By Damian Thompson
Spectator - 28 June 2014
Increasingly, not to understand faith is not to understand the world
Aren’t Buddhist monks adorable? They meditate for days without
needing to go to the toilet. They talk to each other in ‘grasshopper’
haikus. Their pot bellies are full of wholesome vegetarian fare. Your
package tour to Southeast Asia isn’t complete without a sprinkling of
them begging politely in the markets. Hollywood stars hire them for
beachfront weddings because they’re so cute.
Apart from the ones who are terrorists.
In Burma, Buddhism has turned nasty, thanks to a gang of monks who
call themselves the ‘969’, after the nine virtues of Buddha, the six
elements of his teachings, and the nine attributes of the clergy. The
969 are consumed with hatred for Burma’s Muslims, who make up 4 per cent
of the population. Nearly 200,000 have been driven from their homes.
For Burmese Muslims, the numbers 969 — which jump out at them from gaily
coloured stickers in shops and taxis — are as menacing as the swastika
for Jews. In March, Buddhists set fire to an Islamic boarding school in
central Burma. Twenty-four students and teachers were killed; a boy was
decapitated; police stood by while onlookers applauded.
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