Continuing on the theme of why Buddhism is not about detachment -- Brad Warner found a graphic on his Facebook wall that said "Buddhism, a Religion Based on Not Giving a F***." Except without the asterisks. He disagrees, but considers why people might have the impression that Buddhism is about "not giving a f***."
I think a big part of it comes from the misunderstanding that Buddhism teaches "detachment," and that the point of it is to remain in a state of sweet, hazy bliss, beyond caring about anything else. I run into this notion frequently, and it's entirely wrong. But if that is how you understand Buddhism, it certainly would make sense to assume it's a religion based on not giving a you-know-what.
Warner Sensei has some other ideas, though. One is that Buddhism doesn't care about many things that are of critical concern to other religions -- beliefs, God, worship, evolution, premarital sex, etc. As Brad Warner says, this may give people the impression that Buddhism enshrines Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure as its ideal. But just because Buddhists don't care about X doesn't mean they don't care about anything.
Another point he makes is that there's a difference between acceptance and complacency. He says,
"It seems to me that for most people 'giving a [bleep]' means being intensely wrapped up in your own thoughts. Buddhists don't learn how not to worry. They learn how not to worry about being worried. It's not that we don't care. We care a lot. But we also see what our real role is in the things we care about."
One of the things you learn, for example, is how to do your best to make things better without attaching to a particular outcome. We might accept, for example, that our work to make things better may not bear fruit within our sight, or in our lifetime. But accepting that reality doesn't mean we are complacent about whether things get better.
I've also run into the attitude that "caring" means working up a sweat about something -- yelling, pounding tables, getting angry. I've never seen a situation that was made better by yelling at it, though.
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