Two weekends ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Myanmar Muslims Genocide Awareness Convention in Culver City, CA. I went because I felt it was important to put my presence where my mouth was: as I’ve indicated here at this blog, the situation in Burma has been incredibly distressing to me, and rather than simply talk about it, I want to be more involved in helping in any small way that I can to get it resolved. I’ve certainly... Read more
The Irrawaddy breaks the news that a convention of Buddhist monks in Burma (including the odious U Wirathu of the “969 Movement”) has called for the restricting of Buddhist-Muslim interfaith marriages in the land, similar in many ways to policies in Singapore and Malaysia. There aren’t any real surprises here, but the thick layer of sexism and misogyny in this particular story is worth noting: A copy of the law proposed by the monks would require any Buddhist woman seeking... Read more
For more, I recommend Robyn Pennacchia’s piece over at deathandtaxes (hat-tip to Emma Varvaloucas at Tricycle for pointing it out), and Time Magazine‘s interview from last year with photographer Malcom Browne. Read more
This via Voice of America: An hour-long documentary that explores the causes behind the 118 self-immolations known to have taken place in Tibet since 2009. Combining smuggled videos, first-hand accounts and interviews with experts, scholars, and officials, this film provides an in-depth and comprehensive look at the recent history of Tibet and the powerful forces that lie at the heart of one of the largest waves of political self-immolations in history. Watch Fire in the Land of Snow: A Documentary... Read more
The editors of the New York Times offered a must-read editorial this week about recent violence against Rohinya Muslims by Burmese Buddhists in Burma. Here’s just a taste: [Recent] clashes suggested that radical strains of Buddhism may be spreading. Many old hatreds have been unleashed in the last year as Myanmar struggles to make its transition from a half-century of authoritarian rule to democracy… It will not be easy for President Thein Sein to achieve the multiethnic, multireligious vision for... Read more
CNN reports: Ignoring both religious freedom and the outcry of the Tibetan people, the Chinese authorities have begun demolishing the ancient capital of Lhasa, including one of the most important Buddhist sites of the city, Tibet’s holiest Jokhang Temple. Chinese authorities are planning to destroy the ancient Buddhist capital of Lhasa, and replace it with a tourist city similar to Lijiang. “Shangri-La” in Yunnan Province. Several large-scale construction projects are underway for a number of shopping malls around the Buddhist... Read more
Last week, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by filmmaker Adam Eurich for his massively researched, one-of-a-kind, upcoming documentary feature Seeking Heartwood — a cinematic survey of Buddhism in America. Adam took the above photo during our interview and posted it on the film’s Facebook page. I think Adam is a great guy, and I’ve been amazed by all the work he’s put into this project (he’s visited more than forty U.S. states), so naturally I was honored to... Read more
William Whittington is the Assistant Chair of Critical Studies in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, where he teaches courses in film and television history, genre, audio and digital culture, film and Buddhism, adaptation, and contemporary LGBT media. He is also the author of Sound Design and Science Fiction (University of Texas Press, 2007). Between 1993-1997, he served as the curator of the USC Warner Bros. Archives, assisting with research on various films, documentaries, music scores and... Read more
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