Christian Students in Myanmar Forced to Shave Heads, Convert to Buddhism

[Ensapa]

It seems that in myanmar and in some countries where Buddhism is part of their cultural identity, there is a very strong need to identify themselves as Buddhist as it is their national identity. In some cases where the country's identity has been torn apart such as the Burmese (by the Pol Pot regime) it is understandable to a degree that Buddhism is one of the few fragments that they have of their cultural identity and they hold on to it very tightly and strongly. However this also causes an intolerance towards other religions as well and as a result, they inadvertently misuse Buddhism and religion as a worldly object for a worldly purpose and for worldly means. This causes another bigger ripple effect: how the rest of the world view Buddhism as, and the effects of attainments of the Buddhist practitioners of that region.

CTA is also in danger of becoming this, if they allow the whole Tibetan freedom thing to override the teachings that they have acquired from so many high lamas that they had over the many centuries. Sacrificing the Dharma for the sake of something so relatively small like a country's freedom and independence is not worth it.

[Jessie Fong]

By Ensapa ::: It seems that in myanmar and in some countries where Buddhism is part of their cultural identity, there is a very strong need to identify themselves as Buddhist as it is their national identity. In some cases where the country's identity has been torn apart such as the Burmese (by the Pol Pot regime)


Excuse me, Ensapa if my memory serves me well with regards to Indo-China history, Pol Pot was leader in the Cambodian Communist movement and became premier of the government of Democratic Kampuchéa (DK) from 1976 to 1979. He directed the mass killing of intellectuals, professional people, and city dwellers—over a million of his own people.

Read more: Pol Pot Biography - life, family, name, death, school, son, information, born, house, time http://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Pol-Pot.html#ixzz26pLRMkfl

Read more: Pol Pot Biography - life, family, name, death, school, son, information, born, house, time http://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Pol-Pot.html#ixzz26pLMoycW

[pgdharma]

This is so shocking! What is happening in a Buddhist country like Myanmar is not right! Majority of them may be Buddhist but they do not have the right to force people to convert to a religion which they have no faith in.  Buddhism is about respecting others; Buddhists should practice love and compassion and to alleviate others out of suffering.  Yes, they may have shaved their heads or wear monk’s robe but if they have ill feelings and negative thoughts of their “forced” religion, then their practice will not be of benefit to them and will not have results.

[DS Star]

.... In some cases where the country's identity has been torn apart such as the Burmese (by the Pol Pot regime) it is understandable to a degree that Buddhism is one of the few fragments that they have of their cultural identity and they hold on to it very tightly and strongly.

Dear Ensapa, you brought up a valid point on the issue of "country identity" but I have a question for you:

How is the Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's regime responsible for tearing apart Burmese' country identity?

Pol Pot is the man responsible for ordering the genocide that tortured and killed about 2 millions people in Cambodia.

http://youtu.be/1-SI8RF6wDE
	Small | Large

http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/pol-pot.htm


As for Myanmar/ Burma, I would say the cause for the country's political instability and chaos was due to these two men:

1. General U Saw, ex-premier who was responsible for the July 1947's assassination of the imminent Burma's leader Aung San (father of Aung San Suu Kyi); http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_Saw and,

2. Senior General Than Shwe, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Than_Shwe, military dictator who is the real perpetrator behind the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and the arrests of her party's leaders following their landslide victory in the 1990 Burmese General Election.

"The elections were won convincingly by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), who took 392 of the 492 seats. However, the military junta refused to recognize the results, and ruled the country as the State Peace and Development Council until 2011. Voter turnout was 72.6%."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_general_election,_1990