Friday, February 01, 2008

Freedom of religion

One of the things I've learned in the course of all my Buddhist readings is that Buddhism has suffered violent setbacks over the centuries, with monks murdered and temples destroyed.

The Communist Chinese invasion of Tibet is the most recent example of this, but there have been others.

I wish freedom of religion was more expansive than it is in the US, and I worry that the trend is toward less freedom of religion, not more. But it's useful to remember that there are still many places in the world where having the wrong religion or belief system can get you killed, and we're fortunate to live in a place where people are mostly free to pursue their own beliefs.

No comments: