Monday, June 15, 2015

The Rohingya crisis and the politics of Buddhist violence...

Some of the most horrific news to have come out of Asia lately has been the plight of the Rohingya, Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine province who have been subjected to tremendous suffering at the hands of the government and their fellow countrymen. At least 25,000 refugees have taken to boats to attempt to escape savage repression.

The refugee crisis as much as anything has brought out into the open the ugly face of inter-religious tension – a war often fought between people who hold different faith systems, which in this case is between the Rohingya Muslims and the mainstream Buddhists of Burma.

But is it a Buddhist problem, or a problem of Buddhism as a thought system? The answer to the first question is certainly “yes,” for the people who are causing the suffering are Buddhists, therefore Buddhism is implicated. However, the answer to the second question is clearly no.

Let’s discuss it in two parts. First, there is the question of why are people shocked that Buddhists, purportedly the world’s most peaceful and non-violent religion, are attacking fellow humans. Second, the question of why some Buddhists, in this case monks in maroon robes and shaven heads, are actually acting against the tenets of their very faith. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. The darker side of Sri Lankan Buddhism...
  2. Buddhist nationalists stoke hatred in Myanmar...
  3. Sri Lanka shaken by religious violence...
  4. Myanmar, Sri Lanka Buddhist hard-liners join hands...
  5. Pro-Muslim Buddhist monk attacked and stripped naked in Sri Lanka for...
  6. Sri Lankan Muslims ask for protection from Buddhist hate crime...

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