Sirisena’s Support for Death Penalty is Anti-Buddhist
Posted on June 4th, 2015
Metteyya Brahmana
While it should be no surprise that Sri Lanka’s new puppet-of-the-West president – Maithripala Sirisena – is calling for the death penalty for drug dealers, it is surprising that he is doing this in a country where over 70% of the population is Buddhist. It’s as if he doesn’t understand the value of human life from a Buddhist perspective, how rare human birth actually is, or the import of popular teachings of the Buddha on human redemption, like the Angulimala Sutta.
As most school children in Sri Lanka know, Angulimala was a mass murderer who killed 999 people, and was intent on killing his mother as his next victim when the Buddha intervened. The Buddha displayed supernormal powers of being able to outpace Angulimala while still walking, and this convinced Angulimala to find out what the Buddha’s teachings were all about, which eventually led to his spiritual awakening and enlightenment as an Arahant monk. Despite Angulimala’s reformed character, on his alms rounds as a monk he had to constantly endure insults and even stoning from village folks who had remembered his days as a notorious robber and killer. The Buddha explained that these leftover unpleasantries were simply the operation of unexhausted bad kamma, which had been attenuated by Angulimala’s changed nature but not eliminated.
What is often overlooked in the Angulimala story was the Buddha’s understanding of human worth, and that the purpose of life as a human is to reach spiritual liberation from samsara even if one has been lost most of their life pursuing worldly pleasures. The other overlooked element is the balanced view (upekkha or equanimity) the Buddha held toward the victims and the perpetrator of Angulimala’s heinous acts. In applying this lesson in the Angulimala story to the drug dealer, we have an even simpler case, in which one is trying to make money by selling drugs because they obviously have no other means of earning the same income. The drug consuming victim is rarely killed as a result of drug dealing, and this victim is usually suffering from a mental and/or physical addiction to a drug they voluntarily chose to consume. In such a case, the Buddha would favor Restorative Justice, in which the dealer would spend much of his time in prison being exposed to the horrors of drug addiction, and learning a marketable skill so he would not have to deal drugs when he is released from prison.
The purported purpose of killing the drug dealer is that this will deter others from drug dealing, but we already know from the organized drug trade around the world that those in the trade constantly risk their lives and this is an accepted part of being in the drug dealing business. We also know from the failed war on drugs in the United States, that no matter how many people they incarcerate, or how many drug kingpins they kill, demand for drugs is what creates supply, just like any other product. When they kill one drug kingpin, another one immediately takes his place, and this process has been going on, and on for decades. Therefore, killing drug dealers will not stop drug dealing, treating and educating the drug consumer and drying up demand for the drug is the only long term solution.
The other problem with introducing state murder of drug dealers in Sri Lanka is that this could easily be used as a political tool to kill political opponents, as Ranil and the UNP have just demonstrated how easy it is to politicize law enforcement. With the death penalty on the books, law enforcement could fairly easily plant drugs on political opponents and then have these opponents killed using a corrupt criminal justice system that is being directed toward the political ends of the party that controls them. Sri Lanka would then end up like Egypt in which the entire opposition party is thrown in prison, and then executed. I guess if you are Ranil and the UNP, this may seem like heaven, but it is a ridiculous proposition for any country that truly cares about democracy and good governance, especially a Buddhist country like Sri Lanka.
June 4th, 2015 at 4:35 pm
I FULLY SUPPORT president My3’s proposal to introduce death penalty to drug dealers.
At last SL is on the right track in ELIMINATING the drug problem.
The biggest flaw in MB’s argument is there is NO Buddha today to “display supernormal powers of being able to outpace Angulimala while still walking, and this convinced Angulimala to find out what the Buddha’s teachings were all about, which eventually led to his spiritual awakening and enlightenment as an Arahant monk”.
People and the country have to handle the drug problem WITHOUT bringing religion into this. NOWHERE in the SL constitution it says “SL is a Buddhist country”. It only says GOSL shall give Buddhism the supreme place.
