Episcopal News Service: Press Release # 2001-309

Burmese Christians Struggle to Cope Under Military Rule

Episcopal News Service. October 29, 2001 [2001-309]

James H. Thrall, Doctoral student in the Graduate Program in Religion at Duke University and former deputy director of ENS

(ENS) In the southeast Asian country of Burma, dubbed Myanmar by the military regime that has ruled in one form or another for nearly 40 years, a faint--very faint--hope hovers.

Since October of 2000, it is reported, government representatives have been conducting behind-the-scenes talks with Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the main opposition party.

Optimists suggest the talks will lead to a new level of political and personal freedom, perhaps through some kind of power-sharing arrangement between the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Pessimists, who would call themselves realists, expect nothing.

Either way, for the people of Burma, including the approximately six percent who are Christians, it is still time to "wait and see," to make do, to figure out how to fill the gaps in a society that often seems to be barely functioning.

Walking a careful line

In outlying regions, especially near the border with Thailand, military action between the government and ethnic insurgents, between the government and drug traffickers, among drug traffickers, between ethnic groups, and at times between the government and Thailand itself, makes existence dangerous and unstable. Faced with threats of conscription as forced labor, rape and death, members of the Karen minority group in particular have been forced over decades to flee to refugee camps in Thailand. Segments of the Shan people reportedly have made similar migrations in recent years, though there are not yet refugee camps to serve them.

But even in urban centers such as the capital Rangoon (renamed Yangon), citizens struggle with a crumbling infrastructure, erratic electricity, runaway inflation, ubiquitous government surveillance, and a dearth of economic and educational opportunities. Mild criticism of the government can lead to prison: despite the recent release of nearly 200 members of the NLD as a goodwill gesture by the government, Amnesty International estimates more than 1,500 political prisoners are currently detained. [For this reason, the names of some of the sources interviewed for this article have been omitted.]

To a large extent, therefore, making do means avoiding notice. While church organizations must assume they are as much the targets of government observation as the rest of the population, stepping carefully can sometimes prevent surveillance from turning into interference.

"You have to be able to follow the right track for your survival," observed one Burmese Anglican. "You have to be very innocent," echoed a Baptist church leader. "You have to try to be innocent."

Unequal treatment

Even so, one Anglican man seemed to speak for many when he said, "We have to get permission for whatever we do, for any special celebration. That is why I don't agree that there is no religious interference. There is interference in many things."

As a minority in a country where the government gives vigorous support to the majority faith of Buddhism, Christians are, by unstated practice, essentially barred from positions of power in the government or military. Especially in some rural villages in certain regions, they can face physical harassment and threats to personal and church property. In the government's strict control of movement and residency, Christians may be refused permission to live in areas in which there are not already other Christians.

Christian publications with print runs of more of 1,000 copies or intended for circulation beyond the church must be submitted to censorship. Bibles and theological books, especially those mentioning peace or justice, can be considered contraband. Open-air preaching is forbidden. Worship can be conducted only in specially licensed buildings. Stepped-up enforcement in recent months has severely limited the buildings approved.

In part, some observed, Christian churches get included in restrictions actually directed toward Islamic groups in the wake of sometimes violent clashes between Muslims, who make up about four percent of the population, and Buddhists. But whatever the basis, the inequalities in treatment toward Buddhism and all other religions are clear.

"I think the government wants to use Buddhism as a tool, as a weapon for unity," said one Christian man. "They want people to think 'We are a Buddhist country.'" In its financial support of Buddhism, "this regime hijacked the religion," agreed another. "They have built a lot of pagodas."

Certain highly publicized events, such as the transportation of an eight- to nine-ton Buddha statue to a temple in Insein, on the outskirts of Rangoon, offer distractions to the public, suggested another Christian. The regular visits of government officials supposedly to oversee the project are the constant focus of press reports "to make people not think about political things," he said.

An Anglican advantage

The Most Rev. Samuel San Si Htay, Burma's new Anglican archbishop, suggested that Anglicans may fare slightly better than Christians of some other denominations. Although the Church of the Province of Myanmar carefully avoids using the word "Anglican" in its name to forestall historic associations with Burma's British colonizers, Anglican practices bear helpful similarities to Buddhist customs, at least as compared with evangelical denominations.

