American Buddhist Perspectives
A growing trend of nationalism seems to be spreading in Thailand amongst the Buddhist monks. They have been recently calling on the committee currently drafting Thailand’s next constitution to enshrine Buddhism as the official state religion.
Does Buddhism need such status? Can it survive and thrive without an official place in politics? I think certainly it can survive and indeed has in Thailand and other countries by carefully winning and maintaining the favor of government officials and elites. Enshrining a state religion seems to be a sure way to destroy both the religion and the government of a nation. Brian Victoria, author of Zen at War, spoke here at UM a couple times in the past few years, each time warning of the disasters of state-sponsored religion, including in Buddhism.
It seems that the call for enshrining a religion in a state is a plea of desperation. The religion must be losing its vibrancy, its natural benefit to practitioners – if it has this, there is no need for official status or state support. The Dalai Lama has himself called for growing secularization in politics, including Tibetan. Secular he defines not as hostile to religion, but as having respect for all religions and the non-religious. By enshrining one religion, including Buddhism, you open the door to exclusivism and hostility toward other religions, which is contrary to Buddhist tolerance and inclusivism.
Sulak Sivaraksa, a Thai Buddhist, environmental activist and educator, provides clear arguments against making Buddhism the national religion of Thailand.
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