Many in the West are besotted with a romantic and erroneous impression of Buddhism - monks quietly meditating and seeking enlightenment in forest or jungle surroundings and an openness that has been lacking in Western religions. The Buddhists, after all, had no crusades and the Buddhist scriptures are indeed models of toleration and humaneness. But to interpret Asian history only on the basis of those documents would be like interpreting the history of Western Europes wars through the Sermon on the Mount. Elements of the Buddhist sangha (clergy) in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, and Korea have played political roles and sometimes engaged in politically inspired violence. The present situation of religious persecution in Myanmar is thus not new, but is disturbing because the attitudes undercut the very democratic reforms the government is undertaking.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 09:01:08 +0000
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