IF we applied the same Angulimala logic to the war, LTTE is still killing people.
Today SL is 70% Buddhist by namesake. During kings’ time, SL was almost 100% Buddhist but still had DEATH PENALTY and torture.
e.g. spear up the backside until death for treason, king’s elephant trampling ciminals to death, tying a person to trees and killing them, slashing, etc.
SL had the death penalty until 1970s and crimes were MUCH LESS. Crime skyrocketed after it was removed.
SL MUST introduce the death penalty to DRUG DEALERS, serious sex offenders, terrorists, subversives, remorseless murderers and traitors.
If the law is misused by the UNP to kill innocents, that has to be fixed. IF they really want to kill political opponents, they can without the death penalty.
e.g. Batalanda
June 4th, 2015 at 8:37 pm
Writer is very correct when he say “DEATH PENALTY” could easily be used as a political tool to kill Opponents if this rotten Govt stay in power with Hitler Ranil and Gobells Sira in the driving seat. Sira has no head.He has only a Grama Sevaka mind with no experience to Govern a country. He was installed by America,India and the western Terrorist Govts openly. He is a cheater being the secretary in the biggest political party in Sri Lanka he hop step and jump to the enemy base with the assistance of Foreign Mafia organizations including LTTE Diaspora. He should be responsible for breaking this great party. Being a party President he is openly supporting the worst enemy of the party UNP and Ranil the pimp.
Party supporters must take a decision and sack this ungrateful traitor from the party Immediately if they want to win the elections. Yesterday Pacha Bahu (Wickremebahu) has told the media that if Mahinda wins foreign troops will arrive in Sri Lanka.Just imagine their evil plans. This guy hasn’t won an election for fifty years and and do not have any power base or vote base in this country but talk and do things like a opposition leader in a leading party. These pimps are all paid in Green bucks for their ugly services by the western Mafia. They should be arrested for giving such silly statements to the media. This whole clique acts on behalf of Ranil and his Gestapo gang Sira is one of them. How can this evil Govt save Buddhism or the Sinhalese when the majority in the Govt are Christians,Gays, Tamils and Muslims. They all work as per the wishes of western and Indian interests just to be in power and not for the interest of the Sinhalese people of this nation. Sinhalese be united to get rid of this evil lot before they do more harm to our beloved Motherland.
June 4th, 2015 at 9:04 pm
Namaste: Keep religion and politics out of law. Abusing people is not necessarily going to help our fight against Indian colonialism and imperialism. We cannot rely on old Indian stories to justify or object to current issues. Politicians may apply death penalty to destroy their opponents. We need death penalty for terrorists, drug dealers, and murderers. We have to understand who are our enemies are. Our enemy is Indian Empire and Indian Imperialists and colonists. Jai Hind
June 4th, 2015 at 10:23 pm
I fully endorse Angulimala story and the compassion coming from it. Don’t forget it is “Angulimala Piritha” that is recited for the pregnant mothers in Sri Lanka.
If death penalty has worked to deter drug pedaling it may be worth considering. However, when this government suggest something, I don’t take it on the face value. They have a hidden agenda, and I believe the hidden agenda is to eliminate the political opponents. After all, it is these people and their stooges who came out with Lamborghinis, luxury aircrafts, golden horses etc. etc., and now nothing is proved. This death penalty would be the next step of FCID.
Also, why death penalty for drug dealers only? How about terrorists, how about those who want to divide the country?
June 5th, 2015 at 12:00 am
Death penalty could be a crime deterrent for some, while it is not for others. The objective of the death penalty is imposing a punishment, same as a monetary fine for a traffic violation. Death penalty is a suitable punishment for premeditated murder and rape. This two are heinous crimes against innocent and law abiding citizens of any country and nationality.
