True Face of the Buddha

So I got called a western convert perpetuating falsehoods for suggesting that the Buddha didn't want his image revered. (Source) "On this episode of "S@!#?@! Westerners Made Up About Buddhism":"

I read that this question is "sect-agnostic". A conflict between Theravada and Mahayana perhaps? ""The disciplines of austerity and contemplation Gautama had taught were now increasingly confined to a minority of orthodox .., the followers of Mahayana winning conversions among the masses. One sign of this was the proliferation in the first and second centuries AD of statues and representations of the Buddha, a practice hitherto restrained by the Buddha's prohibition of idol-worship." (Roberts 1995: 417) (ROBERTS; J.M. 1995. The Penguin History of the World. London: Penguin Group, 3rd edition.)

I like exploring things, see how I know things, learning deeper. I don't assume my present understanding is necessarily correct. My initial idea was that I remember some Pali Text where he folds a robe into a square and then puts a bowl on top of it to say how he wants to be remembered. That is the basis for a stupa. I can't seem to find it, if someone could put the references in the comments I would be eternally grateful. 

Not all sources are equal and we have to use discernment while searching the internet. I'm not sure I have done that below, I just try to evaluating things I come across. 

I also think he felt like he discovered an ancient city, and adopted the name Buddha for the state he attained. It's not called Siddhartha Gotamaism. It's depersonalized. It's not about his biography, it's about the path towards enlightenment.

So lets review the evidence. First you get a New York Times article that claims, “FOR THE FIRST six centuries after his death, the Buddha was never depicted in human form.” It is quite possible that this is inaccurate. Susan and John Huntington think perhaps images began to appear within a generation of his death. (Source)

Then, "The Buddha never suggested that he was above other men and did not want himself to become a deity to be worshiped." I don't know how accurate this website is. 

"The sight of my foul body is useless; he who sees the Dhamma, he it is that seeth me" is a translation of "yo kho dhammam passati so mam passati; yo mam passati so dhammam passati" (source)

Also I've been taken by people who claim a certain image of the Buddha is the real image of his face. Here is one example: 

I felt a conflict, because if someone believed the image was the real one and looking at that image really juiced up someone's practice, it seemed like almost a devotional act that didn't need to be true or false. 

There's also the phenomenon whereby people make statues of the Buddha that look like a certain race, like if the Buddha was Thai or English. Similar things go on with Jesus. 

Then there is the destruction of Buddha images by Muslims and Chinese Communists. This article claims the Buddha was a guide, not an icon. In government dissembling, Afghanistan representative claimed, "the images are being destroyed because there are no followers of Buddhism in Afghanistan to worship them".

""There is a misunderstanding that Buddhists try to worship idols," said Guoyuan Fashi, abbot at the Chan Meditation Center in New York City. "The main thing is that we respect the Buddha because we understand his teachings.""

It's from an art history standpoint that they are irreplaceable. Guo Yuan is talking about how to avoid anger, and says that you don't have to get angry at incorrect actions by others. I'm still fighting that teaching, because I think too much pacifism isn't good in a democracy, where people need to advocate and be heard. Chinese Chan was almost snuffed out by the Cultural Revolution. I get angry over the Cultural Revolution, the dynamiting of the Bamiyan statues in 2001 (source), and the sack of Nalanda by Bakhtiyar Khalji. It's part of Buddhist culture to say, "let it go," but I find religious persecution of any kind deplorable, and when it happens to my tradition, I feel extra outrage. I guess I'm not enlightened yet.