Buddhism as a Sexist Religion Against Women and LGBT

Cite this journal as: Eden, S. W. (2018). Buddhism as a Sexist Religion Against Women and LGBT. Retrieved from http://sw-eden.net

When people think about Buddhism, they may think about China and Thailand. To learn something about Buddhism very deep, people come to Thailand to see what the original testament said. I went to learn with many monks in Thailand. I do not said that every monk is so good, but some.

I have studying in many (temporary) classes with many monks. Finally, there is only one monk left, that I learn Buddhism with him. I did not prefer listening to the monks who believe in the idea of sexism and selfishness.

The outsiders may view Buddhism as a very perfect religion. However, the teaching or the old principle must not be changed, especially in Thailand. We all know that if you are a Christian, you do not have to kill people with LGBT identity. Something should be able to change according to the morality and society in that era.

Buddhism monk religion
Figure I: Buddhism monk, drawing by S. W. Eden

I cannot stand listening to men who discriminate women and LGBT. These monks believe that to do something nice to men will result in a better outcome that which to women. They believe that to become a gay or transgender in this life, he had had more than one wife in previous life.

And many fictions that these monks use to support the teaching (the fictions in the actual testament) are mostly sexism. Like, the man had the power over the wife, as he could give his wife to others, and his wife did not have any right or her own decision not to go with other guys. Although the wife is not a slave, but men could treat them like a slave. It is worth to note that the current monks praise this behavior as a very very right thing to do.

As I am female, I cannot stand if someone praises those who treat women as less-than-human. In my ID card, there is the word Buddhism on it. I feel like it is the symbol that force me to accept the idea of sexism. I want to ask a government office near my place to remove the word from my ID card. I know that it may have some effect to my workplace or future career. Thailand is unlike in the United States. If I fill in the form and write that I have no religion, others will think that I am weird and having a negative personality.