Buddhist monk Wirathu insists he is a man of peace. Never mind his nine years in prison for inciting violence against Muslims. Never mind that in the new Burma, the man dubbed the
“Burmese bin Laden” has emerged as the spiritual leader of a
pro-Buddhist fringe movement accused of fueling a bloody campaign of
sectarian violence. Last week my blog was about Buddhist monks participating in beating Muslims.
Wirathu has become the figurehead of a virulent strain of religious nationalism
being spread by some of the most venerated members of Burmese society,
Buddhist monks. Their core message is that Buddhists must unite against a
growing Muslim threat. Such monks provide an ideological justification for the religious violence that has ripped through Burma over the last year.
What is really scary is that Wirathu said “If they knew my true ideas, they would call me saviour.” Any body that thinks he is a savior is scary to me, and probably dangerous because he feels like he is justified in doing anything, even hurting others.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/monk-dubbed-burmese-bin-laden-provokes-violence-1-2912656
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