Death penalty is a must in any country at any given time. “If you take a life, yours will be taken”
Mahesh Fernando From CA USA
June 5th, 2015 at 12:37 am
Kumari,
I think this really is a cause for concern that they only want to impose the death penalty on drug dealers. It is the easiest crime to fake and then ‘prove’ by planting drugs on someone you don’t like, unlike rape where you have to produce DNA or other forensic evidence which is difficult to fake. There is no doubt that Ranil would use this against political opponents, and we really would end up like Egypt in which democracy is a sham.
Having watched the US War on Drugs up close, I am certain that the death penalty would not deter drug dealing. Many of the youth that sell drugs in the US come from desperate circumstances in which they feel they might as well be dead anyway. The other problem in the US is racism and corruption in the criminal justice system, in which even in murder cases where the death penalty is authorized in many states, the criminal justice system produces guilty verdicts ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ even where DNA evidence is showing later that the person was never at the crime scene (Google: “Innocence Project”). This means many innocent people are executed in states that allow the death penalty, and for that reason there are several states that are now reversing course and banning the death penalty even for murder.
The Sri Lanka public is mostly unaware of the United States’ poor track record with the death penalty, both as a deterrent to crime and as a source of taking innocent lives of those wrongly accused. This is why Sirisena and Ranil believe they are able to fool the people here, because they know most people really do not know the complete truth about how poorly it works elsewhere.
June 5th, 2015 at 12:40 am
Mahesh,
This is the problem with the Jewish-Christian-Muslim point of view – it does not account for human redemption nor for past life kamma where one may have already had their life taken wrongly.
Bringing a non-Buddhist point of view to a Buddhist country is problematic, and completely disrespectful to the Buddhist majority that live here.
June 5th, 2015 at 4:28 am
“If you take a life, yours will be taken” is Islamic Sharia law but only applied to killing of humans..
In Buddhism it is
Akkodhena Jine Kodham
Assdum Saadhuna Jine…… but Buddhism does not specify punishment which is completely unnecessary.
This is because those FOOLS who take life will have to loose their own many times.
But arguably it is a deterrent even though a lot of researchers try to prove it otherwise.
However, leader of the country should lead by example. He/she can influence most under him/her easily. It will not take more than 2 years to establish morality in a Buddhist country if the leader is determined, specially with all the executive powers. We should see happier faces within 2 years.
June 5th, 2015 at 4:33 am
Namaste: Narcotics were part of the British-Indian Imperialism and Colonialism. It is the Indian Colonial Parasites who dealt and still dealing with narcotics in the island nation. The few Sinhalese and Muslims are just the lower end of the narcotics business in Sri Lanka. When the Indians came with the British the Indians came with drugs and drugged our people. They did it in other Indian colonies. who took drugs to China with the British. Lee Kwan Yu of Singapore built Singapore by getting rid of the Indian drug cartels. Malaysia did it and Indonesia is doing it. It is only recently Indonesia executed an aspiring drug lord Myuran Sukumaran an Indian colonial parasite from Sri Lanka who was settled in Sydney Australia. Jai Hind
June 5th, 2015 at 4:52 am
This is what American administration can boast about: Out of the total world population, Americans count for about 6%, however out of the total Prison population, Americans count for more than 25%. Out of the incarcerated over 90% are minorities (blacks and Hispanics). Remember American prison system is run by private contractors, there motto is to keep a prisoner for as long as you can, they don’t believe in rehabilitation.
I am for rehabilitation. Find the causes why a person committed a crime and remove those causes. Give him dignity, bring him back to mainstream society. Don’t forget the four noble truths as explained in the Dhamma.
June 5th, 2015 at 5:08 am
Kumari,
Agreed rehabilitation is the way. But what can you do to those who cannot be rehabilitated ?
What is the connection between 4 Noble truths and rehabilitation ?
June 5th, 2015 at 5:42 am
Murder rate of USA is higher than that of Sri Lanka.
June 5th, 2015 at 6:15 am
This is a very important topic and goes to the heart of some of the core issues of SYSTEMS IN OPERATION in Sri Lanka at present.
