Buddhist Temple Vandalized

 

I just read a well-written piece at the Buddhist Channel about a Cambodian Buddhist temple just south of Rochester, MN that was vandalized recently.  It appears that there have been several incidents, but most recently a cross and the phrase "Jesus Saves" was painted on the temple driveway.  Check it out.

Comments

[Marcus]

Hi,

Terrible. Awful. But around the world, the attacks on Buddhists are much much worse than a scrawled slogan on a driveway.

As you know, here in Thailand Buddhists are under direct violent attack from terrorists, and yet the International Buddhist world is almost entirely silent.

Last Friday morning, one monk was killed and another injured by terrorists as they collected alms.

http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20090613-148211.html

Earlier in the week a Buddhist man and his four-months pregnant wife were shot dead by terrorists.

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSBKK496503

And the Islamic terrorist attacks on schools and the killings of teachers have got so bad that all schools in the South of Thailand are now closed.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/243815/1/.html

60 teachers have been killed in Thailand by Muslim terrorists in the last 3 years.

One of the most sickening was a few months ago when Islamic extremists attacked a family simply because they were the last remaining Buddhists in their village. The mother, 72 years old, were shot in the head and neck.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30087410

It's a terrible situation, and one that the international Buddhist world seems to totally ignore, so whilst I feel for the temple in America that has been vandalised, I wish there were more attention paid to the real attacks being carried out against Buddhists even as i write.

All the best,

Marcus

[Marcus]

Hi,

I also notice that several churches in the area have offered the temple support.

Again, as terrible as it is that some kids painted a cross and a slogan on the tarmac, I honestly feel that highlighting this incident on the Buddhist blogsphere is out of all proportion to the crime and to the real threats that exist against Buddhism in the world today.

Marcus

[Rinchen Gyatso]

I think it is important to shine the light of day on even relatively small incidents like this. When we are silent about the little things, that can embolden the perpetrators to do worse, like engage in violence against people. Making it clear that vandalism is unacceptable may ultimately head off far worse.

Thank you for posting about the attacks in Thailand. I'll keep a better eye on the international Buddhist news and try to post more about what's happening globally, although I think the Rev. Danny Fisher already does a much better job of that than I.