Posted on 08/09/2016 5:31:23 PM PDT by marshmallow
The Vatican appears to disapprove of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith’s statement of July 25, that it is right to give to Buddhism the “foremost place” in the Sri Lankan constitution and that it is not right to declare Sri Lanka a secular state.
The Vatican Radio’s website carries a story from Colombo dated August 4, in which a group of Sri Lankan Catholics are quoted as saying that the new Sri Lankan constitution should be a secular one and that giving a special constitutional status to Buddhism is a violation of human rights.
Cardinal Ranjith ,who is Colombo’s Archbishop, had said that the status and respect reserved for Buddhism should remain intact in the constitution, He expressed this view while participating in a Buddhist ceremony at the Sri Sambodhi Viharaya in Colombo, Daily Mirror reported.
Justifying his contention, Cardinal Ranjith said that the teachings of Buddhism bring people relief whenever they are confronted with mental pain and discomfort. He then went on to say that Sri Lanka’s prominence rests on Buddhism, and therefore, there should be no change in the “foremost place” which it currently enjoys in the country’ constitution.
“We all live in a country nourished by Buddhism,” Cardinal Ranjith pointed out.
But the Cardinal’s stand received flak from some Catholics who said that he had no right to speak for the entire community. “What he said can only be taken as his personal view,” they said.
It did not take long for the controversy to reach the Vatican in Rome. On August 4, Vatican Radio’s website carried a story saying that Sri Lankan Catholics and human rights activists have demanded that the Sri Lankan constitution, that is now in the process of being rewritten, should be a secular one.
“A secular state does not mean being irreligious. But an....
(Excerpt) Read more at newindianexpress.com ...
I take it that Sri Lanka has been officially Buddhist already, so keeping this in a new constitution wouldn’t be a change.
I’ve seen situations where Christians have benefited through their neighbors’ practice of non-Christian faiths. “Secular” might be further from God than Buddhism is, depending on the situation and what is vying with Buddhism.
I pray for wisdom for the Christians in the situation to have the right witness.
I thought Buddhism isn’t really a religion at all; do they have a deity?
That’s a basically Western quibble.
It arose, as best I understand, as a reform upon Hindu faith. Gautama Buddha hated the idols of Hindu faith. He came up with a philosophical system that is almost deity-less, but not quite. Its goal is to achieve an extinction of desire, which Buddha viewed as evil due to the inevitable frustration it leads to, through oneness with a “higher principle.” They call this nirvana, which isn’t bliss as commonly viewed in Western eyes, but a kind of anesthesia.
It’s wrong. Christ brings Christians a purified desire and a reconciliation with heaven, not an extinguished desire.
But as far as keeping civic order and social pleasantness, one could do a lot worse.
I understand the quest for a lack of want, but Buddhism is generally viewed as a philosophy rather than a religion. Siddhartha didn’t seem much influenced by the countless gods of Hindus.
He had to embrace a dogma of a higher supernatural power to make his philosophy go, however. So it is yet a religion but not with the kind of god or deity that Westerners generally understand to be one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahm%C4%81_(Buddhism)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahman
Notice the commonality, though the stories are not the same.
“while participating in a Buddhist ceremony “
How exactly did he participate?
Christians might be able to attend such a ceremony, or join in a wedding celebration, etc.,
but there are limits (ie, burning incense to an idol, for example).
Don’t mess with peaceful Buddhists -
Buddhists Killing more than 100,000 Rohingya Muslims at Burma 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcJTPuAKGsQ
Knife-armed Buddhist mob attack Muslims and set Myanmar mosque ablaze
If they were true Buddhists, they wouldn’t care whether or not they are
included in the Constiution.
Very good examples, SD.
Buddhist countries are incredibly intolerant. The Buddhists of Sri Lanka have a violent and repressive attitude to the Hindu minority, and Bhutan - the Kingdom of Happiness - expelled the Nepali minority (Hindus) in the 1980s. The Burmese expelled their Sikh and Hindu minorities in the late 1940s, before recently starting on the Muslims.
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Don’t ask me, I wasn’t there.
Really?
According to the 2012 census, Buddhists make up 70.1% of the population, Hindus 12.6%, Muslims 9.7% and Christians 7.6%. Wikipedia.
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