The latest in “scandal” news is Sharon Stone offhandedly suggesting that the recent earthquake in China might be related to bad karma for that country’s treatment of Tibet – and how it made her cry when she heard about Tibetans helping out Chinese afterwards, despite them having been treated badly. Because, shouldn’t we all do our best to help others out, even if they aren’t nice to us?

This has apparently outraged several people in China, one a theatre owner who’s now banned all of her films and complained about how she’s bringing personal politics into the discussion of a natural disaster.

I find this quite humorous. Of all the cultures to understand a passing comment about karma and how things come around in cycles, you’d think that China would be somewhere at the top of the list – given that they embrace philosophies that embody that principle to a degree more than most others.

Disagreeing with the implication that they have done something bad to warrant the disaster in return is one thing, but reacting in such immediate hostility to the possible suggestion of karma at work (as well as to the positive sentiment toward Tibetans) is silly.