THE DARKER SIDE OF BUDDHISM
Many people are under the illusion that Buddhism is somehow superior to other faiths and that persecution and other forms of evil could never take place in the name of Buddhism. This is simply not the case. I have brought this to the attention of others, only to have them say "they're not real Buddhists if they behave like that." a statement which they themselves would laugh at and ridicule if it were made in defense of the Christian faith. I have no reason to doubt that Buddhist teachings are peaceful and this thread is not meant as an attack on the Buddhist faith; its simply to dispel the myth that violence and persecution can never take place in the name of Buddha.
(for this & all further posts, please click on the links for the full un-edited articles)
For example; Bhutan is one of the top five persecutors of Christians and Buddhism is its state religion:
ONE OF THE TOP-FIVE PERSECUTORS OF CHRISTIANS:
Another example are the Buddhists and Buddhist Monks of Bangladesh who kidnap Christians and use that age-old “convert or die†strategy against them, or they forcibly evict Christians from their communities:Bhutan - A key leader says there are approximately 13,000 Bhutanese Christians in the country. Officially, the Christian faith does not exist and Christians are not allowed to pray or celebrate their faith in public. Christians can meet as a family but not collectively with other Christian families. Religious workers are denied visas to enter the country. Christian children are accepted in schools, but they face discrimination if known to be Christian and they face the constant pressure to attend Buddhist religious festivals. It is almost impossible for Christian students to get to university level. For Christians with government jobs, discrimination is also an issue, as there are cases of believers being deprived of government jobs simply because of their faith. The import of printed religious matter is banned, and only Buddhist religious texts are allowed in the country. Persecution mainly comes from the family, the community, and the monks who yield a strong influence in the society. There is discrimination for some Christian workers in the government, but this is not rampant. Cases of atrocities (i.e. beatings) are sporadic. The persecution mainly comes in the form of pressure to reconvert, and this comes mainly from the family and community.
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BUDDHIST MONKS IN BANGLADESH TAKE CHRISTIANS CAPTIVE:
We have all heard of “Cults†inspired by Christianity, but you may be less familiar with the Buddhist equivalents (which there are many):DHAKA, Bangladesh – Buddhist clerics and local council officials are holding 13 newly converted Christians captive in a pagoda in a south-eastern mountainous district of Bangladesh in an attempt to forcibly return them to Buddhism....Local government council officials in Jorachuri sub-district in Rangamati district, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) south-east of Dhaka, are helping the Buddhist monks to hold the Christians against their will, According to the source, two Buddhist clerics, Pronoyon Chakma and Jianoprio Vikku, and two local council members, Vira Chakma and Rubichandra Chakma, were behind the anti-Christian activities along with nine other Buddhist leaders. The Christian leader said Buddhist leaders and local council officials have warned Christians to return to Buddhism or be evicted. Fearing for their lives, the source said, some area Christians have gone into hiding. Mogdhan Union Council Chairman Arun Kanti Chakma, the source said, warned that Christian converts would be ostracized, beaten, and – assuming they returned to Buddhism only to return to Christianity – killed. In another mountainous neighborhood in the Khaokhali area near Jorachuri, about 50 recently converted Christians have been cut off from all communications. They are barred from going to Rangamati town and are living in isolation. Christians in the district have not informed police, fearing that any police action would infuriate terrorist groups among the tribal people of the area. The source said terrorist groups have been known to put the lives of Christians in jeopardy at the slightest provocation.