"We have seasons and festivals like the Buddhists. We have orders and our bishops meet in councils," he said. Some Anglican missionaries in the past also tended to resemble Buddhist priests, wearing Burmese clothing, going barefoot, fasting, and often being single.

Since the government rarely grants permission to construct new church buildings, even on licensed church property, the Anglican province has the additional advantage of an existing network of more than 160 churches. "Before, during British rule, many places built very nice Anglican churches," said Assistant Bishop Philip Aung Khin Thein of the Diocese of Mandalay. "It's not difficult for us to do ministry because we don't have to build new ones."

Even so, he said, "sometimes if we hold some seminar or meeting or something, they [government officials] come and ask so many questions." With the recent crackdown on unlicensed worship, "it looks as though it is getting worse," San Si Htay observed. "They do not pay respect to other faiths, other religions. They do whatever they like. Now to go out [of the country] for religious meetings is very, very difficult."

Several members of the clergy of various denominations said that it is usually impossible to get a passport if their applications identify them as pastors. While hired brokers can sometimes successfully arrange for passports, the process, almost always involving bribes, can be quite expensive. In addition, Burmese citizens who leave to work in other countries are required to pay a portion of their salaries to the government through a special and heavy tax.

Role of mediation

Some Anglicans complained that their denomination has been less vocal on political matters than it could be. Other denominations have been more likely to speak out against injustice, they said, particularly the Myanmar Baptist Convention, which with a combined total of more than a million baptized and unbaptized members dwarfs any other denomination.

But others noted that Anglicans, including recently retired Archbishop Andrew Mya Han, have played key roles in mediation between the government and some ethnic insurgencies. They have also been leaders in theological education, and in the Myanmar Council of Churches (MCC), the national Christian organization based in Rangoon.

It is too early to tell, several said, what kind of a stance their church will take under its new archbishop. San Si Htay, enthroned before a congregation of nearly 1,000 at Rangoon's Holy Trinity Cathedral in June, was chosen largely out of respect for "his spirituality and devotional life," suggested one member of the faculty at Holy Cross Theological College, the Anglican seminary in Rangoon. "He's considered very honest and sincere."

As former principal of Holy Cross, and former general secretary of the MCC, San Si Htay also brings significant administrative experience. On the other hand, observed the faculty member, he is perhaps "a little bit quiet."

While that may mean the church will maintain a low profile in addressing what is routinely called "the political situation," the teacher said, "maybe for the church that is good. We need reconciliation in different ways. We need to be involved in society in different ways, like salt."

Theological students at a meeting at Holy Cross tended to talk more about serving the church than effecting political change, though some, like one male student, called for the church to "actively give witness like the Baptists. Young people expect their leaders to be active. Old ministers are very quiet."

Strength in numbers

What Christian opposition to government policies does get voiced tends to be channeled through the M.C.C., which represents the province and 12 other denominations, as well as nine "cooperating" organizations such as the Bible Society of Myanmar and the National Council of YMCAs. If any Christian organization is taken seriously by the government, said San Si Htay, it is the combined Protestant voices of the MCC., especially when joined by Roman Catholic churches.

He said he was hopeful that recent contact between MCC leaders and the government's religious ministries office would open up some direct, though non-public, avenues of raising Christian concerns. "Whatever happened, we said we were not going to tell the media or outside people. We were going to tell the government," he said.

Still, admitted the Rev. Smith Nguhl Za Thawng, current MCC general secretary, even the council has never been overly "vocal, never been outspoken," focusing instead on a far-reaching array of ministries that attempt to address the country's dire social needs.

MCC offices draw together ecumenical support for specific projects assisting women, children, youth, and college students, as well as those "differently abled." Agricultural development groups, an urban-rural mission, and education and literacy programs, among others, also attempt to curb the effects of Burma's weak economy.

