SRI LANKA - THE TEMPLE OF DOOM

Buddhist Nationalism in Sri Lanka

The growth of Sinhala-Buddhist "nationalism" in Sri Lanka displays a number of unfortunate and disturbing similarities to religious nationalism in other cultures - for example, religious minorities are being treated as "less Sinhalese" or "less Sri Lankan" than their Buddhist neighbors. This includes Christians, which is ironic considering that Christian Nationalists in America treat non-Christians as "less American" and "less Patriotic."

PK Balachanddran writes for the Hindustan Times:

According to Godfrey Yogarajah, General Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka, 136 Christian places of worship were attacked between January 1, 2003, and January 31, 2004, by unidentified goons. Between December 24, 2003, and now, 56 churches had been attacked, the spurt being explained by the anti-Christian propaganda triggered by the sudden death of the popular Buddhist preacher, Ven. Soma Thero, who was running a campaign against "unethical" conversions by Christian evangelists.

"The police have made no arrests, even though in some cases, as in Homagama and Paadukka, we gave the names of the suspects. The police seem to under the control of the priests of Buddhist temples nearby. In the case of the Homagama church, the police had brought about a settlement, but that very night, the gang came back and attacked," Yogarajah told Hindustan Times.

It doesn't seem to matter what the culture, what the politics, or what the religion - when religion-based nationalism appears, we find similar events, similar attitudes, and similar violence. People are concerned about what this will do in Sri Lanka, already torn apart by civil war and the Tamil rebels. As unfortunate as these developments are, though, they should help teach people that we are looking at problems that aren't unique to any one religion, like Islam or Christianity.

Some religions might be more likely to have problems, but ultimately any religion can probably become involved in violent nationalism and ethnic strife because religion is a fundamental component of people's identity. When people feel threatened, it is common to try and reinforce a communal identity in order to create a defensive barrier against dangers from the outside, and that barrier could end up threatening outsiders in turn. Even atheism could be transformed into a similar tool, if someone tries hard enough