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UNHOLY ROW OVER DUBIOUS BUDDHIST SECT:
Or how about Buddhists attacking non-Buddhist places of worship?BANGKOK - If the Lord Buddha is looking down on the religious affairs of Thailand, he may well be frowning. Not only is there an unholy row over attempts to disrobe the head of a dubious Buddhist sect, but the ethics of the mainstream clergy are facing increasing public criticism. Problems range from so-called "naughty monks" indulging in alcohol, drugs, gambling and fornication, to downright rotten monks convicted of extortion, rape and murder. Monks have been convicted of molesting children. Abbots have paid bribes to be transferred to more profitable temples. There has even been over-charging for funeral rites. Some believe there is a widespread malaise as monasteries and temples, once centres of learning, lose their relevance in a world of mass communications and consumerism. Rather than emphasising self-enlightenment and detachment, Dhammakaya backs self-interest all the way. Miracles and prosperity are promised in return for big donations, and there are theatrical religious events attended by tens of thousands of people at the Dhammakaya Temple on the outskirts of Bangkok. The editorial said some monks thought nothing of sleeping with women, extorting cash and assets from disciples, burning the bodies of babies to make love potions and selling "magical" amulets. The Nation said some members of the Sangha Supreme Council had been accused of riding in chauffeur-driven limousines provided by Dhammachayo's sect.
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BUDDHISTS ATTACK A CHURCH IN CAMBODIA:
and finally, war in the name of Buddha:Cambodia - About 100 Buddhists ransacked a church during a service on Sunday in southeastern Cambodia, an official reported. The Buddhists invaded the church of Kok Pring, destroying the cross at the altar, breaking windows, and throwing Bibles into puddles of water, the governor said. It seems that the church was Catholic, although the governor was unable to confirm this. The attack caused some injuries, the governor said. He didn't elaborate. The vandals accused the Christians of being contemptuous of the Buddhist community, who are a majority in this South-east Asian country of 12.7 million. Police kept the Buddhists from destroying the building.
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6 OUT OF 8 BUDDHIST MAJORITY NATIONS PERSECUTE NON-BUDDHISTS
In the West, Buddhism is synonymous with peace, compassion, wisdom, and ecumenical brotherhood. This is true also in the case of its most noted figure, the Dalai Lama.
Moreover, Buddhism has a reputation as a persecuted religion, and Tibet is the emblem of this.
But the latest Report on Religious Liberty in the World, released in Rome on June 25, 2004 by Aid to the Church in Need, contains striking evidence of a contrary nature.
In almost all of the Asian states in which Buddhism is the majority religion, there is cruel religious repression. And this strikes all of the non-Buddhist religions.
The most egregious case is, perhaps, that of Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma. The June edition of the American monthly magazine "Crisis" published an account by Benedict Rogers of the implacable persecution of the Christian and Muslim religious minorities, with many forced conversions to Buddhism.
The U.S. Department of State classifies Myanmar among the six worst oppressors of religious liberty in the world. In another ranking of the religious persecution of Christians, carried out by Open Doors, the third place is occupied by another mainly Buddhist country, Laos.
Here is a summary, in alphabetical order, of the states in Asia in which Buddhism is the prevailing religion. It contains references to the religious situation in each of them, taken from the Report 2004 of Aid to the Church in Need.
BUTHAN
CAMBODIAPublic worship, evangelization, and proselytism are illegal for non-Buddhists. In its Ningmapa and Kagyupa versions, Buddhism shapes politics, and it is illegal for a Buddhist to convert to Christianity. Only Buddhist religious texts may be introduced into the country. No alternative religious instruction is permitted in the schools. 15,000 Hindus have been expelled from the south of the country into neighboring India, and the government has begun a program of forced settlement of Buthanese Buuddhists in the region.
LAOSPrime minister Hun Sen says he highly values the work of the foreign missionaries. Nevertheless, a recent resurgence of nationalism - closely connected with Buddhism, which is the state religion - has made more difficult the lives of Christians and Muslims, who live mostly in the rural areas. In July of 2003, around 100 Buddhists attacked a church in Kok Pring, in the southeast of the country, during the Sunday service, blaming the Christians for a drought that had lasted three years. The situation is particularly critical for the Montagnard Christians who fled from Vietnam to Cambodia. The Cambodian government hunts them down and hands them over to the Vietnamese police, who put them into prison.
