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After Michael Jerryson (1974-2021) Nobody Will Ever Look at Buddhism the Same Way

…of the most virulent are the Buddhist riots against Muslims in Myanmar and Sri Lanka where vitriolic monks have added to the climate of hate and ethnic anger. It was this violent side of Buddhism that both troubled and interested Jerryson. It troubled him since he admired the tradition and cherished its attitudes towards peace and tolerance. But as a scholar he was also fascinated with the diversity within the Buddhist community and the degree to…

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Chatting with Myanmar’s Buddhist “Terrorist”

…as Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, the leader of the Bodu Bala Sena movement in Sri Lanka, which Time, Economist, and other international news media have also criticized. Much like Wirathu, he has railed against the imagined threat of a small Muslim minority in his country, and like Wirathu was accused of inciting riots against it. I asked Wirathu if he and the BBS were working together, and he admitted that he had met with Gnanasara, but insisted that…

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As Cambodia Erupts in Protest, a Stolen Buddhist Relic Ignites Anger

…Cambodia’s cultural and religious heritage. The priceless item, gifted by Sri Lanka in 1957 to commemorate the 2,500-year anniversary of Buddha’s birth, was taken during a windy night in mid-December from its resting place in Oudong, Cambodia’s former capital. It had been safely guarded there since 2002. That year, Norodom Sihanouk, the late Cambodian king, transported the urn containing the ashes north from Phnom Penh to Oudong. The urn was plac…

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Yes, the Navy Yard Shooter Was a Buddhist

…Buddhism’s history of violence in places like Burma, Japan, Tibet and Sri Lanka [see: Monks With Guns: Discovering Buddhist Violence, by Michael Jerryson in RD]. However, when the perpetrator is a Muslim we assume, as a matter of course, that religion was their primary motivation—despite the verses in the Qur’an that say murdering a single innocent person is the same as murdering all of humanity. Of course, there is nothing to indicate that Alexi…

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News Flash: Buddhist-Majority Countries Just as Complicated as Muslim-Majority

…ens to spread across parts of Southeast Asia, and indeed some incidents in Sri Lanka (a mosque has been attacked) and Indonesia suggest that it already has; the region is a heavily Buddhist, but also significantly Muslim, part of the planet. We can go further back, of course, in the history of religious tension: The Taliban destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhas, yet another notch in their brutal belt. But Burma’s Muslims have been suffering from long befo…

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“The Gift of Gay”: Father Matthew Kelty, Confessor to Thomas Merton, Dies at 96

…is Holiness the Dalai Lama, and visited the monumental Buddhist statues on Sri Lanka—they were to be the inspiration for what was to be his final artistic and mystic vision. Then, almost as mysteriously as that Buddha’s smile, Merton was gone. Clearly exhausted, he gave a rather poor performance in Bangkok and then, before retiring to his room for a nap, he uttered what were to be his final public words: “Now I will disappear.” He returned to his…

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Religious, Spiritual, and “None of the Above”: How Did Mindfulness Get So Big?

…ss of these early Asian Buddhist reformers—from places as disparate as Sri Lanka, Burma and Japan. Their innovative efforts positioned the Dharma as consistent with “reason” rather than superstition, “empiricism” rather than divine revelation and ultimately the “spiritual” rather than the “religious.” It is also in part due to the parallel efforts of Indian gurus, such as Vivekananda, who presented yoga as an ancient wisdom tradition to help Ameri…

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Hungarian Mayor Wants to Import White Christians, Ban Muslims & LGBT People; Global LGBT Recap

…no one to turn to. Nepal: Activists call for changes in civil and criminal code Pahichan reports from Kathmandu that local human rights activists have submitted a memo to Speaker Onsari Gharti calling for changes to provisions of the civil and criminal code that violate the rights of women and gender and sexual minorities. Albania: Activists seek to build on LGBT progress with partnership recognition Kristi Pinderin, head of PRO LGBT, announced th…

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Pope Francis meets with bishop who blessed gay couple; Proposed NGO law in Uganda threatens LGBT groups, civil society; Interfaith sexuality organizing in Indonesia; global LGBT recap

…in the Maldives under Sharia law, and with the publication of a new Penal code in 2014, also under national law, and may be punishable by death penalty. The new Penal code transposes into national law provisions which were previously just in Sharia law and applicable to Muslim citizens. In any case these new provisions have not been put into legal practice so far and there is no record of trials for homosexual practices in the aftermath of the ne…

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Catholic Cardinal Slams Jesuit’s Bridge-Building Book; and More in Global LGBT Recap

…o women. There is also a bill in Parliament to revise the current criminal code, which was basically translated from the Dutch criminal code. The latest version apparently does have a sodomy article. So we actually face the criminalization of homosexual acts.” Somoa: Prime Minister Says ‘Christian Country’ Will Never OK Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage Prime Minister Tuilaepa Seilele Malielegaoi said in a radio interview that Samoa is a Christian count…

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