'I'm guessing you've 'I"m curious...how long did you study the Lotus Sutra, the culture milieu that it came forth from, and the culture's unique use of language, written structure, mythology, allegory, and conceptual ritual? I'm guessing you've studied the Pali scriptures quite awhile to actually understand what the Buddha was talking about, and to know what lies beneath the archetypes (?) of Buddhism, and to know that the Lotus Sutra doesn't actually understand what the Buddha is talking about.
Why do people say the opposite of what they mean? That's rhetorical; I know perfectly well. My words must have made you angry; I knew they might, but that's unintentional and always sad. Words are blunt tools. I really don't want to offend you, am not out for a fight... but I suppose saying that is a bit disingenuous of me, if I dig deeper; I find that I say these things knowing they're controversial, having thought them for years and wondered why other people aren't saying them, why people can't see.
I've built up rage at the idea that people could distort Buddha's teachings, could introduce ego into them, could twist the most beautiful thing that exists and use it for worldly ends. And now I speak and want to hurt, I project the people I want to hurt as being ignorant, needing to be taught a lesson, fundamentalists and fantasists whose feelings matter less than those of the wise, who I'm doing a favour to by attacking their traditions, their attachments, by gratifying my anger, and, though maybe you can't feel it, I strike a blow at you, which leads you to strike one at a wider target, reinforces your cynicism about ignorant pseudo-buddhists like me, there's now a little less love in your heart, less patience, and suddenly I realise that wasn't what I wanted at all, that by answering cleverly in a debate, striking a blow, I've diminished everything I'm part of, sent pulses of violence conducting through the world, and I know they will return to me. It has to end, this cycle of pain and retaliation. There's nothing behind it, no one to blame for any of it. We have to step out of it.
So I'm going to answer you in a different way to the way I at first intended to. I'm going to delete my first reply.
I may well be ignorant in my opinions about the Lotus Sutra. I'll read the whole thing in detail, study the history and interpretations and give it some more thought. I'll try to read it with beginner's mind. But if it's as I say in my previous post, I do think that's an important point to make, and I think sometimes people are afraid of making such points, possibly because of warnings in the text itself. I'm not afraid of anything anymore except being out of love.
As I mention above, I've been a bit angry for years about the original message of the Buddha being distorted through the Mahayana, because the original message is so beautiful and it moves me to tears that people could discard it or deny it to others. That's where I'm coming from emotionally. It's that important to me because I understand what's being denied.
I have been reading the Pali Sutras for years, yes, and because of my practice it's plain to me where they're coming from. I hope you don't see that as a boast, there's no other way I can word it.