Controversial Buddhist monk jailed for insulting Islam
Controversial Buddhist monk jailed for insulting Islam
Galagodaatte Gnanasara was convicted on Thursday for his anti-Muslim remarks, which date back to 2016.
A hardline Sri Lankan monk who is a close ally of ousted former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has been sentenced to nine months in prison for insulting Islam and inciting religious hatred.
Galagodaatte Gnanasara was convicted on Thursday for the remarks, which date back to 2016.
Sri Lanka rarely convicts Buddhist monks, but this marks the second time that Gnanasara, who has repeatedly been accused of hate crimes and anti-Muslim violence, has been jailed.
I'm curious what hateful remarks did he actually say? The article doesn't mention it.
Yeah, without any specifics, it's pretty hard to determine whether this is the court being theocratically draconian, the monk being bigoted, or both..
Edit: seems it's either him being a bigot or both, based on this organization that he founded:
Bodu Bala Sena, (Sinhala: බොදු බල සේනා, lit. 'Buddhist Power Army'[3][4]) also abbreviated as BBS is a far-right anti-liberalist, and ultranationalist Sinhalese Buddhist organization, and a break-away faction from the right-wing nationalist Jathika Hela Urumaya party.[5][6] The BBS generally opposes pluralist and democratic ideologies, and criticizes non-extremist Buddhist monks for not taking action against the rise of other religions within Sri Lanka.[7]
Man, that IS extremist!
Kinda wild to see Buddhism being extreme and right wing, tbh. Admittedly i only know a little about it, but that feels like the exact opposite of pursuing enlightenment, and i don't mean that in a 'left wing ideals are objectively better' way either (but that is true). Casting off worldly desire, including the desire to control others, is a pretty big deal yeah? It's one of the four noble truths that desire is one of the big causes of life's suffering. Not to mention that the Buddha specifically taught people to come to their own conclusions, that their own life experience was the most important part of coming to enlightenment.
I can at least understand the through line for Christian fascism, but the Buddhist version is crazy.
He looks like he's beat tranquility into you.
Maybe they should have "turned the other cheek" as they say
That's a Christan thing, not really relevant here.
Maybe those Christians got something to learn from the great Boddhisattva... globalization rocks!