MONGOLIAThe communist government, in power since 1975, has expressly declared its intention of eliminating Christians, because it considers Christianity as a violation of Laotian customs and an "imperialistic foreign religion" supported by Western and American political interests. Christians are thus considered subversives and enemies of the state. The persecution particularly strikes the ethnic Hmong Christians, who were converted by Protestant American missionaries. Theravada Buddhism is the most important religious organization in the country, and it leaves its mark on public life, especially in the rural areas. It is not a state religion, but the government favors it as a characteristic element of the nation and increasingly uses Buddhist rituals in state-sponsored events. Proselytism by other religions is severely hampered. There have been documented cases of forced renunciation of the Christian faith, with prison for those who refuse.
MYANMARThe constitution guarantees religious freedom, and the government generally respects it, but there are obstacles to proselytism and difficulties in registering and obtaining permission for religious activities. Buddhism - of the Tibetan Lama type - is not a state religion, but it is considered as an integral part of national life and has gained supremacy and advantages over the other religions.
SRI LANKAIt has been governed since 1962 by a communist military regime, which paid no attention to the 1990 electoral victory of the democratic opposition party lead by Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate. The Theravada Buddhism practiced by the majority of the population is not a state religion, but the government controls and favors it, while persecuting the Christian and Muslim minorities. The Catholic schools have been confiscated by the state, and Christians are not permitted to assume leadership posts. The Christians mostly belong to the Chin, Kachin, and Karen populations, among which there are some independence movements. Many have fled to Thailand and India, where they live in refugee camps. In the Chin region, the crosses on the mountainsides, the expressions of their faith, were torn down, and frequently substituted with pagodas. Christians are obliged to pay an annual tax to support the Buddhist religion, and if they convert, they obtain privileges: one of these is exemption from forced labor for the army, which they are periodically constrained to do. The Bible is forbidden, as are meetings outside of the Sunday liturgies, which are frequently disrupted or interrupted. Many Christian children are taken far from their families and interned in Buddhist monasteries.
THAILANDIn Sri Lanka, where Buddhists make up nearly 70 percent of the population, the 2004 report of Aid to the Church in Need writes: "Christianity is perceived as a colonial imposition, and the condition of Christians is rapidly deteriorating." The entry into the country of new pastors and priests - especially Jesuits, who have been banned for over thirty years - is seriously obstructed. Anti-Christian sentiment is even expressed in violent ways, and is aimed above all at the Evangelical and Pentecostal communities. The Buddhist monks, especially in the rural zones, lead the assaults against churches, schools, pastors, and faithful, with destruction and massacres, and form protest marches against "the diabolical conspiracy of the Christian forces to convert and corrupt the nation." In August of 2003, the supreme court ruled that the constitution forbids proselytism. In September, the government ordered the closing of all of the Catholic schools of higher education.
VIETNAMBuddhists make up 85 percent of the population, and Theravada Buddhism is the religion of the state. But freedom for all religions is guaranteed by law, and is respected in practice. Good progress has also been noted in relations with the Muslim minority, especially after the 2002 nomination of a Muslim, Wan Nor Muhamad Matha, as interior minister.
From this inventory it emerges that, of the eight Asian countries with a Buddhist majority, only one of them - Thailand - assures substantial religious to all faiths, and another - Vietnam - persecutes all of them, including Buddhism.There are six authorized religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Hoa-Hao, and Cao-Dai. But the government exercises very strict control over each of them, frequently accompanied by real persecutions, with the arrest of the faithful and the destruction of churches and temples. The Christian minority, more than 8 percent of the population, is particularly harried, for religious and ethnic reasons (as in the case of the Montagnard and Hmong populations). But even Buddhism, which is the most widespread religion, followed by 50 percent of Vietnamese, is placed under heavy restrictions. Its most authoritative leader, Thic Huyen Quang has been under house arrest since 1982.
In the other six states, Buddhism is more or less an integral part of a regime that represses the other religions.
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