Monk dubbed 'Buddhist Bin Laden' targets Myanmar's persecuted Muslims

[Jesus Malverde]

He's been described as the "Buddhist Bin Laden," but Ashin Wirathu thinks he has more in common with the world's most famous fictional spy.

"James Bond is a nationalist," the cherub-faced monk said in a recent interview. Flashing a smile, he offered a vague recollection of a movie in which 007, in order to extract information from a woman, took her to bed.

"While he did not take much pleasure in the act," Wirathu said, "he did it for his country."

His questionable reading of Bond aside, the firebrand Wirathu firmly says he is defending Myanmar against the people he views as the country's main enemy: its Muslims.

Wirathu, 46, might bear as much responsibility as any individual for the desperate exodus of Muslims from Myanmar aboard overcrowded fishing boats bound for Thailand and Malaysia.

http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-ff-myanmar-monk-20150524-story.html

[delrem]

1. That sounds ridiculous. At least, I think it's a ridiculous conclusion to draw.

The ridiculous conclusion being "Wirathu, 46, might bear as much responsibility as any individual for the desperate exodus of Muslims".

For one thing, this guy is a ridiculous "Buddhist Monk" already, so makes for a ridiculous avatar for the whole religion.
Then to conclude that this guy, identified as being and acting as a "Buddhist Monk", is made responsible for everything, and everything is cast in the most exclusionary and divisive ethnic/cultural/religious tones.

[liberal_at_heart]

2. He has abandoned Buddha's teachings. He is too attached to ego, beliefs and ideas.