Today, people of faith in Myanmar must gather together, on an ecumenical platform, to address issues that face all of us. Like in the Christian story of the Road to Emmaus, we are on a journey, though we may not recognize it initially.
Part of the clarity we hope to achieve together in the coming years is how to think about justice, peace, and human development. These are not just social themes. For the Christian they are also scriptural themes, enunciated in the Old Testament and articulated in the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament.
My task herein is not to share statistics regarding the many challenges to justice, peace, and human development in Myanmar today—that task can be done more professionally by others. My concern here is to explore these topics in the light of the uniqueness of faith, and how Christians can and should contribute to a vision for, and practical progress toward, dignity for all.
This essay will discuss (1) the major challenges and opportunities we face today as a nation and people, (2) the inspiration and guideposts for the Christian Church, and (3) how this leads to promoting peace, justice, and human development for all. The crux is this: the Church is not just a non-governmental organization (NGO). It is not just another civil society organization. I want to argue that the Church in Myanmar as the Church, a specific religious community, must raise a clarion call for peace, justice, and human development for all, especially the most marginalized people of our nation.
Where We have Been and Where We Are
Few nations have been so blessed as this golden land, this rainbow nation of 135 tribes. Nature has endowed resources above and below the land, making it one of the richest in resources—gems, minerals, gas, forests, and more. The dancing Irrawaddy serpentines through our country; it is a mother and maker of our history. As a people we have gained the admiration of the world for our spiritual heritage, cultural diversity, spontaneity, and joy of living.
And yet we stand at the crossroads of its history. As a people we are waking up after long nights of silent tears. No nation has undergone such an excruciating and inhuman suffering as our innocent people have undergone in the last five decades. The silent nights of solidarity confinement for those in prisons; silent nights of being internally displaced, a refugee, an “illegal” migrant; silent nights of dying unwept, un-mourned in dark cells in remotest areas; silent nights of war, starvation, tears—the silent night of gripping fear.
These problems are manifold. Our country has one of the saddest and longest records of conflict. At the foundation of this conflict is a denial of natural justice. Religious and ethnic minorities have borne the brunt of that injustice.
This has produced a cycle of under-development, which has been especially cruel to our youth, our most abused generation. The inheritance of the young has become a list of miseries, of migration, slavery, human trafficking, drug abuse, and more. It is a curse. Health and education are in disaster, compounding the problems of the young.
Wars and displacement have especially affected indigenousness peoples, whose rights and resources have been exploited. And attempts to answer many of these questions have defaulted to one culture, one language, and one religion. Monoculture lies at the heart of majority exploitation of resources, contributing to the refugee and migrant crises.
Our people have lived through a nauseating spiral of violence against their human dignity. Yet through all this their spiritual spring refused to dry, their gracefulness was never wanting. As the world watched, our resilient people refused to accept defeat. Through their courageous acts, they have made this country open its doors to reform and democracy.
We are not under any illusions that perfection has been reached or is near. We are at the start of things—but it is nevertheless a historic moment of opportunity.
Christian Signposts in Search of Human Dignity
It is at exactly this time that we need to rediscover Christian humanism in our country. That humanism takes its cue from the first pages of the Bible. The magnificent portrayal of Creation of man and woman in the Book of Genesis unfolds the concept that man is created in God's image. Every human being is the image of God. This is a challenging concept to many religions. But we start with this premise: that the dignity of the human person is never to be compromised.
So our coming together is a sacred journey of affirming that human dignity. This is a universal, inalienable, indivisible, and divine grace of being human—and no power on earth can arrogate to itself the right to abuse, dilute, and destroy that. While NGOs make people “beneficiaries” and sometimes reduce them to numbers, people of faith must treat every person as just that, a person—bestowed with unique personality and dignity by God. This vision refuses to accept disparity in life and livelihood, the power of might, the tyranny of the heartless few over frightened millions.
God's people have been here before. In the book of Exodus God reveals himself as the “God who hears the cry of the poor and who wants to liberate them from slavery” (Exodus 3). Moses, when called by God, was told that he should remove his footwear since he stands on a “holy land” (Exodus 3:5). This was to be followed by his declaration, “I have heard my people cry” (Exodus 3:7). Today God likewise calls us to face human suffering and become like Moses to lead our people out of their slavery. The task may look impossible—but there is a promise: I will be with you (Exodus 3:12).
Jesus put it this way: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, to bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives, give sight to the blind, set the oppressed free, and announce the year of the Lord” (Luke 4:16–19). Jesus was candid. His kingdom condones no injustice. It is a powerful message. Even four years ago, these words would have brought retribution and imprisonment to a speaker proclaiming them in Myanmar.
Christianity is therefore about a God who is deeply involved in history. A quote usually attributed to the Protestant theologian Karl Barth is particularly apropos for Myanmar today: We should hold a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. God speaks to us through events of the day. He is alive.