Why do people deal in illicit Drugs ? It is mostly because they cannot get employment and are not educated enough or do not have enough money to set up some sort of business. Only a few people are truly innovative or even creative. Also they could be emotionally damaged due to long years of strife and loss (JVP & LTTE).
When a person has feelings of safety and wellbeing, he/she will NOT dabble with Drugs. However, the threat of Death Penalty may act as a deterrent.
So which -ism do we follow to get the best results to Heal the Nation : Socialism, Capitalism, or Communism ?
Some brief thoughts re this question :
– Sri Lanka is at present a Socialist State. Do we also have to bring in religion to govern Lanka ? I think not. Compassion toward people who are emotionally damaged for whatever reason is a good thing – that is common sense, and does not need religion. Europe had two World Wars and ended up as a group of Socialist States. Britain is a Welfare State. Repeat that Lanka is already a Socialist State. Europe’s successful countries such as Germany & Denmark are fine examples to follow in how they mix mainly Socialism with the right amount of Capitalism.
– We cannot compare Lanka with the USA – the USA is vast in area compared with Lanka and is a Capitalist State. We can compare Lanka with different states of the European Union as they too are Socialist. But they are all larger than Lanka in land mass.
– What Lanka needs is more small and mid-size innovative enterprises (not huge corporations from abroad) that provide QUALITY Goods and Services. There has to be an Education System that feeds such enterprises. Such enterprises will provide jobs and stability in the country and lead toward Self Sufficiency, a key to wellbeing.
– A sense of Security is essential for wellbeing. To this end illegal migration into Lanka has to stop and Lanka Leaders sincere to find genuine solutions to the problems of the common people – pocket stuffing, bribe taking etc have to stop.
There are many more points to be addressed.
June 5th, 2015 at 7:04 am
Experts. US drug problems comes mainly from cocaine and chemical drugs. Sri Lanka and other Asian countries comes from Opiates and chemical drugs. Rehabilitation is about drug addicts not drug dealers.
June 5th, 2015 at 9:52 am
Lorenzo,
You can’t cite as an example some unenlightened king from ancient times who obviously did not understand the teachings of the Buddha. That is like citing some unenlightened Pope during the time of The Crusades to justify killing non-Christians.
If you don’t understand the Dhamma, and Sirisena clearly does not, then go learn! The Pali Suttas are freely available in Sinhala, so there is absolutely no excuse for someone to pretend that walking around in white clothes and hanging out with monks makes them knowledgeable about the Dhamma.
June 5th, 2015 at 10:01 am
Kumari,
You are 100% correct! America’s dirty little secret is that their so-called War on Drugs was actually a war on black and brown people, in which they did not have to take responsibility for dismal and failing schools in the inner cities that did not prepare black and brown people for work or university. Instead of looking at their own failure, they tried to transfer this failure to a sub-population they did not like, and keep their families impoverished by putting black and brown males in prison for outrageously long periods of time. Google: “New Jim Crow”
America is one of the WORST examples in the world of an effective and fair justice system, and to think that Ranil, the UNP and Sirisena are looking up to these racist and corrupt fools for leadership on justice issues is very sad.
June 5th, 2015 at 10:49 am
Independent,
Every single teaching of the Buddha is a further elucidation of the Four Noble Truths, including the Angulimala Sutta, which is cited in the article.
Angulimala was trapped in his own suffering in samsara, in which sense pleasure from killing was temporary, causing him to kill again and again to try to chase the high that he felt. The Buddha offered him a way out of this suffering by seeing things as they really are and understanding the temporal nature of all sense phenomena.
So whether it is a drug dealer or drug consumer, the high is temporary, and chasing it only leads to more suffering. For the drug dealer, it is the feeling from buying more material things with drug profits, for the drug consumer it is the feeling from consuming the drug. None of these ‘feelings’ last, and this causes the person to stay on the samsaric wheel to try to “feel it again”.
