Horrific photos and videos. Always made me wonder though when something similar happened to 400k Kashmiri Hindu Pandits (they were kicked out of their own homeland in Kashmir, raped and homes taken over)... why was this never in the news to the same extent?
How the Rohingya Escaped
71–78 of 78 posts
Re: How the Rohingya Escaped
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
We dont need a stronger US, we need a world less dominated by so-called superpowers like USA, China etc. There was strong US influence on Latin American and Middle Eastern dictatorships. Absolute power corrupts all as USA domination on the world would mean more countries having to comply to USA interests. I believe rather the world will become a decentralized world govt under a UN where countries are abolished for re…
Good luck getting countries to agree to abolish themselves. What's the incentive for national politicians to ever agree to that?
Yeah interesting how countries come before people and humanity.
Centuries ago, democracy was looked as mob rule and republics in the Roman sense were favored because they didnt involve the common folk. Its almost amazing that aristocrats and nobles (politicans of the time) agreed to it which they didn't. When a minority gains more than a majority, the majority will try to fight for its powers. Within countries, theres a minority-majority play with national authorities if politicans are a self-serving class separate from that of the general population.
I dont think they will agree but I see it as the future where we start losing notions of countries and people's cultures start blending together through tech, media and economy.
Its the trend for successful products and philosophies to gradually expand and become more global, not the other way around.
I dont pretend to know the future but there have been other theories floating around like the Dark Enlightenment who call for (in my mind wackjob) conservative republics with ideals from past centuries that run as competing corporations instead of countries as the future.
Re: How the Rohingya Escaped
#73Only dead muslim is good muslim. Nothing to see here.
Re: How the Rohingya Escaped
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
What makes you think monks have no authority? I haven't been to Burma but I've been to Thailand which also practices theravada and monks are given an extreme amount of deference. You aren't supposed to talk back to them, when giving food in the morning to the monks you are supposed to bow and not make eye contact, monks are even included with pregnant women and the disabled as people with reserved seating on public t…
It's simply because they have zero realization, that's not what the title means. Also evident in the article, they're clearly clueless. What you're seeing in Thailand is respect for Buddhism itself, and a way to keep people interested in Buddhism. In Buddhism there are levels of realization, and a monk is a zero on that scale. Not sure how else to clarify. There are other titles, normally translated as Venerable, whi…
I agree anyone can put on a robe, but when people give anyone with that robe special treatment and powers, then they have some power and influence.
Anyone in the US can run for a local political position, they are not powerless just because anyone can do it.
Re: How the Rohingya Escaped
#75Re: How the Rohingya Escaped
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would be interesting to see a candid interview with what the real reason for not liking then is. I suspect it’s rooted in the Muslim conquests which are still mentioned in Buddhist texts. Needless to say the Muslim religion is not held in much regard due to that, as opposed to Hinduism which is considered worthy of debating.
The problem is that this reaction is at least somewhat understandable. It may have something to do with how muslims treat buddhists (or any non-muslims), near Myanmar ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Banglad... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Pakista... (note: relevant because Pakistan used to be a neighbouring country to Myanmar/Burma) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedo…
>1) the Rohingya are not looking for peace.
There are a lot of Rohingya with different opinions. I'd guess 99% are looking for peace with a very small minority in favour of violent action.
Re: How the Rohingya Escaped
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is that this reaction is at least somewhat understandable. It may have something to do with how muslims treat buddhists (or any non-muslims), near Myanmar ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Banglad... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Pakista... (note: relevant because Pakistan used to be a neighbouring country to Myanmar/Burma) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedo…
>1) the Rohingya are not looking for peace. There are a lot of Rohingya with different opinions. I'd guess 99% are looking for peace with a very small minority in favour of violent action.
> I'd guess 99% are looking for peace with a very small minority in favour of violent action.
This so called 99% never oppose and stay silent at the best case or sympathize openly at the worst case and this sucks for everyone including muslims and non-muslims. Its impossible to have peace without muslim co-existence with other communities without koran going another version like the new bible. The problem is because koran asks for the state to be controlled by sharia law and sharia law just is not good.
Re: How the Rohingya Escaped
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s an extremely simplistic way of seeing it though. The Rohingya were simple people, mostly poor, and lived in Myanmar for generations; religion would be a code of life for them, not a political tool. It’s likely the opposite for the monks and their followers though; Buddhism is about peace, fundamentally and (in nearly all cases) in practice. My patience with Aung San Suu Kyi has run out completely. Too little s…
>Buddhism is about peace, fundamentally and (in nearly all cases) in practice. There's a slight subtlety to this. Buddhist ethics are very different to Judeo-Christian ethics. The Buddhist equivalent to "thou shalt not kill" is the first of the five precepts, "panatipata veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami", which loosely translates to "I undertake the rule of training to refrain from killing living beings". This is not…
This is just a wrong view of Buddhism, it has nothing to do with "utilitarianism" or net suffering. Buddhists go to great lengths to avoid OTHER's sufferings, even if they themselves become worse off. Someone who truly adheres to the precepts would rather die than break them, you have several stories in Jataka tales and other folklore about this.
To say that it is intrinsically incompatible is just plain wrong, to give an example even the Buddha didn't meddle in political affairs. You just gave a really good example of people bending the rules to make them more aligned with what they believe is right. It's like saying that the Bible is not incompatible with machismo and patriarchy. And on the topic of Buddhism, any "Buddhist" country who promotes violence is like IS to me, they just use a religion for self interest.