Sharon Stone On Chinese Earthquake: "I Thought, Is That Karma?"

Last week in Cannes at the annual amFAR fundraiser for which she annually plays auctioneer, Sharon Stone chatted her way down the red carpet. Stopping to talk to a cluster of microphones, she was asked about the Chinese earthquake, the death toll for which tops 67,000 with over 20,000 still missing.
As seen below (on a Chinese broadcast, so excuse the Chinese introduction), Stone was asked her thoughts about the quake, wondered aloud if it was karma, and said the following:

"Well, you know, it was very interesting, because at first I am not happy about the way Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anybody should be unkind to anybody else... Then I've been concerned about how should we deal with the Olympics because they're not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who's a good friend of mine. And then all this earthquake, and all this stuff happened, I thought, is that karma? When you are not nice, the bad things happen to you. And then I got a letter from the Tibetan foundation that they wanted to go and be helpful, and that made me cry... That was a big lesson to me."

Watch the whole clip here:

Comments

[rcpmac]

Sharon Stone = Pastor Hagge

[Raymondf]

She must be John Hagee's sister.

[Binx101]

This is one of the problems with being a Liberal in America.

Not only does one have to deal with the tendencies of herded humans to become either sheepish or complacent, there is a hubris, a sense of entitlement, insulation that grows like a second skin.

Sharon Stone says the Dalai Lama is a very good friend of hers. I believe that says it all. In one sentence, she declared the antithesis of everything he represents

1. She used him as a bauble
2. She exaggerated beyond comprehension - because if she knew anything at all about Tibetans and Buddhism - she would know that her words - exaggerating her relationship - lacked truth and goodness
3. She, like many of us, become supercilious because we are engaged mostly so we feel good
4. There's always hope ...

Binx101
The Almost Daily Binx
http://binx101.wordpress.com

[Cathexis]

Tsk. Claiming "karma" for a natural disaster is incredibly thoughtless and superstitious ... to the point of being outright stupid. What will she say about Katrina or every other natural disaster that hit ... that the victims somehow deserved it? Doe sthat mean the US should get hit by a comet, causing the deaths of millions, because of the criminal acts of George W Bush?

Idiocy. That's something a rightwing religious nut would say when the country's "morals" don't conform to his narrow views.

On top of that ... no matter what Ms Stone may personally believe about the policies of China's government, any response other than concern and empathy for the tens of thousands killed and the greater numbers hurt, homeless, or otherwise affected ... is just inappropriate.

When a disaster like that hits, arbitrary boundaries on a map don't matter -- we are all human beings and all in this together.

[vginger]

Wow...read­ing these posts is like playing the kids game...eve­ryone stands in a row and the first kid (person) says a word or a sentence..­.ten kids (or persons) down the line...tha­t word or sentence is compleley distorted.
What I heard in the video..in words and in the tone of Sharons voice...wa­s a question.
Not a statement of fact. She "was wondering"­...it is allowed.
Lets face it people, many of us live day to day wondering what the backlash of this countries invading another country and killing many innocent people will bring back to us in the final analysis.
Not only have we allowed our sons and daughters to be sent into battle for the purpose of fattening the wallets of already rich people, but the slaughter of the innocents in Iran makes me wonder what this life is about.
Never thought I would see an America that stands so helpless in the face of tyranny that we just robotically allow this government to committ such moral outrages, and we stand by and blog about it..
We must take back the power of the people and stop feeding into the wallets of the politician­s...but do we even remember how to do this?
Obviously those we had such high hopes for leading us have also fallen into the stupor of cash/power and I do mean Pelosi ,etc. V.

[edtastic]

The Chinese people are well aware of what she said and I reccomend she does not travel there. In fact the chinese are quite tolerant, but making light of a natural disaster of this scale might test there sensabilities. My Chinese friends in China told me about this before i saw it on here its a big enough story. This is not the free speech they wish to suppress its disrespect and disregard for 1.3 billion chinese. The Da Li Lama might be your friend but he does not own tibet and china does not need to kiss his butt. China is taking care of the people of tibet by investing in their development and education for the past 60 years. If she was not a jerk maybe she could have taken the train China built to Lasha at great expense, so she can see whats really going on. Sharon Stone and the peace activist have been lead astray attacking the only people really caring for poor tibetans. There reflex response to hate any people or goverment that does not support there agenda has finally hit the wall of reason. The world is more nuanced and complex than a "FREE TIBET" T-Shirt implies and the ethics and principals of the person wearing it need to be questioned.

