Quote from Ven Ariyawuntha-Biwuntha fromMyanmar Now.

In my opinion, this is not the time to worry about religion. If you’re going to exploit the people in the name of religion, you’ve got to be one hell of a lousy politician. There have already been some bad things done in the name of religion by previous politicians. We have to focus on the future of the country first. Religion only comes next.

There are multiple occasions where the Buddha said, “only give donations and meditate if the country is peaceful.’ It is really ridiculous to focus on religion while the country is on fire. What they said about religion is not true, in my opinion. MN: Many believe that the religion will be tarnished if the dictatorship is long-lasting. What do you think about this? U Ariyawuntha: This corrupt political system—‘dictatorship’ as you call it—will ruin everything. There’s a Burmese saying: ‘When the sky falls, nobody survives.’ You can’t have strong economics, education, livelihoods or religion as long as the political system is corrupt. Everything will be in ruins. I don’t think those things, let alone religion or the country itself, would survive under such a corrupt system. It really pains me to see that some are destroying the political culture in the name of something sacred.