The brave monks

Every day we discover the power of the spirit of people who believe that one faith unites them. This power can go in any direction and may be a blessing for some and an ugly curse for others. As we welcomed the new era, it was obvious that religion is back stronger than ever and more dangerous than ever. It was true that religion lost its role by the end of the last century, but its flame was rekindled in the beginning of the new Millennium. Religion is back centre-stage and it came back as one of the strongest motivating forces in the lives of many nations around the world. The spirit is alive, yes, but its reputation has been shaken and sometimes lost or destroyed especially in the Western world. Many people in the West believe that religion is the cause of most of the conflicts and bloodshed in the world at the moment and in history and therefore it plays an evil role in our human existence.

This belief comes from the fact that religious fanatics are the loudest, most dangerous and most outrageous groups. This noise they make is music to the ear of the media which welcomes sensational events as it looks hungrily for more disturbing reality shows. What can be a more exciting and riveting program than a real war live on TV?

Now, after years of religion’s bad reputation, come the monks in Burma to teach us that religion can still be a force of truth, liberation and justice. The Buddhist monks in Burma as they face jail, torture, and death, give the world a glorious example of leadership and resisting evil. Those monks are teaching us that religion is not fanaticism, hostility, polarisation and bloodshed, but rather bravery, deep faith and humility. They are a cry of awakening in the face of violence in the name of religion. They are writing with their blood, suffering and patience the new history of their nation.

We need to kneel down to raise our prayers for those courageous monks in Burma who are resisting evil in order to make prosperity bloom in the hands of their people.