Banners, posters claim Buddhists are in danger; Christian student beaten.
(June 19, Middeniya, Sri Lanka Guardian) Buddhist extremists have invited residents of Middeniya, a town in Hambanthota district, southern Sri Lanka, to attend a huge anti-Christian rally this Sunday (June 22), where they have promised to “expose the great [Christian] conspiracy.”
Over the past week extremists have erected anti-Christian banners and posters and held four meetings inviting people to Sunday’s rally. A similar meeting in a public school yesterday resulted in students beating a Christian classmate, the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) reported today.
Christians attending the Assemblies of God (AOG) church in Middeniya fear the rally may lead to violence and discrimination against the town’s small Christian minority. At previous rallies, extremists ordered shopkeepers not to sell food to Christians and encouraged taxi drivers not to accept them as passengers.
As a result of such discrimination, the AOG church pastor, his wife and three children are virtual prisoners in their own home, according to NCEASL.
Hate Campaign
The Buddhist extremists have hung large banners and posters throughout the town – even in public buses – proclaiming, “Buddhists are in danger! Let’s save Middeniya from fundamentalists!”
An anti-Christian meeting was held yesterday in the Middeniya Maha Vidyalaya, a public school where the vast majority of students are Buddhists. At the meeting, the principal encouraged students to attend the rally on Sunday and warned them not to attend Christian gatherings.
After the principal’s speeches, the students turned on a Christian classmate, pulling her hair and beating her. The child was traumatized and is now afraid to return to school.
Anti-Christian sentiments appear to be spreading in the district, with banners and posters being erected in neighboring Weraketiya yesterday.
The local Buddhist temple last Thursday (June 12) launched a petition against the existence of a church in Middeniya, collecting signatures from area residents. Local sources say the monks intend to give the petition to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Christians in Hambanthota district have asked for prayer to defuse the situation, to protect their right to worship and protect their families.
Buddhist Monks Push for Anti-Conversion Laws
Buddhist extremists were responsible for scores of attacks against Christians over the past six years, following an anti-Christian campaign launched in 2002 by Gangodavila Soma, a much-revered Buddhist monk.
After Soma’s death in December 2003, extremists stepped up their campaign for anti-conversion laws, calling on the government to ban what they called “unethical conversions” to Christianity.
They eventually formed their own political party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya to push forward an anti-conversion bill – modeled after similar laws in India – that would make it illegal to convert someone to another religion “by force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means.”
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Sri Lanka’s minister of Buddhist Affairs, put forward a similar bill that was approved in principle by the cabinet in 2004.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
(June 19, Middeniya, Sri Lanka Guardian) Buddhist extremists have invited residents of Middeniya, a town in Hambanthota district, southern Sri Lanka, to attend a huge anti-Christian rally this Sunday (June 22), where they have promised to “expose the great [Christian] conspiracy.”
Over the past week extremists have erected anti-Christian banners and posters and held four meetings inviting people to Sunday’s rally. A similar meeting in a public school yesterday resulted in students beating a Christian classmate, the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) reported today.
Christians attending the Assemblies of God (AOG) church in Middeniya fear the rally may lead to violence and discrimination against the town’s small Christian minority. At previous rallies, extremists ordered shopkeepers not to sell food to Christians and encouraged taxi drivers not to accept them as passengers.
As a result of such discrimination, the AOG church pastor, his wife and three children are virtual prisoners in their own home, according to NCEASL.
Hate Campaign
The Buddhist extremists have hung large banners and posters throughout the town – even in public buses – proclaiming, “Buddhists are in danger! Let’s save Middeniya from fundamentalists!”
An anti-Christian meeting was held yesterday in the Middeniya Maha Vidyalaya, a public school where the vast majority of students are Buddhists. At the meeting, the principal encouraged students to attend the rally on Sunday and warned them not to attend Christian gatherings.
After the principal’s speeches, the students turned on a Christian classmate, pulling her hair and beating her. The child was traumatized and is now afraid to return to school.
Anti-Christian sentiments appear to be spreading in the district, with banners and posters being erected in neighboring Weraketiya yesterday.
The local Buddhist temple last Thursday (June 12) launched a petition against the existence of a church in Middeniya, collecting signatures from area residents. Local sources say the monks intend to give the petition to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Christians in Hambanthota district have asked for prayer to defuse the situation, to protect their right to worship and protect their families.
Buddhist Monks Push for Anti-Conversion Laws
Buddhist extremists were responsible for scores of attacks against Christians over the past six years, following an anti-Christian campaign launched in 2002 by Gangodavila Soma, a much-revered Buddhist monk.
After Soma’s death in December 2003, extremists stepped up their campaign for anti-conversion laws, calling on the government to ban what they called “unethical conversions” to Christianity.
They eventually formed their own political party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya to push forward an anti-conversion bill – modeled after similar laws in India – that would make it illegal to convert someone to another religion “by force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means.”
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Sri Lanka’s minister of Buddhist Affairs, put forward a similar bill that was approved in principle by the cabinet in 2004.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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Problem with dogmatic evangelicals is their blind faith. The problem with some of the Buddhist whackos is that there is no such thing as Sinhala buddhism!! Buddhism does not depend on blind faith in a god or a race and it is not under threat from anyone except the idiots who fail to follow its teachings,, Just yesterday someone tried to lecture to one of his close friends about the dangers of Iran and how Bush is a good Christian. He quotes some propaganda against Iran from US christian rightwing authors about (Jerusalum countdown or Jerusalum doomsday. ) Here is a former perfectly rational intelligent Catholic has gone over the deep end with his evangelism and trying to convert people with brainwashing propaganda over dinner by talking crap about King Solomon and Sri lanka and how revelation says everything about the world today!
This is the type of author who wants to drive fear into people about a thing called the Rapture. So there are dogmatic people who want to slowly tried to drive fear and say things like the book of revelation said this or that to try to prove every phenomenon in recent times is linked to the Bible. That is faith and not science or fact. And then we have buddhist dogmatic idiots who think Buddhists have to be Sinhalese! There is no concept of Sinhala buddhism!! There is no place in Buddhism for hate or violence and when this born again former catholic says Bush was justified in killing Iraqis and that Iran is the bad guy and then proceeds to quote Oral Roberts who is a discredited capitalist christian charlatan it has gone too far with their blind faith. So talking down to a friend who has been a friend for 25 years because this fellow is now an american type "born again" Bush the murderer is born again Christian who has no regrets about the misery he caused Iraqis there is something pathetic about their need to preach and convert.
Perhaps if they are not that dogmatic (there are idiot christians who do not allow medicine even when their children are dying: That is not religion that is irrational blind faith). The American types incl the former Polygamous and racist Mormons are spreading money and offering schols to go to US to Tamils here now.. Sad that if they cannot convince via faith, they need to use money....So the helpless people who are desperate will accept anything. Then they get trapped because the mormons want 10% of your salary compulsorily given to the church! They are very rich and powerful in the US!! And Bush is a born again murderer.
I think root of the problem is these christian extreamists who are using all those bogus methods to convert poor people to their religion.We should ban these conversions.Otherwise it's impossible to avoid these clashes.
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