Conversion and Anti-conversion in Contemporary Sri Lanka: Pentecostal Christian Evangelism and Theravada Buddhist Views on the Ethics of Religious Attraction

Mahadev, Neena

doi:10.1007/978-981-4451-18-5_11

Cited by 12 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…They were able to move across large parts of Sri Lanka as well as work with and alongside the government and military in collecting and distributing aid. This authority was further enhanced in the months following the tsunami when Christian-based charities and foreign nongovernment aid organizations became suspect, once again, of unethical religious conversions and of promoting foreign interests (Mahadev 2014;Harris 2013;Samuels 2010;WanigaraTne 1997;HerTzberg 2015). In this context of heightened suspicion of the religious other, Buddhist authorities in Sri Lanka sought to further facilitate and expedite Buddhist channels of relief.…”

Section: Conclusion: Buddhist Disaster Reliefmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sri Lankan Buddhists have been voicing their concerns about Christian charity organizations for a number of years, believing that the ultimate motives behind aid work sponsored by Christian organizations is religious conversion. This belief has led to several attempts at passing anti-conversion bills in parliament, though none have yet become law (Mahadev 2014;Harris 2013;Samuels 2010;WanigaraTne 1997;HerTzberg 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Buddhist Disaster Relief: Monks, Networks, and the Politics of Religion

Samuels¹

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

(Theravada) temples in Malaysia have only recently begun actively engaging in international disaster relief. This article explores the reasons for this emerging example of religious relief by examining the diasporic history of social welfare engagements by these temples and their interactions with initiatives by Chinese organizations and other religious aid providers in Malaysia. In doing so, it investigates the politics of religion both within Buddhist relief practices and within wider contexts in which the relief work is located. The discussion focuses on a case study of Mahindarama Temple in Penang and its remarkable mobilization in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. I argue that the temple's relief work is one element of a wider flourishing involvement in social welfare activities. Previous domesticallyoriented practices gave doctrinal and administrative precedent for transnational disaster relief work following the tsunami. Mahindarama's relief activities were linked to a transnational web of religious and ethnic networks in which monks played decisive roles. Both the monks' doctrinal work and their interventions in practical tasks were crucial in facilitating and brokering the relief efforts. While Mahindarama's disaster relief work drew on Buddhist practices, values, and principles, it was also informed by a particular constellation of political, social, and economic concerns that reflect the location of Buddhist patrons in multicultural Malaysia.

show abstract

Section: Conclusion: Buddhist Disaster Reliefmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Buddhist Disaster Relief: Monks, Networks, and the Politics of Religion

Samuels¹

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Reconstruction in the aftermath of disasters is a process riddled with exchanges, each of which serves to reproduce old and create new relationships of power and control. Research has started to explore how aid (or ‘the gift’ as it has been theorised) has been interpreted ‘not just [as] material transfers … but also embodiments of cultural symbolism, social power, and political affiliation’ which render it a ‘culturally charged, political commodity’ that is replete with ‘reciprocal obligations’ (Korf et al, : 60, 61; see also Stirrat and Henkel, ; Mahadev, ). Accordingly, aid has been described as an ‘influential material intervention’ that enables its providers to ‘wield considerable power’ (Fountain and McLaughlin, : 10).…”

Section: Converting Disaster Into Opportunity: Religious Praxis Throumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With this in mind, this paper explores how evangelical Christian groups used the events of 2004 and 1983–2009 to foment processes of religious transformation in areas where their presence was otherwise restricted. It engages with existing work that explores the role of religious groups in facilitating processes of change in Sri Lanka (Hasbullah and Korf, ; Woods, , ; Mahadev, ; Johnson, ), the processes and politics of post‐tsunami reconstruction (Rigg et al, , ; Stirrat, ; Tan‐Mullins et al, ; Ruwanpura, , ; McGregor, ; Hollenbach and Ruwanpura, ) and the emergent role of religion in development studies more generally (Haynes, ; Fountain, , ; Thornton et al, ; Fountain and McLaughlin, ; Woods, ). By tying these literatures together through a unifying focus on the strategies of salvation employed by Christian groups in post‐disaster contexts, the paper's contributions are threefold.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies of salvation: Evangelical Christian praxis and sites of degradation in Sri Lanka

Woods

2018

Asia Pacific Viewpoint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper demonstrates how disasters create sites of degradation – potent spaces of upheaval and engagement – that are readily filled and exploited by evangelical Christian groups. In doing so, it explores how disasters provide opportunities for evangelical groups to gain a foothold in localities where Christian presence, and evangelical praxis, may otherwise be restricted. Drawing on qualitative data collected in Sri Lanka throughout 2010–2011, two comparative case studies are presented that reveal the strategies of evangelical Christian praxis in and through sites of environmental and political degradation. Specifically, the case studies reveal how evangelical groups pursue ‘outside‐in’ and ‘inside‐out’ strategies of salvation, which, by blurring the boundaries of religion and relief, can lead to the formation of new hierarchies of power.

show abstract

“…Their leaders have not had organised involvement in conflict, and do not identify themselves with the Catholic Church (for Sri Lanka's east: Korf et al 2010;Spencer et al 2015). For interesting analysis of evangelical Christianity see Fernando (2014), Mahadev (2014), Woods (2013). and Catholicism have experienced internal struggles between conservative constituencies in favor of the status quo and more radical elements (typically younger clergy) wishing to upend it. In the instances of involvement with the violence of the JVP and LTTE the stakes of such struggles have been particularly high.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Taking liberties and making liberty: religious bounding and political violence in Sri Lanka

Johnson

2016

Religion

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper argues that the relationship between religion and violent politics is best understood through a focus on religious practice. The case study of the Tamil Catholic Church within Sri Lanka's civil war is presented against a back-drop of Buddhist monk participation in violent insurgency decades earlier. The discrete cases evidence a common preoccupation with management of physical borders and discursive boundaries as actors seek to reproduce themselves and their work as legitimately 'religious'. Despite relying on remaining 'pure' from the dirty political realm, in practice religion is bound to social action and reproduced through the violent circumstances it engages. Taking Liberties and Making Liberty --Religious Bounding and Political Violence in Sri Lanka Abstract This paper argues that the relationship between religion and violent politics is best understood through a focus on religious practice. The case study of the Tamil Catholic Church within Sri Lanka's civil war is presented against a backdrop of Buddhist monk participation in violent insurgency decades earlier. The discrete cases evidence a common preoccupation with management of physical borders and discursive boundaries as actors seek to reproduce themselves and their work as legitimately 'religious'. Despite relying on remaining 'pure' from the dirty political realm, in practice religion is bound to social action and reproduced through the violent circumstances it engages.

show abstract

Conversion and Anti-conversion in Contemporary Sri Lanka: Pentecostal Christian Evangelism and Theravada Buddhist Views on the Ethics of Religious Attraction

Cited by 12 publications

References 16 publications

Buddhist Disaster Relief: Monks, Networks, and the Politics of Religion

Buddhist Disaster Relief: Monks, Networks, and the Politics of Religion

Strategies of salvation: Evangelical Christian praxis and sites of degradation in Sri Lanka

Taking liberties and making liberty: religious bounding and political violence in Sri Lanka

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About