Kings of Buddhism (eBook)

Power, Religion, and Fury in Myanmar

Robert Edward Sterken (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023
256 Seiten
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (Verlag)
978-1-5381-7795-2 (ISBN)

Infos

The Kings of Buddhism explores the consequences of state regulation and protection of a country's majority religion. Sterken argues that religious liberty or the lack thereof results from rational interest-based calculations of both religious and state actors. Using insights dating back to Adam Smith, John Locke, and Thomas Jefferson, Sterken argues that centuries of state support for Theravada Buddhism has corrupted the Myanmar religious marketplace. At the expense of religions and the society, Myanmar's kings and military rulers have protected and regulated religion to enhance their own political survival. The consequences of state and religion entanglement include 1) a state supported religious monopoly, 2) corruption, regulation, and repression of Theravada Buddhists, 3) repression and violence against religious minorities, 4) perpetual conflict and violence, 5) a corrupt religious economy, and 6) a corruption of truth. The consequences of state control are stark and should serve as a warning to all who would seek to entangle religion and the state.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.5.2023
• Zusatzinfo: 13 Illustrations including: - 12 Black & White Illustrations; - 1 Maps.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Religionsgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Buddhismus
• Schlagworte: Animism • BUddist Nationalism • Myanmar • Religion and state • Religious MOnopoly • religious nationalism • Southeast Asia
• ISBN-10: 1-5381-7795-1 / 1538177951
• ISBN-13: 978-1-5381-7795-2 / 9781538177952