During government efforts to orchestrate the writing of a national constitution that would preserve military control, the council sent a letter protesting the inclusion of unelected military delegates in the convention, and calling for constitutional protection of religious freedom. It wrote again in 1997 to welcome the at least stated shift in emphasis when the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), established to enforce martial law following a bloody general strike in 1988, reconstituted itself as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). "We said we welcomed the spirit of the changed name, which is peace and development, and we hoped that this name will bear fruit," Smith Nguhl Za Thawng said.

Consensus is difficult

Last August the council was considering writing another letter that would address the reported dialogue between the government and the NLD. But as is often the case with committees representing different religious traditions, getting even the MCC's Executive Council to reach a consensus can be difficult, he said. Some wanted the letter on the dialogue widely posted in all churches; others did not want it written at all. And others suggested the letter would make no difference one way or another.

In fact, despite the aggravation of government interference, it can sometimes be even more galling for Christian leaders to accept how marginalized they are when they do want to be noticed.

"We are more or less ignored," said Smith Nguhl Za Thawng. This can have its advantages. "The government never asks what we are teaching in the seminary, who are the teachers," he said. "We can teach whatever we like. We can hire whomever we like."

But "our degrees are not recognized," he said. Holders of advanced degrees usually must pay "education clearance" fees on a sliding scale when obtaining a passport to leave the country, if they can get one. In what might be considered a back-handed insult, "we need pay nothing for religious degrees," he said.

Anti-Western stance

In part, Christian churches are caught in the regime's odd ambivalence toward the West. Moves since the 1990s to establish what is called an "open market policy" that will attract foreign investment and aid the country's modernization have spurred efforts to make Burma welcoming to foreigners, including a reversal of past bans on English language training in schools, said one teacher of English. Such moves are welcome, he said, but amount to trying to "dig the well only when we are thirsty," given Burma's desperate need to catch up after a 30-year government-imposed isolation that began in the 1960s.

While the government touts the construction of luxury hotels and the installation of digital traffic lights in downtown Rangoon as signs Burma really is stepping into the 21st century, the government-controlled newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, even more regularly attacks examples of western decadence, especially among young people.

"There's no distinction between Christians and Westerners," said one Anglican. "Whenever they see Christianity, they see in their mind the colonizers."

"Myanmar is always against the West," agreed a Baptist, especially since the United States has strongly supported the NLD's call for democratic reform and has imposed trade sanctions. Instead, the current regime is always looking north for counsel and support. For them, "China is my master," he said.

Historically, Burma's ethnic groups also have embraced Christianity far more enthusiastically than has the country's majority. Since most of the country's ethnic groups have engaged in armed rebellions against the government at one time or another, "Christian" and "rebel" may be seen as synonymous. "To be Burmese is to be Buddhist" is a mantra of national identification, observed Smith Nguhl Za Thawng. "So who are we? We are aliens in our own country. We are seen as traitors."

New roads of evangelism

Born out of missionary campaigns spearheaded by the Roman Catholic Portuguese in the 18th century and the American Baptists in the 19th, Burma's churches still wrestle with a heritage that equates church with evangelism.

Especially with the government's support, and with increasing international interest in Burma as a key country for the study of the Theravada Buddhist tradition, Buddhism is experiencing a renaissance in the country. "The resurgence of Buddhism is a challenge to us," requiring new efforts to share the Gospel, admitted San Si Htay. With only 200 to 250 priests and 57,000 church members in the province, "We still rely too much on the parish priest. We have to mobilize lay persons."

At the same time, during the Anglican Communion's Decade of Evangelism that concluded in 2000, "instead of learning from Buddhism, we tried to intensively evangelize, assert that we're better than Buddhism," he said. "That they don't like. They challenge us to learn something from them."

The church's social ministries, often generated as attempts to address what is lacking in government programs, can be at least one effective form of evangelism, suggested the Rev. Napoleon Aung Tun, a deacon and provincial coordinator of evangelism and mission. "We prefer to speak of the Gospel rather than evangelism," he said. "You must go out and work in the community."

With so many ethnic groups and different shades of Buddhism and animism as well as Islam practiced in the country, Christians need to stand out, said the Rev. Peter Thein Maung, provincial treasurer. "We need to go into a community and establish Christian identity. Nowadays people do not read the Bible. They read the Christian person."

