Shenali D. Waduge

 

 This is a response to Charitha P de Silva’s Letters to the Editor, Sunday Times of 20th March 2016.

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/160320/plus/letters-2-186884.html

 

Charitha P. de Silva ‘s rabble-rousing letter reveals a mindset similar to that of aggressive Christian Missionaries who went around the world hand in glove with invading European Conquistadors on the fictitious premise that they were bringing light and civilization to the dark regions of the world peopled by brown, black and yellow races. This presumption however was far removed from reality. In fact both these groups engaged themselves in rapacious plunder of resources and forcible conversions of subject peoples to Christianity. Though the first generation of converted Christians had some respect and understanding of their former religion which they had abandoned for reward both in money and kind, eliciting the accusation of being ‘ rice christians’,  the latter generations of converted Christians became fanatical followers ready always to take up the cudgel on behalf of their adopted religion to bash, denigrate and demonise Buddhism  and its followers on any flimsy ground.

 

Red Herring

 

Charitha P. de Silva’s letter falls into this category. He starts with Kishani Jayasinghe’s operatic rendition of ‘Dhanno Budunge’. This is a red – herring. The vast majority of the pre-dominant

Sinhala Buddhist population of this country (70%) considers this incident as trivial and not worth a second glance. There are far more important things in this country to worry about than the rendition of a favourite song by a foreign trained singer. Either way it will not bring the heavens down.

 

Charitha P. de Silva’s ancestors were no doubt Buddhists. Having abandoned this noble religion by him or his forbears for reasons that remain conjectural, he has no qualms in casting aspersions on Buddhist cultural practices, running down Buddhist monks (‘thugs masquerading as monks’), validity of ‘ pirith noole’, ‘ Buddha Pooja’ and the like. He has exalted himself to cleanse the Buddha Sasana openly supported by a largely crusading mass media that engage in Sepoy journalism.

 

There was a time when Lascarins and Sepoys gave local armed support to foreign occupiers both in Sri Lanka and India. That role is now partly played by local columnists and journalists and their fellow travelers.

 

Buddhism and Buddhists are always singled out and targeted day after day, week after week, in our newspapers by editors and sepoys masquerading as journalists to earn their reward from the Church, foreign embassies and foreign funded NGOs. An objective content analysis of local newspapers would reveal this sorry state of affairs. Christians occupy a highly disproportionate place on the editorial staffs of our English language newspapers. They favour publishing pro – Christian letters while at the same time suppressing informed Buddhist opinion.  A Right of Reply by a Buddhist is tantamount to a privilege. Such is the state of shoddy journalism in Sri Lanka. 

 

The final aim of evangelists is to make Sri Lanka the next South Korea which was once a predominant Buddhist country. A Similar attempt to make South Vietnam a Catholic Dictatorship under Ngo Dinh Diem failed in the 1960s when dedicated Buddhist monks self – immolated themselves drawing world attention to the plight of Buddhists in South Vietnam.

 

Buddhists do not force their religion down the throat of others. Christian Missionaries supported by colonial Governments do as part of consolidation of their imperial conquests and spread of western domination of largely third world countries. 

 

While Buddhism is being showcased in the mass media as perverse and degenerate because of

Superstitious ‘ cultural practices we do not see a similar approach adopted concerning the morally indefensible practices of other religions such as Animal Sacrifice which Buddhism unequivocally condemns.

 

Christian Superstition

 

In the absence of an even handed approach on the part of the Press let me highlight some Christian superstition which seem to have escaped the attention of Charitha P. de Silva and his Much of Traditional Christian religion is technically, ‘SUPERSTITION’.

 

For example:

 

1) During a Christian service a wafer is turned into the body of ‘God’/Jesus and the Christian Priest misleads his flock by making them think that he is eating the body of Jesus!! To an objective observer that is ‘cannibalism’ – a Christian ritual based on Pagan beliefs

 

2) Wine is turned into the ‘blood of God/Jesus’ – and the flock is made to think that they are drinking the blood of Jesus/God during the service

 

3) Pouring water over your head in Baptism is supposedly to remove ‘original sin’

 

4) The ‘Devil’ – the Prince of Darkness – figures prominently in Christian beliefs. Christians have copied it from Paganism and the Christian Devil became known as ‘Pan the mountain Goat-God’, with horns, hoofs and tail.

 

5) According to traditional Christian theology all who die will remain dead underground until Archangel Gabriel blows his trumpet so that Jesus will come to ‘judge the living and the dead’ – the greatest superstition in Christianity.

 

6) You confess your ‘sins’ (taken from a Roman pre-Christian era ritual) to a priest and all your ‘sins are forever forgiven’.

 

7) Receiving the ‘last rites’ will guarantee you a place in heaven because a priest will utter some magic words to that effect – and especially if you leave property to the Church.

 

8) That Jesus had to incarnate to save mankind because Adam and Eve ate an apple (because a snake, without a human voice-box, convinced Eve to do so) and cursed humanity to hell.

 

9) That a child who dies before being baptized cannot enter heaven.

 

10) The ‘devil’ can be driven away by making the sign of the cross or sprinkling holy water.

 

11) That God judges souls and condemns anyone who dies in a state of ‘sin’ to Hell for eternity.

 

12) That you will go to hell for eternity- trillion, trillions of years in tortuous hellfire – if you use contraception, if you remarry after divorce, if you masturbate, if you are gay, if you committed adultery (and eternal damnation some years ago if you eat a ham sandwich on a Friday) especially during Lent.

 

13) Even if you are like Adolf Hitler or Winston Churchill (a mass murderer of Indians and Black Africans) and manage to say you are very sorry for your sins before you die, you will go to heaven

 

http://www.victorzammit.com/articles/archbishoppeterjensen.htm

 

The main reason why ex-Christians particularly in western countries are no longer attending Church on Sundays is that they do not wish to subscribe to silly Christian Superstition any more. 

 

Christianity today finds itself in a state of deep irreversible crisis. Christian leaders and the Church are in a state of panic. Educated people everywhere these days want evidence and proof and not superstitious nonsensical beliefs written by unknown writers some thousands of years ago, where the original authentic writings can no longer be accessible.

 

Buddhism is a rational religion

 

Buddhism is a rational religion. You are invited to test it and if you are unhappy with the findings you can always leave without fear of punishment. No punishment in Buddhism for apostasy unlike in Abrahamic religions.

 

C.P. de Silva is way off the mark when he says todays ‘ultra-nationalists have no regard for history’. Why should we be ashamed of the colonial past? It is the repressors and invaders who have to be ashamed. These are the colonial rulers and the Church that accompanied them on a mission to plunder and convert entire nations/territories. It is not the nationalists that attempt to obliterate that part of the history but the very colonial countries and the Church who have yet to apologize or compensate for their crimes.

 

They have to even return the stolen temple lands on top of which churches are built. Let Mr. de Silva be reminded that there were only Buddhists and Hindus living in Sri Lanka. Islam & Muslims were treated as aliens till 1815 and no right to land earlier. The Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindus became divided into Sinhala Christians and Tamil Christians/Catholics only after the conversion successes of the Portuguese, Dutch and the British. If roads had been named in foreign names it is because these invaders named them so. If people were forced to pronounce these names then, why is it difficult to pronounce Sinhala names now?

 

British Governors like Robert Brownrigg and Torrington committed crimes against humanity when they put down mercilessly the Uva (1818) and Matale (1848) rebellions. One has to be insane to glorify and remember your oppressors by maintaining Roads and Squares named after them.

 

Shenali D. Waduge