Page 78 - Applied Buddhism

Act Against Violence
As religionists, we should not only avoid violence, but also
prevent injustice and violence from being released in the name of
religion. To quote Phra Paisan Visalo, “when tens of thousands are
killed in a land where religion has deeply planted its root, it can be
seen that that religion is a failure…Perhaps most religious leaders
and devotees do not support violence, but their passivity and
inaction enables the few who worship violence to hijack religion
and use religion to legitimise violence at will.”
In a message, the (former) Prime Minister of Malaysia,
Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said that a country should
not allow a few self-proclaimed vanguards of religion to preach
intolerance and hatred towards other religions. He deserves praise
for this courageous remark. All religionists must have the courage
to collaborate and condemn all forms of violence without fearing
retaliation by extremists and fundamentalists. At the same time,
we should, as suggested by Phra Paisan Visalo, cooperate with one
another to protect religion and places of worship – along with the
personal security of religious leaders.
Recently, when Hindu temples in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan
were bull-dozed away to make way for development, Farish A Noor,
a Muslim political scientist, spoke against it. In Indonesia, when
some terrorists were attacking Christians, their Muslim neighbours
provided protection. When the Thai army killed more than 80
people in southern Thailand, Buddhists in Malaysia issued press
statements condemning this act of violence. These are examples of
action against violence.
066 Applied Buddhism
Resolving the Structural Issues
Peace is not possible if people feel deprived or aggrieved.
Most deprivations are rooted in man-made structures or systems
that perpetuate these problems. When these problems, which are
social in nature, take on the tone of religion, they become problems
of religion. Religionists and politicians must therefore be prepared
to tackle and resolve these problems.
Religionists must bear in mind that while they have the
“internal duties” of lending a helping hand to the sick and needy,
they also have the “external duties” of amending or transforming
the structure that contribute to social injustice and violence.
Some of the structural issues confronting multi-religious
Malaysian society are the legal quagmire between Islam and other
religions, the limitation or obstacles imposed on erection of new
places of worship, the bull-dozing away of ancient temples to
give way to development, the lack of burial ground and so on.
These problems need to be carefully resolved to ensure a stable and
peaceful society.
Other problems include poverty, lack of social facilities such
as health-care and education, and lack of opportunities for growth.
Dimensions of these situations can be worsened through religious
abuse. Hence, it is imperative that these problems are properly
addressed and resolved with skill and care.
In the wake of globalisation, a new issue has emerged. This is
the cross-boundary, overuse of large resources: financial, manpower,
media and technology to canvass for more religious followers. If the
use of financial resources in politics is called money politics, then
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