[marko77]

"The Dal li Lama might be your friend but he does not own tibet and china does not need to kiss his butt. China is taking care of the people of tibet by investing in their development and education for the past 60 years." by edtastic

The Chinese have "taken care" of Tibetans by murdering tens of thousands of them and by trying to destroy their culture and traditions. This was a mistake made by Mao, although he did much to improve the lives of the Chinese people in general.

The Dalai Llama has tried to interact in a reasonable manner with the Chinese government and bears the Chinese no ill.

[skepticalindenver]

She has totally lost her mind. The woman needs to be medicated and put under observation.

[frl]

well, it would seem that she was plenty medicated, and given quite the observance for her fabulous wisdom.

[jojojo]

What an idiot!

She's no better than Falwell when he said 9/11 was God's will because NY was a haven for gays.

Uh, Sharon...e­arth to Sharon...a­re all those innocent civilians at fault for Tibet, so God is killing them? You're a creep!

[coldcanuckinwhite]

Re. karma - she shouldn't be hanging round Madonna that much...

[coldcanuckinwhite]

She is a member of MENSA? And these are her comments??? Maybe she had had some wine...

[dbj1176]

Many of the people in the effected area are ethnic Tibetans, but she wouldn't know that because she doesn't know waht she is talking about.

She also hasn't the faintest understanding of karma.

[kirksong]

Karma? Was it Tibetan karma to have China invade and destroy Tibetan culture and religion? Louise Blouin MacBain has a current post on the HuffPro about her recent visit to Lhasa - perhaps this gives a clue to what Tibetan life was like pre-China. There are always two sides of history... "It is almost impossible to image that just 58 years ago, before Tibet came to be governed by the Chinese, it held one of the most repressive systems of feudal serfdom in history. A system that was based on a harsh disparity between the ruling religious-­aristocrat­ic class - of which successive Dalai Lama's were at the head - and the serfs, who were viewed as sub-human, sold or traded as slaves by a regime that exercised stringent and barbaric modes of punishment in order to maintain social control. If this system, existing from the 1600's until the late 1950's wasn't a crime against humanity I don't know what is." My heart goes out to all the Chinese and Tibetan's who suffered from this devastating earthquake - and lost their lives. The powers of nature bring us into this world, and remove us with equal ease.

[peacebypiece]

You, Ms Stone, are a member of Mensa, and this is where your thought process led you? You obviously should take another meeting with your "good friend", the Dalai Lama.

[lunadove]

It is never those in power who are hurt, but people who just want a decent life, who have little control over policies of their governments, like in every other place in the world there was a disaster of late.
Our Gov. is no better. They have done horrible deeds in this world and at home, and the blood rests on Americans' shoulders. With that logic, what horrors will soon befall us all?

How many Chinese want better for their country? Do they deserve more pain?

It is too bad there are people so shallow, that think themselves so important, that they can judge these complicated and tragic situatutions as if it was merely a school yard tussle and the culprit fell off the monkey bars.

Disasters do not discriminate. Only foolish humans do.

[escobar]

Sharon seems to have lost her mind.
He remark is so stupid and inhumane it is hard to imagine how drunk or high she must have been to be able to say it and still pronounce the words.
Perhaps the bleach has seeped into her brain?

[Cautious]

"And then I got a letter from the Tibetan foundation that they wanted to go and be helpful, and that made me cry... That was a big lesson to me.""

She got a big lesson from this. Even if it is karma, that's not the point and it doesn't make any difference. Go help. She learned her lesson.

[MalloMel]

I don't believe in karma. I see countries committing atrocious acts, and nothing happens to them. Well, nothing in line with what they've done. I've seen countries committing genocide against others. I've seen countries holding others in bondage. I've seen countries sowing destruction around the world for their own financial gain. Nothing happens to them. Well, nothing much. That's why I don't believe in karma.