Country of Origin: Burma
Location: US
“Buddhist Nationalism and Burmese Christianity”
Buddhist nationalists in contemporary Burma have characterized Christianity as a western religion and accused Christians in the country of being more loyal to the West than to the mother land. This essay, however, argues that Christianity is not Western, but global, and that Christians in Burma are not really followers of the West, but Burmese who remain as loyal to their homeland as do their fellow Burmese. It is stressed in this work that the indigenous form of Christianity after the exodus of the missionaries from Burma in 1966 has proved that Burmese Christianity should be seen not as a Western religion, but as a part of world Christianity. Those who know the history of contemporary Burma should be familiar with the stomach- turning details of ethnic war, religious conflict, and political violence tearing ethnic and religious minority communities apart. The damage caused by religious bigotry and racial hatred to harmony and peace among diverse ethno- religious groups in the country is very real, if not irreversible. This essay navigates the historical trajectory of ethnic exclusion and religious intolerance stemming from the distorted form of Buddhism and addresses how the Burmese have grappled with the grave ramifications of such profound division along the lines of race and religion. It is also claimed that Burma will see real peace and sustainable prosperity only when the Burmese are not divided along the lines of race and religion and instead accept and cherish their diversity.