It’s good that forms of group-hatred like racism and sexism and xenophobia and homophobia don’t really matter, because they never make anything bad happen. It’s good that they’re all just words, just being “offended,” and basically just a kind of fluff blowing around on the surface of life.
Buddhist residents in western Burma have killed at least nine Muslims as sectarian tension worsens in the region, police say.
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Rakhine is home to Burma’s largest concentration of Muslims, including much-persecuted Rohingya Muslims, and their presence is often deeply resented by the majority Buddhist population.
In a joint statement quoted by Reuters, eight Rohingya rights groups based outside Burma condemned the attack on the Muslims on the bus, whom they termed “Muslim pilgrims”.
Although it appears those on the bus were not Rohingyas, the groups said the attack followed months of anti-Rohingya propaganda stirred up by “extremists and xenophobes”.
Yes but propaganda doesn’t matter. Propaganda never makes anything happen. It’s just words. Grow a thicker skin. Ignore them. Complaining about it just makes potential victims afraid when they otherwise wouldn’t be. Grow a pair. Get a life. Move on.
Buddhists? Really?
Oh yes.
Mano Singham tells us that in Sri Lanka, where Buddhists are in the majority, they can bully as well as any other majority.
They’re in the majority in Rakhine province, too.
Unfortunately it seems that virtually any in-group mindset can devolve into violence against outsiders, regardless of the tenants of the in-group (like non-violence being a virtue).
I don’t know of a solution outside constant self-vigilance. And how do you know if you are being “vigilant enough”?
Exactly what I was going to say. Mind opened after this.
Those surprised by this should pick up Buddhist Warfare (http://www.amazon.com/Buddhist-Warfare-Michael-Jerryson/dp/0195394844). The reputation for being placid, peaceful New-Agey but harmless woo-fans seems mostly the result of rich white folks picking up sanitized versions.
I thought everybody knew that Eastern Buddhism was a lot nastier than the Western kind.
Then again, the Western kind is no great shakes, either, aside from its crap epistemological basis. “Karma” is an awesome means of system justification. There’s a reason Thich Nhat Hanh has a fan club among xtians. Then there’s the disdain for critical thinking, because it interferes with your “spritual growth.”
Happiestsadist, note that the negative reviews of Buddhist Warfare are jam-packed with True Scotsmen.
Yes but propaganda doesn’t matter. Propaganda never makes anything happen. It’s just words.
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I am sure Goebbels would agree.