Firebrand monk has tarnished Buddhism and Myanmar

Just days ago hundreds of monks in Myanmar rallied against the United Nations Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee in response to her criticism of a controversial draft law that touches upon a number of sensitive issues, such as interfaith marriage, birth rates and religious conversion.
Lee suggested that Myanmar, also known as Burma, will be backtracking on its so-called democratic reforms if the law is passed by the Parliament.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the laws are discriminatory against women and religious minorities in this largely Buddhist country.
As expected, Lee’s statement drew the wrath of Buddhist monks. But one well-known monk – Wirathu – went way over the lines of decency when he damned Lee as a “whore”.
The controversial monk has taken advantage of the country’s more relaxed atmosphere to make a name for himself – by bashing the country’s Muslim minority and urging the majority ethnic Burmese Buddhists to boycott Muslims’ businesses.
Time magazine, in their July 1, 2013 edition, put him on their front cover with the headline: “The Face of Buddhist Terror?”
In a society where Buddhist monks are held in high regard because they have traditionally been the ones who occupied the moral high ground, Wirathu’s statement came as a shock to Buddhists and non-Buddhists worldwide.
“The sexist, insulting language against the UN’s independent human rights expert on Myanmar … is utterly unacceptable,” United Nation’s human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said.
Al Hussein was right to call on Myanmar’s religious and political leaders to “unequivocally condemn all forms of incitement to hatred, including this abhorrent public personal attack against a UN-appointed expert”.
But his call may fall on deaf ears as a significant number of high-level government officials support the bill, very likely because an election is due to be held later this year. Sadly, nationalism often works, even at the expense of the well being of the country’s religious minorities.
While politicians will be often act in tawdry ways, this upcoming election is extremely important because Myanmar will take a small but important step away from outright military rule.
This one step, of course, will shape the future of the country’s relations and dealings with its religious minorities. And if this course of action is based on discrimination, one has to wonder what the future holds for the minorities that have suffered decades of civil war, with nearly 20 different armed ethnic groups.
There is a difference between freedom of speech and hate speech and Wirathu comes very close to the latter. While it is true that foul language is not a crime, this radical and nationalist monk really pushed the envelope to the point that his political stance and statements over the years could be considered hate crime in some countries.
As a Buddhist country, Thai people expect much more from men who enter the monkhood. Such status requires certain piousness, humility, kindness, integrity and manners.
This is not to say that Thai monks are any better than Burmese monks. They are not. Just look at the local dailies and one can see that the Sangha in Thailand faces all sorts of problems. But sensible debate – not incitement of hate – is how Buddhist institutions must prevail.
Wirathu’s recent and past actions have not only tarnished Buddhism in Myanmar, but also the religion itself. His latest outburst is a further outrage for which he must be condemned.
Myanmar leaders must find the courage to speak out. If not for the sake of Buddhism, they should do it for the sake of their country’s reputation.
Already there are signs of a cross-border alliance between hardline nationalist Buddhist movements in South and Southeast Asia countries. This is worrying because it has the tendency to spread and it could be something that gets out of hand. Norms and reason could be easily tossed out the window as emotions run high and get the better of us regardless if one is a monk or layman.
Burmese authorities should do their part and have the courage to speak out against this movement – to condemn religious leaders who are damaging Buddhism and their country’s image.