I recently viewed a program on ABC television station here in Australia called 'Compass', yes I watch a lot of the ABC. The program deals with religious and social issues through out the world.
The topic which caught my eye was on 'Radical Buddhist Monks' in Sri Lanka.
This statement is conundrum within itself.... Buddhism is probably the religion furthest from radical fundamentalism of any in the world today.
But they it was, Buddhist monks ransacking catholic churches, tormenting villagers, setting fire to churches, and generally causing mayhem in the communities.
Although these events have been condemned by the leaders of the Buddhist faith the events are still going on.....
So is this a sign of the times, religion and faith going horribly wrong, or is it more to do with fear and persecution that these aspects of human nature are coming to fore.....
What do you think?
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4 comments:
I think it is an indication that, despite the history of increased secularism in Western Europe, the rest of the world is experiencing an increase in religious fervor, including the kind of intolerant violence you are writing about. It's sad, really, that even Buddhists now can rampage.
By the way, I am an American, a Christian, liberal in theology, lefty in politics (at least by our standards), and I found your site through BlogRush. I cannot help but find your site, and your goal, interesting. Do you mind terribly if I link to you?
I think what you are talking about is more of a human condition than a religious one. If you take a brief tour of the last century you'll find that secularism, nationalism, and other non-religious ideologies have all had their turn at ideological barbarism. Angry, intolerant, power-hungry people can use any set of ideas to a violent end. The base ideas can't be blamed since the vast majority of people who espouse them don't end up doing the same thing.
There is also the population factor. These episodes are more plentiful because people are more plentiful. This is especially true in areas of the third world that are over-crowded. Without stable conditions or governments, violence is never far behind. Ideas become the excuse not the reason.
Oh, and BTW, I think your taxi driver/preacher joke is GREAT!
I think it's a sign of human nature. No matter how good the organization there are going to be some bad eggs.
Even in the Catholic Church, to which I belong, there are some who don't truly follow the faith. Some of them are, unfortunately, priests. It's always difficult to deal with one of your own who goes bad.
As for these particular Buddhists, it is very surprising that they'd turn violent. They always seemed rather passive to me. That they went after Christian institutions isn't that surprising. (Just from a global perspective it seems that Christians are among the first to get dog piled on. Right up there with Jews.)
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