Originally published at Apollo Lemmon. Please leave any comments there.
I’ve been following the “Saffron Revolution” (a series of anti-government protests in Burma) and the response to it for days now with tremendous sympathy. The protests are a non-violent movement lead by Theravada monks, aimed at creating reforms in the fascist government that is currently in command of Burma. The response to the protests was bloody and heartbreaking, but not unexpected. This is what so often happens when absolutistic forces (fascists) collide with multiplistic defenders of freedom (democrats); emerging freedom is met with violence.
These monks represent a noble and progressive movement within religions that we should embrace and support when it faces off with harmful governance and other injustices. William at Integral Options Cafe shares this sentiment and expressed it beautifully in “More on Why the New Atheists Will Fail“.
In the tradition of Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr., the Burmese monks join their liberal faith with peaceful resistance. They are marching for the freedom of their nation, not to impose their beliefs upon those who do not share them. They merely seek an open and free nation.
One of the greatest values of religion is when it calls us to raise ourselves to higher wisdom, greater compassion and the very freedom and higher cognition that some claim religion as a whole limits.
Symbolic support for Burmese freedom may be limited in impact, but I feel compelled to take part both in this blog and likely in the flesh at local solidarity events that will come up. Beyond this, we can pressure our governments to act to limit the damage done by the Burmese government in ways that are swift and responsible. I’d love to know of other actions that we can take to help the people of Burma, so please do comment with those.
Thanks to C4Chaos for the heads up on the first blogging action and John Craig for spreading the following one. For some background on Burma, check out William’s “A Brief History of Burma” post.