If Sirisena were a Buddhist leader, he would be more pre-occupied with getting people off the samsaric wheel, not continuing the wheel by pursuing policies based on ‘vengeance’ (in this case, vengeance against drug dealers). Vengeance just leads to more vengeance.
For all of you that think vengeance is the answer, I challenge you to watch a video until the end of a mob in Guatemala who recently tortured to death a young woman who was suspected of robbing and killing a taxi driver with two of her male friends. You can find the video here: “http://therightscoop.com/horrific-angry-mob-beats-and-burns-alive-girl-in-guatemala/”
We don’t need or want this sort of vengeance in Sri Lanka, and to stop it in its tracks we need to stand up to phony Buddhist leaders like Sirisena and tell him, NO!
June 5th, 2015 at 12:09 pm
The US Prison system is handled by the private sector. They look out for easy prisoners as that is how they run their business to make profit ! It is profit that matters in the Capitalist System. Lanka has to learn from other country mistakes and not let wily leaders copy for mere profit.
People before Profit is a good motto to follow.
June 5th, 2015 at 1:41 pm
A friend of mine has corrected me. Not all prisons in USA are private he says. However, here is a write up on the matter from The Centre for Research on Globalisation :
“There are approximately 2 million inmates in state, federal and private prisons throughout the country. According to California Prison Focus, “no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens.” The figures show that the United States has locked up more people than any other country: a half million more than China, which has a population five times greater than the U.S. Statistics reveal that the United States holds 25% of the world’s prison population, but only 5% of the world’s people. From less than 300,000 inmates in 1972, the jail population grew to 2 million by the year 2000. In 1990 it was one million. Ten years ago there were only five private prisons in the country, with a population of 2,000 inmates; now, there are 100, with 62,000 inmates. It is expected that by the coming decade, the number will hit 360,000, according to reports.
What has happened over the last 10 years? Why are there so many prisoners?
“The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners’ work lobby for longer sentences, in order to expand their workforce. The system feeds itself,” says a study by the Progressive Labor Party, which accuses the prison industry of being “an imitation of Nazi Germany with respect to forced slave labor and concentration camps.”
The prison industry complex is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States and its investors are on Wall Street. “This multimillion-dollar industry has its own trade exhibitions, conventions, websites, and mail-order/Internet catalogs. It also has direct advertising campaigns, architecture companies, construction companies, investment houses on Wall Street, plumbing supply companies, food supply companies, armed security, and padded cells in a large variety of colors.”
According to the Left Business Observer, the federal prison industry produces 100% of all military helmets, ammunition belts, bullet-proof vests, ID tags, shirts, pants, tents, bags, and canteens. Along with war supplies, prison workers supply 98% of the entire market for equipment assembly services; 93% of paints and paintbrushes; 92% of stove assembly; 46% of body armor; 36% of home appliances; 30% of headphones/microphones/speakers; and 21% of office furniture. Airplane parts, medical supplies, and much more: prisoners are even raising seeing-eye dogs for blind people”.
June 5th, 2015 at 3:59 pm
MB,
Why should I learn Dhamma in relation to LEGAL matters?
Except ISLAMIC countries, NO other country mixes religion + Dhamma with the LAW. In SL, there is NO BASIS for Dhamma to be law!! SL constitution does NOT recognize Dhamma as law.
We all know what the attempted DHARMISHTA SOCIETY did to SL. It worsened the situation.
The sad truth is MOST drug affected families in SL are BUDDHIST. Very few Christians, Hindus and Muslims are addicted drugs. IF death penalty is NOT imposed on drug dealers, Buddhist families will suffer most.
IF we followed Dhamma, we can NEVER have peace because LTTE will be around.
According to your logic, we should RELEASE LTTE terrorists from custody!!! They will kill people again and MR and GR’s lives will be in danger too.
June 5th, 2015 at 4:09 pm
Singapore is an ASIAN country. Singapore has death penalty. Look at the comparison!!!
