU> za56@sdcc3.UUCP (Brian McNeill) writes:

>In article <15818@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> gsmith@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Gene Ward Smith) writes:

>>>There are more artistic representations of Siddartha than of any other human 
>>>(Hell, even the game _Trivial_Pursuits_ knows that). Also, Buddha lived over 
>>>a thousand years before Jesus was born. That's an additional thousand years 
>>>to be forgotten, but his fame just keeps on growing. [Dave Butler]

>>   I don't know on what basis you claim Gautama is "more remembered" than
>>Jesus. Certainly, I would advise you are anyone against believing *anything*
>>you "learned" playing Trivial Pursuits. [Gene Smith] 

>If you'd read his article he never said that he learned this fact
>from Trivial Pursuit, he only said that Trivial Pursuit managed to
>get this one right...as to the rest, he is correct...more books,
>artwork, poetry, and whatnot has been written about Siddhartha than
>about any other man ever living (just check your local University
>library...)  You did get one thing right though...Buddha did not
>live 1000 years before Christ...more like 600 years (still an
>awfully big gap there...)

   If I got "one thing right" can I assume I got the rest wrong? Fine. Name
*one* factual error I made in the article you are responding to, and you
will have revenged yourself for my "more non-history" stuff. I happen to
have read some of these vast numbers of books about Jesus and Gautama. In
them I have occasionally run across claims like yours, Dave Butler's, and
Kiki Herbst's. I have *never* run across evidential support or citations
to back up these claims. My own opinion is that you, Dave and Kiki are
all talking through your respective hats, and that you have no factual
basis for your claims, one way or the other. Your insouciant flipness in saying
"check your local Univerity library" doesn't help much. It is a big library;
what do you want me to check in it? 

ucbvax!brahms!gsmith     Gene Ward Smith/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720
"What is algebra exactly? Is it those three-cornered things?"J.M. Barrie