[Buddha-l] Buddhism and Politics

[Sally McAra]

RH wrote: Buddhists are, as a rule, inclined to lean as far to the right as possible without falling
over. That is true in all parts of the world but the West. In the West,
Buddhism is still not established, so it attracts people who are
alienated from their societies. But wherever Buddhism is a well-
established religion, it mostly attracts people who are too mired in
tradition to think for themselves and who have a fear of anything that
might make them change their deeply ingrained habits. In short, it
attracts xenophobic bigots and right-wing nationalists, in much the same
way that fundamentalist Christian churches in the United States attract
Republicans the way dung attracts flies. 

SM: Hmm... 
I'd be interested to know what evidence you have for the idea that Buddhists or Buddhist organisations tend to be politically conservative in countries where they are well established. Perhaps that is true in some instances, although such generalisations are tricky!...  Surely various "engaged Buddhists" would be an exception?
I'm wondering if anyone knows of any research on political orientations of Buddhists in Asia,that might help. 
I expect that western concepts of politically conservative vs progressive don't necessarily equate with political orientations in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Taiwan or wherever, anyway, so it would be very difficult to make such a comparison.
For example, take Sri Lanka, where there is a politicised movement among Buddhists that might seem xenophobic, e.g. outlawing christian proselytisation - but they are trying to fend off some quite aggressive christian missionisation. Does that make them nationalists? I don't know enough about it to hazard a guess.

Since my research interest is in western buddhists and the establishment of Buddhism in Australia & NZ by people who are (for want of a better term) western converts (and often were fairly anti-establishment during 1960s-70s), I couldnt help but notice that there did seem to be a marked difference in political orientations- the converts who often came upon the Dharma during their "hippie" years, compared to the things I read about Buddhism in established situations (and have seen in my very limited observation of immigrant congregations). Interestingly, I read in a biography of Lama Yeshe, that he took an interest in american politics, and supported the bombing of some middleeastern country back in the early 1980s i think it was (I didn't note down where I read this or any of the details, but I recall being surprised to read this!)

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Sally McAra