Sinhalese Buddhist mytho-history is marshalled to justify ethnic violence, not peace.
Evidence
This portrayal, however, contrasts with violent episodes involving Sri Lanka’s Buddhists. All agree that Buddhist philosophy eschews violence, yet in Sri Lanka (and elsewhere) some Buddhist monks and especially Buddhist political elites have used jathaka tales dealing with Buddha’s reincarnated lives and Buddhist mytho-history to celebrate and justify violence. … Analyst Jayadeva Uyangoda has argued that “Sinhalese Buddhism has made no significant contribution to the evolution of a non-violent social ideology. On the contrary, the Sinhalese Buddhist historiographical tradition and ideology inherent in it supports ethnic political violence” (Uyangoda 1996: 129, n. 5). — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 46
Categorization
- XREF: Connects directly to the reader’s research question on whether in-group solidarity is sustained by manufactured/mythic enemy narratives; here a putatively peaceful religion’s myth-history is repurposed to harden enmity. — connects to: Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist ideology rests on mythic history yet betrays Buddhism’s core values — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 294; Sinhalese-Tamil enmity is legitimized by myth rather than primordial fact — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 78; Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism rests on a foundational belief in Buddhist sufferance toward minorities (+6 more)
- SEED: Angle for an article: how do peaceful traditions weaponize their own sacred narratives, and does calling this out backfire when the belief is threat-hardened?
Broader Connections
- Sinhalese-Tamil enmity is legitimized by myth rather than primordial fact
#corroborates(0.90) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 78 - Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist ideology rests on mythic history yet betrays Buddhism’s core values
#expands(0.85) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 294 - Buddha’s mythic visits legitimize Sinhalese supremacy by subjugating indigenous beings
#expands(0.82) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 71 - Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism rests on a foundational belief in Buddhist sufferance toward minorities
#contradicts(0.80) - Sinhalese Buddhist identity was antiquarian but its modern nationalist ideology is reinterpreted and manipulated
#expands(0.80) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 85 - Western War on Terror tropes shaped the Buddhist-nationalist genocide of Rohingya.
#expands(0.75)