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[siddx]

Sadly this has been going on for a long time. Myanmar, along with Sri Lanka, are prime examples of how even Buddhism is plagued by extremists that have no issue being massive hypocrites while spreading hate and violence. This won't stop either until they have killed or driven every Muslim from Myanmar.

 

[Violet_0]

a couple years ago while I was in the near vicinity I learned that the so-called "hill tribes" in Myanmar were fleeing to Thailand. I imagine this has been going on for a long time without anyone paying attention

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Myanmar only 'recently' opened up to the world hence a lot of these things nobody knew about

 

[Akuun]

Jesus Christ. They're actually using the "that's SUPPOSED to be on fire" defense?

Fuck these guys. But if they're barring people from investigating then is there a way to force the issue? They're obviously not going to cooperate.

 

[Snowybreak]

Man... Fuck this. I can't believe that they're is nothing we can do.

Also, a bit off topic but tied in, I keep getting MGSV ads during these threads.

 

[Ashes]

Gonna write to my mp to bring this up in Parliament.

 

[Jackpot]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ce-beating-muslim-minority-rohingya-villagers

Just to bump with a video of the police beating Rohingya villagers.

And a reminder that Aung San Suu Kyi herself refuses to recognise them as a distinct ethnic group
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/w...ya-aung-san-suu-kyi.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

Though that doesn't stop her from hating them
http://www.vox.com/2016/3/28/11306856/aung-san-suu-kyi-muslim-rohingya-bbc

"No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim"

 

[Jackpot]

Back to full-on authoritarian mode (did it ever stop?)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...d-aung-san-suu-kyis-myanmar-prosecutions-soar

Free speech curtailed in Aung San Suu Kyi's Myanmar as prosecutions soar

Dozens of people have been charged or jailed for allegedly defaming the regime that the Nobel laureate leads, raising fears of continued oppression

For decades, the punishment for speaking out against Myanmar’s rulers was simple and guaranteed: a very long stretch behind bars.

The new democratic government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, which took power last April, insisted that era was over.

But at a Yangon courthouse on Friday, 32-year-old Ma Cho watches as a familiar scene unfolds: her husband, one among a new generation of political prisoners, led from a van into the docks.

Myo Yan Naung Thein, secretary of the ruling party’s central research committee, is on trial for criminal defamation, accused of insulting the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

He has been detained without bail since early November, when he criticised the army’s response to attacks by Rohingya Muslim militants in a Facebook post.

“This is not insulting – this is just criticising, with facts,” says Ma Cho. “This is freedom of speech.”

He is one of dozens of people arrested on similar charges under the rule of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

Activist Aung Win Hlaing, a member of the National Democratic Force party, was jailed for nine months in September for calling president Htin Kyaw – a Suu Kyi appointee – an “idiot” and “crazy” in a Facebook post.

In recent weeks, following the deadly violence in Rakhine state attributed to Rohingya Muslims that prompted a sweeping army crackdown on the persecuted minority, the government has used state media to flatly deny allegations of abuses by the security forces.

Soldiers have been accused of killing and raping Rohingya, thousands of whom have fled to Bangladesh.

Reporter Maung Maung Tun was slapped with a defamation suit in December for writing an article criticizing state-owned newspaper The Mirror.

“I did the right thing by revealing the truth about the person who did wrong,” he told the Myanmar Times at the time. “But the one who did right is now accused. The world is absolutely upside-down.”

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Really no reason not to take back that peace award at this point.

They are just making a mockery of it with some of the people they've awarded in recent years.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Myanmar is proof that even Buddhism is beholden to the disgusting parts of humanity. In college I worked in a nonprofit that took in a few Myanmar refugees in trying to teach them job skills so that they could find work here. Before that I had known nothing about the country or what goes on.

Sadly this has been going on for a long time. Myanmar, along with Sri Lanka, are prime examples of how even Buddhism is plagued by extremists that have no issue being massive hypocrites while spreading hate and violence. This won't stop either until they have killed or driven every Muslim from Myanmar.

Bhutan as well.

 

[SKINNER!]

Thanks a lot Bono...

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Myanmar is proof that even Buddhism is beholden to the disgusting parts of humanity. In college I worked in a nonprofit that took in a few Myanmar refugees in trying to teach them job skills so that they could find work here. Before that I had known nothing about the country or what goes on.



Bhutan as well.

I still remember when people would use Buddhism to attack Islam with the 'religion of peace' talking point.

 

[Rush_Khan]

So what can actually be done about this, other than having a word with those in power? It seems the government will just deny all the persecution they are doing and happily get away with it. What are surrounding nations doing to help, other than taking in more Rohingyan refugees?

 

[TheExecutive]

The UN accuses someone of doing something terrible and does nothing about it pretty much every day.

 

[Jackpot]

The UN accuses someone of doing something terrible and does nothing about it pretty much every day.

?