For too long, we Myanmar Christians were oppressed for our religion, our language. So there was that temptation to reduce ourselves as devotees to Christ, worshipping in the church and delinking his message from daily life. But now we must enter into an engaged phase of Christianity: Faith in Action. The world becomes our altar, the street becomes holy ground, and we continue to break the bread of peace, reconciliation, and human development.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Church's social teachings enthusiastically endorse this view. For example, Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Caritas in Veritate eloquently reminded us that works of justice, peace, and development are part and parcel of evangelization, because Jesus Christ is concerned with the whole person.
The signposts for the Christian perspective on human dignity are therefore:
A vision of the human person that strongly affirms the image of God and the dignity of persons;
A God who “hears the cry of the poor” and enters human history, a history itself sanctified by God's liberating and saving acts;
Christ's message of human freedom, of hope for those who are suffering, and our call as his disciples to join in making that message reality.
What We Can Do
People of faith, and citizens generally, have not only responsibility but opportunity. We must begin by collaborating with people of faiths other than our own to promote peace and development. Broader civil engagement is necessary for a thriving democracy. Greater sensitivity to human rights, economic rights, and a culture of transparency paves the way for greater prosperity and peace.
An ambitious but culturally sensitive human development program also needs to be launched in all areas of Myanmar. Education, health, and skill development need very aggressive investment, with a preference for girls and women in development strategies.
We must also build a civil society that accepts greater diversity. Myanmar's 7 major tribes and 135 sub-tribes need their own face and space in the country. Promotion and protection of their culture and language will promote greater peace. The Kachin and Arkan state conflicts are prominent. Yet there are other areas in our country that also cry out for peace. Initiating dialogue among communities and religions is an urgent task.
Moreover we must have trade and business development that puts a human face on global capital, and that provides equal access to all ethnicities and religions. Fair trade benefitting all, especially the marginalized people, needs to be promoted. In all profit the citizens of Myanmar need to hold the primary stakeholder positions. This nation is not open to looting by outsiders after five decades of suffering.
Where can the church be active in all this?
Again, the Church is not just an NGO. It is not just another interchangeable part of civil society. It is a religious organization that affirms the existential dignity of every person, owing to his or her relationship with God. The Church is worried about all persons and whole persons. This means at least six things:
Maintaining the uniqueness of our calling and our mission: Ours is a God-inspired vision of total human liberation and salvation. Spiritual values continue to animate us. A personal encounter with Jesus and his mission defines our role. Our role is holistic with a clear focus on God. Without this we might reduce ourselves to mere service-dispensing NGOs and fundraising organizations.
Understanding our context and strengthening our social mission: We are still learning about our context. We must move from the comfort zones of our own churches and religious spaces toward a social mission by being present among the most suffering people. Understanding that human development is a new form of evangelization should lead the church to be present among marginalized people.
Ensuring that peace, justice, and human development is for all: New countries opening up to business and civil society very often stand at a very dangerous cliff. The mighty and the moneyed are too often the beneficiaries in periods of transition, leaving the multitude to greater poverty. Cambodia and East Timor are painful examples. They are much poorer than decades ago, despite the rushing aid of business and NGOs. Churches need to play a watchdog role, monitoring governance and transparency and ensuring at every level that the poorest and the most vulnerable are the targets of development. We need a critical collaboration with NGOs to ensure that funds raised in the name of the Myanmar people reach the most marginalized.
Playing a greater role in social sectors: Churches play a major role in building a nation through education and health. Myanmar needs the Church to help make it an educated and healthy nation. Its manpower is committed, spread out all over the country, and is ready to collaborate with anyone in building our people.
Committing to collaboration with all likeminded people regardless of their religion: The time for antagonism needs to be over. For greater effectiveness, churches need to explore collaboration with people of other religions, civil society organizations, and even business.
Empowering the church to be at the service of the people: Like all the people of Myanmar, church people were denied opportunities for their full development. As servants of the Kingdom, they need skills and knowledge for serving the common good.
Conclusion
Jesus said:
Blessed are the peacemakers
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice,
Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect
In this Jesus summarizes our task in Myanmar today. Peace, justice, and human development are the answer to our country's woes. In the past many people felt aggrieved by actions of the government. As a church we call for the government not to leave out anyone in the process of peace, justice, and human development. Every citizen of Myanmar needs to feel part of the nation-building process.
We are a hopeful people. Hope sustained us for the last 50 years. Amidst all onslaughts we maintained our dignity and refused to be cowed down by evil. As hope begins to dawn again for Myanmar, we are strengthened by the words of Jesus Christ:
If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20)
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Cardinal Charles Maung Bo
Charles Maung Bo is Archbishop of Yangon and the first-ever Cardinal from Myanmar. He also chairs the Office of Human Development of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences and is a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture. He headed a number of dioceses (the first being the Diocese of Lashio, where he was named Bishop in 1990), before he was made Archbishop of Yangon in 2003.