The Christian Science Monitor

Is Rohingya crisis changing West's 'romanticized' view of Buddhism?

For many Americans, popular images of Buddhism have often included those of monks in saffron-colored robes, meditating peacefully on windswept mountains, revering all forms of life while seeking higher states of enlightenment.

In the context of such clichés, it has been jarring, many say, to see very different images coming out of Myanmar. Many monks, barefoot and clothed in the traditional robes of Burmese Buddhist monasteries, have been at the forefront of the violent repression of the Rohingya Muslim minority, which the United Nations has characterized as ethnic cleansing.

Over the past month, more than 400,000 Rohingya have fled their homes in what United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Sunday called “the most urgent refugee emergency in the world” right now. Often spurred on by Buddhist monks, local mobs and government forces have reportedly burned hundreds of Rohingya villages to the ground in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, slaughtering many of their Muslim inhabitants as hundreds of thousands have fled to neighboring Bangladesh.

Reverence for life'Saffron Revolution'Is it fair to judge a faith by its violent fringe?

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Christian Science Monitor

The Christian Science Monitor2 min readCrime & Violence
An Honest Hearing In Gibraltar
Many people may know Gibraltar only by its wedge-shaped outcropping at the opening of the Mediterranean Sea or by the Beatles song about the marriage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Yet it may now be poised to show how perceptions of government malfeasa
The Christian Science Monitor5 min readCrime & Violence
Wary Supreme Court Voices Skepticism About Abortion Pill Case
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the United States heard its biggest abortion case since it overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. And for the most part, the justices appeared skeptical that they should even be hearing the case at all. In one of the m
The Christian Science Monitor5 min readInternational Relations
Israelis Begin To Sour On Biden As US Ratchets Up Pressure Over Gaza
The joke making the rounds in Israel’s political circles goes something like this: Everybody knows Joe Biden’s top priority is the two-state solution – the two states being Michigan and Pennsylvania. The play on President Biden’s insistence that a pa

Related Books & Audiobooks