An MCC committee on Buddhist-Christian dialogue has been advocating new approaches for relations with the country's dominant religion, but first it is having to convince church groups that there should be a dialogue at all. "Many church members think Buddhists are atheists and going to hell," said the Rev. Samuel Htang Oak, vicar of Holy Trinity Cathedral and committee chair. "And Buddhists think Christians are in darkness."

Christians ask "if we're doing dialogue, will we be watering down the fervor of evangelism?" said committee member U Aung Khin, former general secretary of the MCC, and a Christian married to a Buddhist. "The church people are very much afraid of 'dialogue.' So we use the words 'conversation,' 'fellowship.'"

Mutual understanding

The committee's goal is mutual understanding, but true dialogue could mean really being open to the possibility of change, Aung Khin suggested. "We have the phrase 'uniqueness of Christ.' But do we want to learn something about the uniqueness of Buddha?"

So far there has been no government resistance to the staging of such 'conversations,' so long as the discussion is only on religious issues," said Aung Khin. "If we try to talk about politics and social issues, the government is a little allergic to that." However, there might be stronger government reaction should dialogue lead to "real unity," he speculated. "The government uses a policy of divide and conquer. They want to keep us divided."

In the predominantly Karen and Mon Diocese of Hpa-an, near Thailand, Bishop Daniel Hoikyin is chair of a two-year-old Buddhist-Christian Peace Council that includes four Buddhist monks and five Christian clergy. "We want to let the government know we are the people who can speak for the people," though so far the group has not been able to engage in direct negotiations, Hoikyin said. "We are trying to build up our links."

And while that kind of cooperative venture is "very rare," in some villages relations can be very close, Htang Oak said, with Christians and Buddhists volunteering to provide kitchen services during each others' religious festivals.

Evangelistic efforts by what local church leaders called "parachurches" can cause their own type of difficulty, however. The influx of evangelical and Pentecostal groups--many not associated with particular denominations--in recent years has complicated relations between churches, and between churches and the government.

Especially from the United States, "a lot of people are coming in with dollars in a style that we are not comfortable with," reported Aung Tun. "Open market has allowed so many people in, like a wind. It's better to understand our tradition."

Occasional crackdowns

The groups' noisy celebrations in unlicensed buildings and sometimes questionable evangelistic tactics have prompted occasional crackdowns on all Christian groups. Denominational leaders also complained that parachurches draw members from existing churches, rather than from among non-Christians, and compete with established churches for the limited sources of foreign assistance. The plethora of churches confuses non-Christians, and raises questions about church unity for Christians as well, observed San Si Htay.

Yet others have welcomed the energy evangelical groups can bring. The pastor of the Rangoon Kachin Baptist Church said that the parachurches that have been in the country for a while become more effective witnesses as they tone down the aggressiveness of their evangelizing. And while the groups have caused divisions, especially initially, they have also "awakened our evangelical slumber," said the Rev. Simon Pau Khan En, general secretary of the Myanmar Baptist Convention.

"This revival worship is very noisy" while the "Burmese Anglican service is very traditional," said the Rev. James Naw Sam of St. George's Church in Taunggyi in the Shan State. "But I like the revival."

As part of a strategy for economic survival, St. George's small Anglican congregation shares its building with two parachurch groups, setting different times for Sunday worship. The alliance has put the congregation at odds with some of the other churches in Taunggyi, Naw Sam admitted, saying he finds it particularly difficult to organize "unity services" with the city's majority Baptists.

Dealing with the economy

In order to support the outreach of two lay religious educators--one male, one female--serving rural areas north of Taunggyi, Naw Sam said, the church has gone into business, setting up a snack and tea shop on the corner of its property. "The majority of our congregation are very poor," he said. He uses a motorcycle to navigate Taunggyi's hilly streets, but also to visit the remote missions, located in areas still closed to foreigners because of continued drug trafficking and unrest.

Inflation, running at 20 percent over the past year, has made a difficult economic life nearly impossible for Anglican clergy trying to live on stipends of between 4,000 and 5,000 kyats ($8 to $10) a month, said San Si Htay. With current prices, he noted, "one bag of rice of good quality will be 4,000 kyats."

