Monday, March 31, 2008 at 2:02am
Religion and politics in Tibet
Column: Left Coast Lions' Den
"Religion and politics don't mix."
This is an American mantra that has been reinforced by the Jeremiads of Rev. Wright God-damning America on the Left and by countless mega-church power-brokers on the Right God-damning just about anyone who isn't a straight, Republican, Protestant Evangelical.
Then we look across the ocean and our determination grows. In Northern Ireland, Presbyterians like me are filled with hatred for their Catholic neighbors; the Catholics respond in kind and with bombs. In Kosovo, Orthodox Christians and Muslims are poised to resume the age-old practice of killing one another. In the Holy Land, religion is used by Jewish Israelis to justify the appropriation of Palestinian land and to deprive peaceful Palestinian civilians of human rights. Palestinians — both Muslims and Christians — are inspired by religion to attack Israeli civilians.
Lord have mercy. Osama bin Laden is condemning the entire European Union because of Danish cartoons. Radical Hindus are calling for the expulsion of Muslims from India. Buddhists are killing Hindus in Sri Lanka. The officially atheist Chinese government is killing Buddhists in the Himalayas.
This brings us to Tibet.
In Tibet, religion and politics are mixing, and the blend works. Both in exile and in their homeland, religious Tibetans are managing to do what secular activists and politicians have failed to do so far: They are focusing the world's attention upon China's abysmal record on human rights. This has been a strong suit for Buddhist monks recently. For a brief moment last year Buddhist monks in Burma brought the repressions of Myanmar's military junta into the limelight.
These are very religious people — they live in monasteries, for crying out loud — yet as far as I know, no one outside the halls of power in Beijing and Rangoon ever sees the bravery and dedication of Buddhist monks and suggests that religion and politics don't mix.
It may be the robes. I wish it were that easy. I'd like to think that a peaceful and eloquent gathering of Presbyterian ministers garbed in pulpit gowns could draw the world's attention to the just cause of Scottish Nationalism, but I doubt it.
Over breakfast on Saturday, in a rare moment of calm in our house, my wife and I talked about Tibet and the mix of religion and politics. "The problem isn't religion," she told me. "The problem is idiots."
I think we need to trust the Pastor's Wife on this one. The world is in trouble not when religion and politics mix, the world is in trouble when politics is conjoined to idiocy. And make no mistake: The religious nuts that fall from the trees of every faith and creed are idiots. This does not mean, however, that all religious people are idiots, nor is it true that all idiots are persons of faith.
People of good conscience should forget about religion and should be dedicated to keeping politics free of idiots.
Meanwhile, I am thankful for the Tibetan monks' witness to the viability of religious politics. And I am keeping them in my prayers. May their voices be strong, may they soon live free in the land of their ancestors, and may their religion never lose its political edge.
— — —
Ben Daniel is the pastor of Foothill Presbyterian Church in San Jose, Calif. Visit his website or send him an email at {email ben@bendaniel.org}ben@bendaniel.org{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Ben Daniel.
This is an American mantra that has been reinforced by the Jeremiads of Rev. Wright God-damning America on the Left and by countless mega-church power-brokers on the Right God-damning just about anyone who isn't a straight, Republican, Protestant Evangelical.
Then we look across the ocean and our determination grows. In Northern Ireland, Presbyterians like me are filled with hatred for their Catholic neighbors; the Catholics respond in kind and with bombs. In Kosovo, Orthodox Christians and Muslims are poised to resume the age-old practice of killing one another. In the Holy Land, religion is used by Jewish Israelis to justify the appropriation of Palestinian land and to deprive peaceful Palestinian civilians of human rights. Palestinians — both Muslims and Christians — are inspired by religion to attack Israeli civilians.
Lord have mercy. Osama bin Laden is condemning the entire European Union because of Danish cartoons. Radical Hindus are calling for the expulsion of Muslims from India. Buddhists are killing Hindus in Sri Lanka. The officially atheist Chinese government is killing Buddhists in the Himalayas.
This brings us to Tibet.
In Tibet, religion and politics are mixing, and the blend works. Both in exile and in their homeland, religious Tibetans are managing to do what secular activists and politicians have failed to do so far: They are focusing the world's attention upon China's abysmal record on human rights. This has been a strong suit for Buddhist monks recently. For a brief moment last year Buddhist monks in Burma brought the repressions of Myanmar's military junta into the limelight.
These are very religious people — they live in monasteries, for crying out loud — yet as far as I know, no one outside the halls of power in Beijing and Rangoon ever sees the bravery and dedication of Buddhist monks and suggests that religion and politics don't mix.
It may be the robes. I wish it were that easy. I'd like to think that a peaceful and eloquent gathering of Presbyterian ministers garbed in pulpit gowns could draw the world's attention to the just cause of Scottish Nationalism, but I doubt it.
Over breakfast on Saturday, in a rare moment of calm in our house, my wife and I talked about Tibet and the mix of religion and politics. "The problem isn't religion," she told me. "The problem is idiots."
I think we need to trust the Pastor's Wife on this one. The world is in trouble not when religion and politics mix, the world is in trouble when politics is conjoined to idiocy. And make no mistake: The religious nuts that fall from the trees of every faith and creed are idiots. This does not mean, however, that all religious people are idiots, nor is it true that all idiots are persons of faith.
People of good conscience should forget about religion and should be dedicated to keeping politics free of idiots.
Meanwhile, I am thankful for the Tibetan monks' witness to the viability of religious politics. And I am keeping them in my prayers. May their voices be strong, may they soon live free in the land of their ancestors, and may their religion never lose its political edge.
— — —
Ben Daniel is the pastor of Foothill Presbyterian Church in San Jose, Calif. Visit his website or send him an email at {email ben@bendaniel.org}ben@bendaniel.org{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Ben Daniel.