Tag Archives: Social Activism

Sep 21 2012

Superstars

I broadcast a few links that were less than flattering about Aung San Suu Kyi. Someone felt it necessary to take me to task about that.

Here’s my preliminary response that I put on Facebook:

Now I’m grateful that there are people in the world who stand up against injustice and people who are willing to sacrifice their lives via imprisonment or worse for that. World would be much more horrific than it is without resisters.

Resisters, dissenters and rights fighters are still human though. Still with human motivations, political considerations and so forth. Elevating them to godlike or celebrity status clouds the issues, removes focus from what they represent, doesn’t allow us to see their human failings…and they are very much human and ultimately can lead not only to huge disappointments but even backlashes against both them and their causes.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Dalai Lama, Gandhi, MLK and so many others are as much politicians as activists (in some cases literally). It is necessary, especially for movement leaders, to not only understand the political climate in which they are trying to effect change but to have the savvy to effect that change. Sometimes that means political maneuvering, leveraging other, less savory elements of the political landscape and consorting and compromising with those who may be diametrically opposed to their ends. It can be a very ugly business behind the scenes.

So before people jump on me for harshing the mellow on the superstars consider the bigger picture. The spotlight only shows a very small and particular moment of their entire lives.

Aug 1 2012

Comment on An Open Letter from the Buddhist Community on Islamophobia

For the past few days I’ve watched the discussions of many members of the Buddhist community in the United States, Canada and Europe about events happening in Burma regarding the persecution of a particular Muslim minority. Like all situations of oppression and persecution there are many nuances and complexities that are often lost in the media. History, colonialism, geography, group loyalties, language, culture, tribalism, economics, politics and religion are some of the primary factors within such complexity.

It was suggested that a statement from this self-assembled Buddhist group be forthcoming on the issue.

I am one who thinks stating one’s position on an issue is a good idea, particularly if that issue involves oppression and asymmetrical power relationships. A few concerns cropped up for me initially, in that it can be a delicate thing for a primarily well-off, primarily white, primarily male group to condemn events in which they are not directly involved half-way around the world. You know what I mean…imperialism and all that jazz.

Fortunately initial impulses gave way to broader context and more reasoned thought and the document signed and released covered the broader spectrum of Islamophobia in general. It also did not focus exclusively on events in Asia but brought some amount of cultural self-scrutiny along with it.

This is a good joint effort and kudos to the group for taking a public position.

The document is available here:

An Open Letter from the Buddhist Community on Islamophobia