Tom DeLay - the Buddhist Remix

[Another item recycled from one of my other blogs]

The young child of a Buddhist family was trying to understand the Buddhist concepts of death and reincarnation. He asked his father what happened when he died. His father explained that if he had followed the Buddhist path and been a good person then he would be rewarded with Nirvana but if he had been a bad person he would be reincarnated as a rat because his soul needed to learn more.

The child thought a while and then asked his father what happened if he died as a rat. His father explained that if, as a rat, he had followed the Buddhist path and been a good rat then he would be rewarded by being reincarnated as a human but if he had been a bad rat he would be reincarnated as a cockroach because his soul needed to learn a lot more.

The child thought yet again and then asked his father what happened if he died as a cockroach. His father explained that if, as a cockroach, he had followed the Buddhist path and been a good cockroach then he would be rewarded by being reincarnated as a rat but if he had been a bad cockroach he would be reincarnated as Tom DeLay.

The child pondered heavily for a long time and then said to his father "Fuck it, if I screw up as a cockroach can I go straight to Hell? That's a lesser punishment than being Tom DeLay." His father smiled, knowing that his child was on the path to enlightenment.