What next... Zenophobia ?

Q: If fear of Islam is Islamophobia, then what do you call fear of Buddhism?

A: Zenophobia!


Swiss referendum bans minarets
I see from Cranmer that the Swiss have voted to ban minarets from their country. This is hardly surprising in view of the Turkish Prime Minister's threat that 'the mosques are our barracks, the minarets our bayonets, the domes our helmets, and the believers our soldiers.'

But what has this got to do with Buddhism? Well nothing in itself. If the proscription is solely directed at Islamic 'quasi-military citadels' then there's no problem.

Nevertheless we do need to be aware of a rising tide of nationalism in Europe, which may eventually turn into cultural Xenophobia. This could then become outright hostility against the places of worship of all religions that are perceived as 'foreign', including Buddhism.

Secular Europe is still 'Culturally Christian'
Although there's unlikely to be a major revival of militant fundamentalist Christianity in Europe, many Europeans see themselves as being 'culturally Christian' and don't take kindly to their way of life being threatened by other cultures. The British National Party (whose members are not particularly noted as staunch church-goers) have recently started marketing themselves as defenders of the ‘Christian heritage’ of the country , though this hasn't prevented the BNP allowing Sikhs to join .


Possibility of Collateral Damage to Buddhism
There appear to be three factors at work in the Swiss referendum which may be of concern to European Buddhism.

(1) Cultural Xenophobia "I'm afraid that the Little Europeans have far more support than we normally wish to admit, even in Britain. For it is part of the paradox of Western liberalism that its pluralism only extends so far, and that it is essentially intolerant of anything that does not stem from its own "definitive" culture." - http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-god-blog/2009/11/europe-australia-swiss-culture

(2) Secularism and fear of religious fanaticism. "The situation is made more complex, however, by the fact that the proposal also received vocal support from secularists and feminists who view minarets as "male power symbols" indicative of what they perceive as a Muslim tendency to oppress women." http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-god-blog/2009/11/europe-australia-swiss-culture

(3) Factors specific to Islam itself. Islam is regarded by many Europeans, rightly or wrongly, as being inherently terrorist and responsible for a range of predatory sociopathic behaviours. Obviously Buddhism still has certain advantages of Islam. It isn't perceived as a violent death-cult that wants to enslave or behead all non-believers, so it isn't near the top of the Europeans' list of 'clear and present dangers'.


Nevertheless Buddhism may suffer collateral damage from the growing European fear and hostility towards Islam. Xenophobes who know little about Buddhism may suspect it of being a similarly violent and barbarous Eastern cult, purely on the grounds of originating 'somewhere east of Suez, where the best is like the worst, Where there aren’t no Ten Commandments and a man can raise a thirst.. .

Secularists may use Islam as an example of the evil effects of all religions, and tar Buddhism with the same brush.

So Buddhism needs to distance itself from Islam and emphasise the rational nature of its philosophy and compatibility with European humanism.

Religion of Peace
Islam has tried hard to market itself in the West as The Religion of Peace:


But this hasn't met with unqualified success for obvious reasons.

In contrast, Buddhism is one of the few religions that has never fought a war to propagate itself. This needs to be stressed more widely so that Buddhism can distance itself from any association with violent fanaticism.

Also, Buddhism needs to be marketed as more culturally Euro-friendly and less alien. Aspects which could be developed are:

- Common origins.
Both Buddhist and European cultures were greatly influenced in their formative years by Hellenism and Greek humanist civilisation. This included the civilisation of Gandhara whose last vestiges the Taliban are busy obliterating.

- Buddhist contribution to European culture.
Christianity itself may have had Buddhist origins. There is also some evidence that Buddhists influenced the culture of pre-Christian Celtic Europe. From the nineteenth century onwards Buddhists art, in particular Zen, has had a major influence on European art.

- Culturally Christian, philosophically Buddhist
It's possible to be both culturally Christian but philosophically Buddhist. There's no reason why western Buddhists shouldn't continue to celebrate their traditional festivals such as Christmas and Halloween. In addition, as Whitehead remarked, "Christianity ... has always been a religion seeking a metaphysic, in contrast to Buddhism which is a metaphysic generating a religion." . In an age of growing materialism, it may well be that Buddhist philosophy has the metaphysical strength which Christianity lacks to argue for the spiritual aspect of human existence.

Update: Minaret ban provokes Muslim rage, meanwhille anti-minaret movement gathers momentum throughout Europe