INDEX…………….SINGAPORE…………………….SL
crime rate………..12………………………………..55
cannabis use………0%……………………………..1.5%
murder rate……….0.38…………………………….7.4
rape rate…………..2.7………………………………7.3
int. homicide rate…0.5……………………………..4.6
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Singapore/Sri-Lanka/Crime
This is why SL MUST introduce the DEATH PENALTY to serious criminals like drug dealers, etc.
June 5th, 2015 at 4:43 pm
MB,
I have zero disagreement with you on Dhamma, but let me point out that Buddha never interfered with the law of the country. Not only laws but also cultural values of all sorts respected by the wise (vinnuhithi) were always respected by Buddha. Even if one does do any wrong, if there is a slight possibility that the society would think otherwise Buddha set up vinaya ( discipline) laws for the monks to avoid it.
My point is ,strict laws has definite effect on crime rate. You can compare murder rates Singapore (0.2%) with Australia (1%). Australia is getting destroyed by drug menace but our country is affected even more. Rich Muslim countries too have low rates.
As I said earlier leader should set an example by behaviour. There is no need of proof, people will decide knowing it correctly not influenced by media.
June 5th, 2015 at 4:45 pm
Important typing mistake “Even if one does do any wrong” is wrong. Should read “even if one does not do any wrong”.
June 5th, 2015 at 9:34 pm
Lorenzo,
I should have responded to your “The biggest flaw in MB’s argument is there is NO Buddha today”.
On the last day before the Buddha died, the Buddha told his chief aid, Ananda, who asked the Buddha “who will be our leader after you are gone?” The Buddha replied, “the Dhamma is your leader”.
The Dhamma is still present so there is no need for the Buddha to be alive to demonstrate supernormal powers for people to discover the source of the their suffering and the path leading out of this suffering.
The Dhamma is under constant attack by non-Buddhists, but it is still here!
June 5th, 2015 at 10:17 pm
There is no point arguing with FOOLS , who without studying any Buddha Dhamma, simply take the advantage of supporting popular politics to attack the core of the Budhdha Dhamma by pointing out
1. Nibbana = extinction = suicide of a nation
2. Budhdha was a living dead
3. Lobha Dosa Moha and Thanha is the driving force to success.
4. Sinhala Buddhist should create a new Buddhism with the adaptation of above mention three nude evil statements.
For LTTE, they hate Buddhism more than Sinhalaness.
June 6th, 2015 at 12:10 am
MB,
Religion or Dhamma is a PERSONAL thing. It is NOT a national thing (unless SL is an ISLAMIC REPUBLIC).
That was how Buddha preached it. NOT to IMPOSE.
You don’t want to turn SL into another Myanmar, do you? Because if that happens, the FIRST casualty will be Dhamma.
We already had a 26 years of war. We need no more IMPOSITIONS particularly Dhamma!!!
For you Buddhism is the BEST. For me Christianity is the BEST. For another HINDUISM. For another Islam. I AGREE SL MUST give a special place to Buddhism but NOT to MIX religion with the LAW.
Anyway nothing to worry. Neither MR NOR My3 is going to consider Buddhism when it comes to governance. This is as certain as sun and moon!! BOTH need Christian, Hindu and Muslim votes just to survive in politics.
:))
June 6th, 2015 at 12:19 pm
MB,
Please disregard my comment saying “there is no point arguing with FOOLS”.
I appreciate very much your effort educating those fools in a different way to me if that is possible at all.
June 8th, 2015 at 6:57 am
Lorenzo,
We know that the lower crime rate in Singapore is NOT because of the death penalty, and has more to do with cultural factors.
And as stated previously, we know from the US experience, that drug dealers risk their lives EVERY DAY as a normal part of the drug business, and the death penalty would therefore not deter them at all.
Dry up demand, and supply will disappear – just like with any other product.
