Buddhist orphanage asked to remove Buddha statues from dorms

From Ecumenical News International via The Buddhist Channel:

Malawi's Human Rights Commission has ordered a Taiwanese-funded orphanage to remove statues of Buddha from all dormitories, saying their presence amounts to brainwashing children into joining Buddhism against their will.

The Amitofo Care Centre near Blantyre opened three years ago and was touted as the biggest orphanage in southern Africa operated by followers of Buddhism. The centre has statues of Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, in all the dormitories and an elaborate temple situated within the orphanage. [...]

Someone who isn't familiar with the ubiquity of statuary in Chinese Buddhist culture might get the mistaken impression that this was unusual, but in fact it's quite common in a "Buddhist building" to find Buddha statues outside of the main temple or shrine, such as in the library or in the dining hall. Many Chinese restaurants, for example, have a Buddha statue near the entrance even if their proprietors aren't religious. (One would not expect, for example, a prominently displayed crucifix in most Italian restaurants.) On the other hand, how these statues are interpreted by the local Malawi culture must be taken into account by the orphanage.

Commissioner John Kapito said the body acted on research at the centre stemming from concerns expressed by relatives of orphans about the statues in the dormitories and that the children may be forced to become followers of Buddhism. Relatives, he said, had also complained that children there are not allowed to eat meat and were only occasionally allowed to visit their relatives.

"This contravenes Section 23 of the Malawi Constitution, which stipulates on how best children and orphans ought to be treated," said Kapito during the orphanage's open day. "This exposure to statues can easily influence them into joining the religion unwillingly since they cannot decide their future on their own."

At the same function Malawi's deputy information minister, John Bande, hailed the Buddhist community for constructing an imposing and beautiful orphanage but asked officials at the orphanage to consider allowing children to eat meat.

I wonder if Catholic orphanages in Malawi, for example, are allowed to display crucifixes or statues of the Virgin Mary? Are Christian orphanages allowed to teach from the Bible? As long as the laws are fair and are designed with the protection of the orphans (rather than political intentions) in mind, there should be no problem for the Buddhist orphanage to follow them.

The orphanage would probably be less willing to compromise on the meat-eating though, since the Buddhist monastics who run it are neither allowed to eat meat nor to prepare meals containing meat for others. I suppose there's no comparison with the other major religions in this case, since they only require abstinence from certain kinds of meat or on certain days.

Responding to concerns raised by the two government officials, the centre's director, Master Hui Li, said that while the centre was a Buddhist organization, no child was ever forced into becoming a follower of Buddhism. He said, however, that the centre emphasises to children the importance of respecting the religion which he said, preaches peace. He also called for the understanding of the government regarding the statues in the dormitories saying they were icons of peace and children should be guided and learn from them.

"We will introduce the orphans to Buddhism but they will make their own choices on which religion they want to join when they grow up," Li had said during the opening ceremony of the orphanage two years ago, stressing that matters of religion, race and culture are trivial for those doing charity work. He said his foundation was ready to help any human being.

Children raised by an orphanage that is run by members of a religious organization will likely gravitate towards that religion, out of gratitude if not anything else. It is, of course, extremely difficult to separate charity work from what might be perceived as proselytization, a problem which Christian groups have had to deal with for some time.

南無阿彌陀佛