Militant Buddhism: The Rise of Religious Violence in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand

Description

Against the backdrop of the ongoing Rohingya crisis, this book takes a close and detailed look at the rise of militant Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand, and especially at the issues of ‘why’ and ‘how’ around it. We are well aware of Christian fundamentalism, militant Judaism and Islamist Salafism-Jihadism. Extremist and violent Buddhism however features only rarely in book-length studies on religion and political violence. Somehow, the very idea of Buddhist monks as the archetypical ‘world renouncers’ exhorting frenzied mobs to commit acts of violence against perceived ‘enemies of the religion’ seems to be outright ludicrous. Recent events in Myanmar/Burma, but also in Thailand and Sri Lanka, however indicate that a militant strand of Theravada Buddhism is on the rise. How can this rise be explained, and what role do monks play in that regard? These are the two broad questions that this book explores. Front Matter ....Pages i-vi Introduction: Between Dhamma-Ghosa and Bheri-Ghosa (Peter Lehr)....Pages 1-11 The Sound of War Drums: Political Theology and the Return of Religion (Peter Lehr)....Pages 13-44 The Age of Suffering: Buddhist Discourses on Non-violence in Theory and Practice (Peter Lehr)....Pages 45-79 Monks in the Age of Suffering: World Renouncers and World Conquerors (Peter Lehr)....Pages 81-113 Sri Lanka: “This Is the Country of Us Sinhala People” (Peter Lehr)....Pages 115-155 Burma: “You Cannot Sleep Next to a Mad Dog” (Peter Lehr)....Pages 157-191 Thailand: “It Is Time to Arm Thai Buddhists” (Peter Lehr)....Pages 193-230 Comparative Analysis: “Buddhism Is Not a Suicidal Utopianism” (Peter Lehr)....Pages 231-260 Outlook: How to Deal with War Monks? (Peter Lehr)....Pages 261-269 Back Matter ....Pages 271-306