That doesn't mean the terrible things aren't happening.

 

[Baki]

So what can actually be done about this, other than having a word with those in power? It seems the government will just deny all the persecution they are doing and happily get away with it. What are surrounding nations doing to help, other than taking in more Rohingyan refugees?

The return of sanctions.

Myanmar started changing because sanctions were hurting them.

I say the UN lays down some brutal god damn sanctions on these fuckers.

 

[Chairman Yang]

I still remember when people would use Buddhism to attack Islam with the 'religion of peace' talking point.

Unless you think all religions have exactly the same effects to exactly the same degree on their adherents, I think there's a good argument to be made that--even with large-scale violence like in Myanmar--Buddhism still leads to more tolerant societies than Sunni Islam.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Unless you think all religions have exactly the same effects to exactly the same degree on their adherents, I think there's a good argument to be made that--even with large-scale violence like in Myanmar--Buddhism still leads to more tolerant societies than Sunni Islam.

Both are guilty of attempted genocide of a minority.

I'd be interested to hear your argument about what makes Buddhism more tolerant than Sunni Islam.

Genuine question because I don't see what you see.

 

[nelsonroyale]

What is going on with the Rohinga is a disgrace...My bro worked out of Myanmar for a while in public health, and his experience also gave him a very mixed appraisal of ASG

Unless you think all religions have exactly the same effects to exactly the same degree on their adherents, I think there's a good argument to be made that--even with large-scale violence like in Myanmar--Buddhism still leads to more tolerant societies than Sunni Islam.

To be fair, there aren't that many 'Buddhist countries'. I think people who follow Buddhism as a religion, as opposed to a more philosophical/practice approach, as about as likely to demonstrate ethnic and religious intolerance, given social and economic instability, as just about any other major religious group...

Miles Quaritch: It depends...Buddhism in some forms, doesn't consider questions of God, etc., as being interesting. It is a philosophy and a set a of practices. In would argue that these practices can can take a more overtly tolerant approach than is generally possibly within the strictures of Islam and Christianity. As in it is perfectly possible to be atheist and practice Buddhism. But, there are many groups and I accept that those that are religious in form and idolatry, are just are not really any different in this respect to other major religions.

 

[Chairman Yang]

Both are guilty of attempted genocide of a minority.

I'd be interested to hear your argument about what makes Buddhism more tolerant than Sunni Islam.

Genuine question because I don't see what you see.

The first main argument is the mainstream interpretations of each religion. All four major schools of Sunni Islam prescribe death for those who attempt to leave the faith. Buddhism has no such tradition.

The second main argument is what's happened, in practice, historically. Buddhist countries have rarely persecuted unbelievers for religious reasons. Muslim countries have done so frequently, even before the current wave of Saudi Arabia-inspired evil. Yes, unbelievers have been crushed under both societies, but the rate of persecution seems utterly incomparable. I'd invite you to look at any number of examples (until you're satisfied) of Buddhists living under Muslim societies, then compare that with Muslims living under Buddhist societies. Don't look at isolated cases, try to get a sense of the overall picture. It's difficult because this type of historical evidence is spotty, but I think the broad picture is clear.

Finally, if you compare the state of religious freedom (both legally and unofficially) in modern Buddhist-majority countries against Muslim-majority countries, it's clear that Myanmar is an outlier. And the Myanmar situation doesn't seem particularly religious in nature--even the head monk at the head of some persecution talks in nationalist/ethnic terms and tries to downplay the religious component. Compare that with the blatantly Islamist rhetoric coming out of places in the Middle East and South Asia.

 

[gnomed]

Unless you think all religions have exactly the same effects to exactly the same degree on their adherents, I think there's a good argument to be made that--even with large-scale violence like in Myanmar--Buddhism still leads to more tolerant societies than Sunni Islam.

You mean like the Buddhists in Japan that tolerated and supported the Rape of Nanking and many atrocities of World War II? Or the many sects of Christianity that have pillaged the West several times over?

I think there are several things that go against your argument. Otherwise the most heavily persecuted peoples of a religion, Jewish people, would not have issues with their neighbors.

Most turmoil are caused by social and economic factors, but can easily be influenced by religion. And all religions are guilty of its contributions.

 

[Chairman Yang]

You mean like the Buddhists in Japan that tolerated and supported the Rape of Nanking and many atrocities of World War II? Or the many sects of Christianity that have pillaged the West several times over?

I think there are several things that go against your argument. Otherwise the most heavily persecuted peoples of a religion, Jewish people, would not have issues with their neighbors.

Most turmoil are caused by social and economic factors, but can easily be influenced by religion. And all religions are guilty of its contributions.

Every ethnic group has millionaires. Does that mean every ethnic group is economically equal?

Every religion has some violence in its history. Does that mean every religion has exactly the same propensity to inspire violence?

This isn't a purely rhetorical question. I'm genuinely interested in your answer.