June 8th, 2015 at 7:41 am
Lorenzo,
And if you reflect more deeply on your phony “secular country” argument, you would know that the religion of the vast majority of a nation ALWAYS affects its politics and laws.
The United States, for example, is a CHRISTIAN country, with Christian churches on nearly every corner in many towns and cities, “In God We Trust” on every coin and paper currency, pledging allegiance UNDER GOD is compulsory in many schools, the president takes his oath of office on a CHRISTIAN bible, and every President, nearly all Senators, and most of Congress constantly refer the United States as a “Judeo(Jewish)-Christian country”, not even acknowledging its Muslim, Buddhist and other religious minorities, or even acknowledging its growing non-religious population (16%), which is certainly much larger than the 2% of Jews who are American.
All of the criminal laws in the United States had their genesis in the Christian Bible, especially the Ten Commandments. And it is no secret that many of the Founding Fathers in the US were open about their desire to implant Christian values in the Constitution of the United States.
All I am saying is when a Buddhist country like Sri Lanka emulates the American experience by establishing Buddhist values as the basis for Sri Lanka law just like the US did with Christian values, the US and those they sponsor in Sri Lanka can’t cry foul without being total hypocrites.
June 8th, 2015 at 1:54 pm
MB,
That is NOT true about Singapore. It was a LAWLESS country in 1965. So the culture FAILED to bring law.
After carrying out so many executions and other laws Singapore became a prosperous country.
Although USA has the death penalty, VERY FEW are actually executed as a percentage of population compared to Singapore.
I don’t have ANY SECULAR argument. Laws and religions MUST be kept separate. As a non-Buddhist I will NEVER support a Buddhism based law IMPOSED on me. That is so NOT Buddhist. That is rather ISLAMIC. Buddhist laws were never imposed in the past. They were observed by INDIVIDUALS if they wished.
LTTE HARDCORE terrorists now in prison will be released by Maru Sira soon. They will go killing again. Had we the death penalty on them, another 100,000 future deaths could be avoided today.
June 8th, 2015 at 4:07 pm
“You don’t want to turn SL into another Myanmar, do you? Because if that happens, the FIRST casualty will be Dhamma. ” -Lorenzo
“This is why I can’t feel sad about Rohingya, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, etc. Muslim refugees. When they are shown mercy (as in SL, Thailand and Burma) they try to overpower the kindhearted.”
– also Lorenzo
In the 2nd statement Myanmar is hidden among “Syria, Iraq, Palestine” and has become “Burma” the good country. In the 1st statement “Myanmar” the bad country.
All these show the camouflaged “pulli”. Pretend to be a freedom fighter for the Buddhist but preaching to cut-off legs !
June 8th, 2015 at 4:24 pm
MB,
“We know that the lower crime rate in Singapore is NOT because of the death penalty, and has more to do with cultural factors.”
No. It is not exactly like that. True,culturally “Chinese” majority has priority personal”prosperity”. But in late fifties and early sixties there were gangs of all races who ran a mafia like underworld. It is the strict laws ( not only death penalty) and implementation of the laws that imposed peace. Later they could liberalise gradually. I would say it is more “Law and Order” than “culture” in Singapore.
If you look at Malaysia, even though “Chinese: are discriminated , they prefer to work around that, pay some money to Bhumiputras and get their business going.
But remember these two countries are migrant societies- cannot compare with Sir Lanka. Except Buhmiputras ( also mixed) others are all migrants. Chinese in Singapore don’t care about Chinese in China generally. But LKY was definitely a nationalist ( biased to a combined race called Chinese) and hid it. He always kept saying otherwise.
June 9th, 2015 at 6:45 am
Lorenzo,
If you live in the US you accept Christian based laws being imposed upon you, so what is wrong with laws based on Buddhist values if the vast majority living in the country are Buddhist?
I am really getting tired of this nonsensical religious bigotry that Buddhism must take a back seat to other religions in the expression of our values. We are not saying you have to worship the Buddha, but we ARE saying you must respect and honor our values if you live here.