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stegee
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From-The Internet Home of the Big Mango Bar. http://www.bigmangobar.com/

Latest News:

- Bangkok Snapshot - Apr. 15, 2007 05:49pm:

"Hundreds of monks are expected to lead Buddhist disciples to march to Parliament on Monday to insist on a clause in the new Constitution declaring Buddhism as the national religion for the first time in history. The monks will come from 500 temples in Bangkok and several other provinces. They will be joined by Buddhist lay people from across the country. The rally is expected to last until Wednesday".

Santana, The Who, the remaining members of the Grateful Dead, and Jintara will be performing all next week to celebrate the march.

why do the buddhists want to be recognized above other religions in thailand or am i just misunderstanding the point here??

and what the fun has it got to do with any of these bands??

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I am very surprised myself when I heard about the news.

I do not see the point of having buddhism as our national religion in the constitution. And when I see there actually gonna be monk in the campaign I was shocked. This is not what I expect to see what the religious institution do.

Wouldn't it be better for them to stay in the temple preaching people how they can use the Buddha's teaching in their lives than coming out in a march asking for something that doesn't bring any value to society.

What really can we gain by doing so? except showing that we are trying to treat what we believe as higher than what the others believe?

Buddhism to be in the constitution or not doesn't matter, how the buddhists behave do.

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  • 2 weeks later...

i think this movement has a political purpose.

Like when Mr. Jamlong Srimuang protested against Beer Chang's coming to Thai stock market in order to exercise some power against the Thaksin government.

And the two- digit lotto is claimed to be immoral while those 12 digits are okies.

Noted that Jamlong's force is from Santi-Asoke, and Santi-Asoke still keeps silent about

this topic. But there are many branches of Buddhist monks.

This time i think they are used to encounter the CNS.

Now CNS is being attacked in every possible ways.

Maybe Thaksin is planning behind this plot? :lol:

Actually, the calendar of our Holidays recognizes only Buddhism, but not Christian, not Islam and others. (it would be like a heaven on earth if Thai equally recognizes all holy days of every religions.) And we have our tradition of counting a calendar year after the death of Buddha. So, adding it in a constitution as the religion of the nation won't make more harm. And don't worry much, not so many people are going to accept the constitution written by the coup anyway. So it will be rewritten in the future.

Personally, i think our monks contributes to the society. Ordinary people have a day work, but monks are quite free during daytime so they should be assigned to heat up the anti-coup-constitution atmosphere. Good job.

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I agree with Duanja that the movement has political purpose.

Not only Jamlong but the whole group.. (guess u guys know which group I'm talking about)

CNS is being attcked in every possible ways,

I think this maybe has nothing to do with Taksin but somebody in the group is mad that he don't get ITV to be his chanel.

Try to be positive, I think that most of the buddhists in thailand are not agree with this because this kind of action is againts the ideal of religion itself.

As people always say.

In thailand you can always expect the unexpected.

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And the point being, in that the buddhist monks have a political cause? Like this would be first time religion has political movements? And is it really so hard to see that it is political when monks and laymen go out on street saying

constitution (=political thing) should include something about buddhism (=religion). But here we have politicians saying this realization like they are in shock and awe... :shock:

Well, is anyone REALLY surprised by this gem of an opinion again when saw just the headline:

Buddhist rally alarms Surayud

"A highly-placed police source also voiced scepticism about the demonstration. It was deemed to be calculated and well-planned amid reports that Wat Dhammakaya was behind the rally, said the source.

''We're investigating further whether politicians of the previous government are involved or not,'' the source said. "

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/26Apr2007_news01.php

I am here laughing my butt off....unbelievable. Old politicians did this too? ANd oOh oh sh*t sherlock? A rally that is calculated? Well, isn't that much more beter than bunch of skinheads or arab kids going around the streets burning cars in EUrope? THAT is uncalculated demonstration...Anything else SHOULD be calculated if you want to show believable political agenda and movement. Or, pls, tell what is your point with giving this statement? What is your agenda saying that the demonstrators have,hmmm, AGENDA? Wat Dhammakaya? Sure, they would in small way get boost from this but so would any other "normal" buddhist temple and monk and so on if there was state religion...Not that it has helped ultimatly any western religion to be a state religion eventually, they all grumble down as the society becomes more secular...

Someone is pissed off in the movement from not getting his iTV? Well, from what it looks at first: I do see no surprise in some buddhism movement trying this to include in constitution. Really. Quite natural that there are some ppl who would want that. So be it. Does there really need to be some behind the scenes reason like money or what not? TV? And does it really matter? Everyone has agendas, hidden or not, when they do politics. It is the results that matter, and what the results really do. Sure, it is good to analyse what are the ulterior possible concequenses, so that there wont be any suprising drawbacks later. But there is surprising requests of addition for real,imho, like the third sex thing which could be handled totally somewhere else. And other stuff that should be outside constitution, those I see personally more "surprising" "movements" than religious agendas and politics...

"Maj-Gen Thongkhao Puangrodphan, deputy secretary-general of the Buddhism Protection Centre of Thailand, said the prime minister's claim was ''really not constructive'' and would create disunity in society. '"

Hmm, what goes around, comes around. A coup that claimed to clean out "disuniting forces" is slapt in face with accusation of disuniting actions by the people who were supposed to be united by this coup in the first place...:-P

As the original poster was: is there really any reason to put the national religion in constitution? Thailand has done quite fine without it before. And ulitimatly peoples beliefs do not depend on what is said in some law book or constitution. It might slow down the evitable, if that is seen as gradual secularization. But that really isn't lawmakers business is it...But who are we to say that some monks should not feel otherwise.

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Maybe there is a growing fear in the buddhists community about the growing numbers of muslims in Thailand. Look at all the trouble in the south of Thailand ?

hmmm seems like if you were looking for a way to piss off the muslims in the south with no perceptible upside, this would be it.

great solution! pure genius.

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  • 4 months later...

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