Now Drury, there are few things that cause me to get upset, but rubbing the Buddha's belly is one of them. The Buddha is not a fat man who has a fat belly that you rub for good luck. Some terrible American dreamed up that little stereotype, and as a Buddhist, I feel the need to make sure that everyone realizes that the fat man IS NOT the Buddha! At least he is not the Buddha from my religion.

Basically I believe that some idiot found out about the 7 lucky gods. Each one of the gods represent something good. One represents beauty, one represents wisdom etc. The fat man is the god that represents good fortune. Calling him Buddha would be like me taking Santa Claus, calling him Jesus, and telling people that if you rub his belly that you will have good luck.

Sorry for the tirade, and I'm sure you knew all of this but I am Buddhist, and this is my attempt at enlightening others.