Yet another horribly stupid thread from a non-Buddhist that uses Buddhism to "defend" Aang. Apparently OP was even buying followers to increase the engagement of their account so more people could be exposed to their blatant misinformation. They had an alt account that they deactivated when they were caught confessing to it.
They share similarities but that doesn't mean Buddhism is just a branch of Hinduism, Buddhism arose as a rejection of Hinduism. The two religions are oppositional. This is like saying Christianity is just a "branch" of Judaism when Christianity has a deep history of violent antisemitism.
Many Tibetan Buddhists (such as myself!) have expressed their dislike of ATLA, particularly Aang and the Air Nomads for playing into the Shangri-la stereotype. Tibetan Buddhists don't object to priests getting married because they are NOT monks. On the other hand, Air Nomad society is composed entirely of monks and nuns. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that Buddhist monks getting married is completely forbidden, and the Buddha himself has said that non-celibate monks will go to Hell. It is completely blasphemous to our religion. A monk being a celibate is FAR more important than him being a vegetarian. Are you a moron?
Really showing your ignorance here. Both are called "monks" in English but they are not actually monks at all. A monk must follow the Vinaya. The warrior Shaolin are not monks and in many cases they are not even Buddhists, they are like secular guards who live in the monastery. Meanwhile Japan has no tradition of Buddhist monks whatsoever. All Japanese "monks" are actually priests. Bryke didn't know about the difference because they're idiots, and so are you.
You do know that many people have spoken up against the Fire Nation for being a mix of different cultures too, right? At least the reason for the Fire Nation being a mix of cultures was so that they wouldn't be creating a direct parallel to a real world culture since they were portrayed as the villains of the series. But you're coming in here with the claim that Aang is a Buddhist, therefore making fun of him for being bald is racism to Buddhists even though Aang himself is a racist caricature of Buddhism.
Of course Buddhists would reject to their religion being considered Hinduism? Some Hindus will claim Buddhism as a branch of their own religion to deny a unique Buddhist religious identity because India is plagued with fascists who want to create a Hindu ethnostate, and Buddhism's disappearance in India can be attributed to the assimilation of Buddhism into Hinduism.
What the fuck is the claim of Korea and Japan coming from the same culture as China? Korea and Japan are heavily influenced by Chinese culture but they didn't just arise from China, all three are separate nations with distinct histories. Holy shit, this is even more ridiculous than saying Buddhism is a branch of Hinduism.
Aang being bald has nothing to do with his religion, being bald is a choice for Air Nomads to allow them to feel the air better. Bryke appropriated Buddhist aesthetics and none of the meaning. Once again, you go on about his vegetarianism when vegetarianism for monks isn't as big of an issue as celibacy. The Vinaya explicitly allows monks to eat meat, but under no circumstances can they ever be sexually active. Next.
Fellas, is is racist to mix up Chinese and Japanese culture because they both have similarities like using chopsticks, logographic writing, and Confucianism?
"you cannot speak for an entire group of people" Yet here you are speaking on behalf of Tibetans and Buddhists when you are literally neither of those things yourself.
How many times do I have to fucking say it? Aang and the Air Nomads in general are disrespectful of Buddhism. Their very existence in a highly popular children's television series is more racist than people calling them bald. Now you ignorant Aang stans are even spreading misinformation about Buddhism, a real religion, in order to defend your Orientalist fictional fave.
It is performative activism. You only care about Buddhism when people dislike Aang even though lots of Buddhists themselves don't like Aang. You will get mad at bald jokes because you claim it's offensive towards Buddhists yet you're a rabid Kataang shipper (because Buddhism suddenly isn't so important to you when it makes your ship look bad, right?). You are more concerned about a fictional character getting insulted than the character's very existence being the legacy of centuries of racist, Orientalist stereotypes that are disrespectful of real world Buddhist cultures.
