Burma/Myanmar: Religion


Figure 1.--Here we see children playing outside a Burmese monastrey outside Yangon/Rangoon probably taken in the 1930s.

Buddhism continues to be the principal religion to this day. Myanmar has a population of about 55 million pople. Some of 90 percent of the population adhere to Theravada Buddhism. The remaining 10 percent are Christians (4 percent), Muslims (4 percent), and Hindus (1 percent). The Christains are mostly Baptists and Roman Catholics. There are also small numbers of adherents to Mahayana Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism and Animism. There are ehnic afinities associated with religion. Most Muslims are located in Rakhine State, along the western coast, and many are member of the Rohingya minority group. While Christianity and Islam have grown in importance in recent years, Buddhism remains the dominant religion. The Burmese view religion somewhat differently that Westerners. They see Buddhism as a path to follow rather than a faith in the Western sense. Buddhism was founded in India (about 500 BC). An Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama left the prestigious life to wander as begger seeking enligtenment. His meditation enanled him to eeach a state free from worldly desires. Theravada Buddhism holds four noble truths which include suffering. Buddhism teaches love and kindness for one another. It advocates avoiding extremes and performing good deeds. Buddhism like Hinduism believes in reincarnation and considers that the present actions will affect future lifes orreincarnations. Buddhism also advoctes protecting the environment as it sees nature as sacred. This seens incorprated from the animistic beliefs of pre-Buddist peoples. Myanmar has been ruled of repressive authoritarian military regimes (since 1962). has not existed, after the bloody suppression of the 8888 Uprising. A militry Government suspended the 1974 Socialist constitution (1988). This meant that there has been no constitutional protection of religious freedom. The military authorities, however, have generally permitted most devotees of registered religious groups to worship as they choose as long as tere is no political connections. The government has imposed restrictions on certain religious activities and has been accused of abusing the right to freedom of religion. Yhe principl target has been the country's Muslim minority--the Rohingya . This has been the group expriencing the most severe legal, economic, educational, and social discrimination. The Government refuses to grant citizenship to Rohingyas because they insist the Rohingya were mot present in the country at the start of British colonial rule as mndatedin the country's citizenship law. The Rohingya assert that their presence in the area predates the British arrival by several centuries.







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Created: 2:44 AM 1/23/2018
Last updated: 2:44 AM 1/23/2018