A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Friday, June 23, 2017
Arrogant, foolish attempt to deny persecution of Christians in Sri Lanka
Open letter to Dr Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha PC Minister of Justice
June 22, 2017, 9:39 pm
I
was shocked and outraged to see a video news clip in which you sought
to deny the numerous incidents involving the harassment of Christians in
this country in recent times while crudely condemning a reputable
lawyer who had brought the relevant facts to light threatening to have
him removed from the bar. Your arrogant and emotive reaction reflects a
deplorable ignorance about the facts pertaining to Christian persecution
in the country if not a deliberate attempt to subvert them on the
principle that the shame and embarrassment accompanying the revelation
of the truth is more important than the truth itself – which therefore
must be covered up.
It is clear that your ill conceived remarks derive from a pronounced
Buddhist bias. It shows that you know nothing of Christianity. It would
seem that you are quite ignorant about the definition of a ‘Christian’
in a plural society and utterly misinformed about what constitutes the
Christian Church. In this the 500th year of the Protestant Reformation (
which you have probably not even heard of ! ) where roughly half the
Christians in the world are non Roman Catholic you seem oblivious to the
existence of Christian denominations outside the Roman Church. Your
equating Christianity with the Roman Church imagining that Cardinal
Malcolm Ranjit can be a spokesman for Christians in Sri Lanka is on par
with the naivety of a first year law student !
Moreover as a Buddhist politician preoccupied with your own political
agenda you are obviously unaware of trends in the Christian Church where
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjit has become a controversial figure even within
the Roman Catholic denomination , who having betrayed the faith by his
religious pluralism and open hostility to evangelical Christians, is
consequently deeply distrusted amongst Christians many of whom would not
even consider him to be a Christian from a strictly Biblical
perspective.
In this connection I am annexing herewith a copy of my recent paper "
Cardinal Sin" which was a response to some previous remarks by the
Cardinal. I hope the contents might prove instructive enabling you to
appreciate the genuinely Christian position, leading to a more balanced
and guarded view of this controversial priest without being deluded by
pompous ecclesiastical rank and title into giving his opinions more
credence than they deserve, thereby compromising your own reputation and
bringing the government into disrepute.
Otherwise I have myself been maintaining a dossier (now running into
nearly 100 pages ! ) of attacks against Christians in various parts of
the country from 2002 - 2017 based on the information supplied by a
balanced and responsible Christian organisation. According to my records
there have been hundreds of incidents where Christian priests, pastors,
workers and worshippers have been harassed during this period. Such
incidents ( now receiving global publicity ) have included arson, death
threats, obstruction of burials, destructive attacks on places of
worship, disruption of worship, home invasions, stoning, assault, verbal
abuse, mob attacks, threat of acid attack, police intimidation and
inaction, and other disgraceful forms of harassment humiliation and
interference with religious freedom. Given this dismal history current
reports of some 195 incidents since 2015 are entirely plausible.
That you should be skeptical about such revelations reflects a complete
misunderstanding of what constitutes a Church. Contrary to your
preconceived notions Jesus said " for where two or three are gathered in
my name there am I among them". However small the gathering of
worshippers whatever the premises or location in which they assemble –
that is a Church. Any interference with such a group of worshippers is
an assault on the Christian Church. That is the bottom line.
If you really cared about the good name of Buddhism or had even a
minimal commitment to the stated ‘vision’ of the Ministry of Justice you
would be outraged by the contempt for the rule of law shown by the
rowdy monks and their supporters who harass Christians. You would weep
at the grotesque violation of the basic tenets of Buddhism by fanatics
and hooligans whose aggression is a standing denial of the pure dhamma.
Instead your angry intolerant and peevish reaction with its echoes of
the metaphor "shooting the messenger" instead of acting on the message,
is unbecoming of the high traditions of dignity and independence one
expects from your office. But then perhaps we should not be surprised
that a legal establishment that has seemingly been so inept and
relatively recalcitrant in bringing those in the ‘previous regime’ who
have committed monumental crimes and misdemeanors to justice - should be
so indifferent when mere Christians are getting a beating at this time !
Professor A.N.I Ekanayaka
Emeritus Professor, University of Peradeniya