
How Myanmar forces burned, looted and killed in a remote village - xenophon
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/myanmar-rakhine-events/
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andrepd
Excellent journalism, as always. I have been following the case of the two
imprisoned journalists; I hope for their release.

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eimg
I'm a Burmese Buddhist and strongly against both the arrest of reporters and
killing unarmed people of any race/religion. But there is a hidden agenda
behind such article.

It used the word "Buddhist" many many times, such as Buddhist village,
Buddhist neighbors, Buddhist community. The conflict is much more complicated
than religious and those Buddhists mentioned are in fact local "Arakan"
people.

See following NY Times article, not to defend the killing or anything but to
show the matter is much more complicated than it seems. The western medias
have been entirely one-sided and barely listen to the other side of the story
of local Arakan.

[https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/01/world/asia/rohingya-
my...](https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/01/world/asia/rohingya-myanmar-
camps.html)

~~~
inglor
Excuse my ignorance - but does Buddhism have a concept of "holy war" like in
Christianity, Judaism and Islam? If so - are they using religious
justification for the killings or is the killing purely ethnical?

I don't want to spark arguments - so feel free to just post some reading
material as a reply if you'd prefer to and I'll read it.

~~~
fny
Buddhism has a fairly explicit prohibition against killing or even working for
companies in the business (i.e. gunsmith.)

This goes even as far as not executing serial killers.

So this is unprecedented, which is part of why many are so shocked.

~~~
yorwba
Almost all religions have prohibitions against killing; almost all adherents
ignore religious rules whenever they would require acting against their
immediate self-interest.

Buddhists are no exception. Sad as it may be, such atrocities are not
unprecedented and have accompanied Buddhism throughout its history; just as
they have accompanied any other faith.

If you are interested, the book "Buddhist Warfare" collects a few interesting
essays on the topic:
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/0195394844](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0195394844)

~~~
fny
Yes there are those who distort religion, but many religions have war
ingrained in their identities, their foundations. Their gods, as described in
the ancient texts, sanctioned and blessed war. The Abrahamic faiths are
perfect examples of this.

Buddhism, from it's source, is different in that its first espouser
categorically denounced violence against all living things, which makes any
Buddhist warfare a shocking example of human ills. The Buddha even goes as far
as to denounce just retribution.

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stevenh
Related interview with a monk in Myanmar:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvEBaAiy5b4&t=1m17s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvEBaAiy5b4&t=1m17s)

~~~
tasuki
According to Wikipedia, Ashin Wirathu is "the spiritual leader of the anti-
Muslim movement in Burma".

Calling this "interview with a monk" is like calling an interview with Donald
Trump "interview with a politician". Correct, but perhaps not very helpful.

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crankylinuxuser
I understand informing myself of the world events, for sake of a better
education and world citizen.

But what is there I can do from the Midwest US? There's not too damn much I
can do. Post it on Facebook? It'll be drowned out the 80% other party
political issues of the week. Give them money? I can't guarantee it'll get to
the right place (or me deemed terrorist).

Feels bitterweet honestly. Horrible situation, and there's absolutely nothing
I can do that has any positive effective change.

~~~
jonatanheyman
I totally get your frustration. One thing you could do is to write to your
elected officials, and urge them to press for American and international
sanctions agains Myanmar.

~~~
crankylinuxuser
Too true, I could write to my congresscritters. However, here in Indiana,
we're pretty heavily gerrymandered. It's republicans, and r-leaning democrats.

I've written to them before regarding tech issues (net neutrality) that had
direct bearing on us. I received either nothing or a form letter. Maybe it did
have an impact, but it sure didn't feel like it to me.