To make ends meet, clergy wives may farm or work to sell items, he said. "Whenever there is a prayer meeting, they also give donations to the clergy." But "if you are ill or find some difficulty, it can be very hard. And regarding educating your children, even in a village, it costs money." For clergy children to actually complete high school, he said, "is very, very difficult."

Meanwhile, clergy must assist parishioners to meet the same challenges, especially rural residents who give up on farming to seek work in the cities. "Formerly, it was enough to preach a very simple sermon," said San Si Htay. "Now priests must educate their congregations in how to live."

Economic conditions in rural areas have been exacerbated by government rice quotas that can absorb a crippling percentage of farmers' production or lead to confiscation of farms if the quotas can't be met. Especially in ethnic areas, land is occasionally simply seized by the military for its own use, or to permit foreign companies to produce rubber and other products for export.

Education a priority

Young people, in particular, are migrating from rural areas, though opportunities for work are little better in the cities. Especially in Karen and Mon areas near Thailand, young people who cross the border to try to find work are susceptible to being caught up in the sex trades there, said San Si Htay. "That is the only means they have to help their families, but their families do not know," he said.

The MCC set up a safe house in the Shan State to assist girls coming back from brothels in Thailand, "but very few come back," said San Si Htay. "Those who come back are very ill," and often avoid the safe house. "If you stay there, people will know you have HIV/AIDS and will shun you," he said.

Young men may also join the armies on either side of the border out of desperation, be forcibly recruited or, along with women, be pressed into service as porters. "It is very peaceful here in the cities. Not along the border, even 150 miles from here," said San Si Htay.

Bishop Hoikyin estimated that a third of the diocese's 6,000 members may be in Thailand, either trying to work or fleeing military incursions. "As Karen, it is very easy to cross the border, like a second home," he said. "There are a lot of people who do not join them, but our hearts are with them."

Hoikyin said the diocese, the province's smallest, has made education for young people a priority, and is building hostels at the diocesan center where male and female students from rural areas can live while they attend high school. "We have to train our future leaders," he said.

The diocese is trying to develop agricultural vocational training programs "for those who can't pursue higher education," while also offering instruction in traditional Karen culture. Hoikyin said he is particularly eager to create local economic opportunities. "If you can set up a business inside, then the people will come back," he said.

Playing on the name of the government's ruling council, Hoikyin said, "our goal is peace and development, just like the government, because you can't have peace without development." He added, "I try to help the government, but not in the way they like. If you try to create peace from the grassroots, you are helping the government even if they don't recognize it."

Making a mission of the future

Part of the church's mission, suggested San Si Htay, is simply to help the country's people prepare for a day when life will be different.

"People should know what they need for development, what they need for the village, what they need for their family," he said. "The situation is such that we do not know what to do."

Democracy, when it comes, will be as much of a challenge in its way as the current oppression, especially given the divisions among Burma's many ethnic groups, he said. "It will take a long time. Suppose we have a Karen state. Among the Karen there are 40 different tribes. What language should they speak?"

While many attribute the failures of Burma's economy and social structure to government greed and paranoia, San Si Htay suggested officials at times simply are ignorant.

"What I think is even the military, they love the country also," he said. "They want to be a part of the international community. They want to do their best. They think they can do something, although they are not politicians."

He echoed the sentiments of many in Burma who said they cling to the expectation that better days are coming. "This kind of thing cannot go on forever," he said. "We pray that God will change their mind. Their minds are changing."

The church may help most by working to "teach people and equip them" for their eventual responsibilities as free citizens, San Si Htay said. "We still hope that there will be a role for the church to assist the community, because the government cannot do it alone," he said. "Some NGOs play a limited role, but churches can reach to the grassroots. We have many things we have to do. We need many things. It may not be in the name of the church but of the community."

The future of Burma may depend on "those who really have faith, those who believe in God, those who have religion, including Buddhists," he said. "We are people who have hope. We don't lose hope. God is the only reason that gives us hope, that we are able to face these kinds of things."