No, this is not a joke. Militant Buddhists in Sri Lanka have called for the abolition of halal certification, and for the expulsion of fundamentalist Islamic and Christian missionaries.

This is for those of you who, like me, thought Buddhists were nice peaceful people! Maybe it is just the worm turning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21494959

Are you having a laugh? WW2 Japan was Buddhist.

I thought the state religion of Japan was Shintoism, not Buddhism. (slow connection: I can't view videos). Estimates of the number of Buddhists in Japan vary wildly.

The last two posts are completely irrelevant anyway. They are not about relations between religions, like the link.

Buddhism (being a philosophy rather than a religion) is traditionally very tolerant of other religions. What is happening in Sri Lanka is atypical, but perhaps Buddhists are waking up to the fact that they are being discriminated against elsewhere (the destruction of the Bamiyan statues, the banning of Buddha images in Iran and other places).

I suppose if the muslin fundamentalist and christian missionaries weren't trying to brainwash people and change certain systems and standards to be favorable to their own...there wouldn't be a problem then.

What's the real problem?

What's happening in Sri Lanka is just continuation of the civil war by other means.

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/137812/william-mcgowan/buddhists-behaving-badly

What's happening in Sri Lanka is just continuation of the civil war by other means.

http://www.foreignaf...-behaving-badly

Thanks for that, Endure.

I must admit, I thought the 'missionaries' would be largely of foreign rather than native stock... and my initial reaction was that the Buddhists were giving the Muslims and Christians a bit of their own back.

What's happening in Sri Lanka is just continuation of the civil war by other means.

http://www.foreignaf...-behaving-badly

<p>

In Sri Lanka last September, a Sinhalese mob led by some 100 Buddhist monks demolished a Muslim shrine in the ancient city of Anuradhapura. As the crowd waved Buddhist colors, gold and red, a monk set a green Muslim flag on fire. The monks claimed that the shrine was on land that had been given to the Sinhalese 2,000 years ago -- an allusion to their proprietary right over the entire island nation, as inscribed in ancient religious texts.

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What's happening in Sri Lanka is just continuation of the civil war by other means.

http://www.foreignaf...-behaving-badly

Thanks for that, Endure.

I must admit, I thought the 'missionaries' would be largely of foreign rather than native stock... and my initial reaction was that the Buddhists were giving the Muslims and Christians a bit of their own back.

Maybe you are right in part, I saw a photo recently of Buddhist Monks in Myanmar holding up a placard stating the world isn't only for Muslims. You can always look for a local rationale, but equally Huntington predicted the clash of civilizations we are witnessing. Even the Mrs, who is a devout Buddhist complains at the proselytizing Christian missionaries get up to in Thailand, though she has yet to set fire to a church.

What's happening in Sri Lanka is just continuation of the civil war by other means.

http://www.foreignaf...-behaving-badly

<p>

In Sri Lanka last September, a Sinhalese mob led by some 100 Buddhist monks demolished a Muslim shrine in the ancient city of Anuradhapura. As the crowd waved Buddhist colors, gold and red, a monk set a green Muslim flag on fire. The monks claimed that the shrine was on land that had been given to the Sinhalese 2,000 years ago -- an allusion to their proprietary right over the entire island nation, as inscribed in ancient religious texts.

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Wow a 2,000 year old birthright, it kind of puts Islam on a sticky wicket being the new boy on the block, bang goes any claim to Judea and Samaria too.

There's been trouble in Sri Lanka since the 50s:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12004081

We used to visit there on voyages from the Gulf to Oz in the late 70s just before the civil war kicked off. I used to love the place. We'd take cases of Fosters up to the beach at Mount Lavinia and dump them in the sea to keep them cool.

I sailed with a 2nd Mate who ordered a bed from there for his new bride. It was a four poster made out of solid mahogany in a workshop that didn't have an electricity supply so everything was handmade. It cost him £150 FOB shipped to Hull. The same bed could be bought in Harrods for £1800.