"Terrible situation" to come for South Korean government

"Buddhists repeated their demand Monday for President Lee Myung-bak to apologize for alleged discrimination against their beliefs. They announced that they are preparing for a drawn out protest against the administration.

'If the government continues to neglect our demands, it will have to take full responsibility for the terrible situation that may follow,' Ven. Seungwon, the spokesperson of the Jogye Order said at a press conference held at Jogye Temple Monday."

"Terrible situation"? That doesn't sound good. Let's just hope the South Korean monks will still adhere to non-violent measures of protest. So far, there doesn't seem to have been any violence, except for a monk named Ven. Sambo, who tried to commit suicide by stabbing himself in the stomach. Luckily, he was sent to the hospital right away and survived. Buddhist leaders advised their followers to voice their concern over the government's religious bias in a peaceful way.

With all this protesting, I've wondered and asked before, should Buddhists be participating in political action. On one hand, it's great that the Buddhist community has a political voice and can have their interests considered by the government. In the United States, Buddhists, like many other minority groups, seem invisible, at least politically. On the other hand, should religious leaders be involved with politics? Once they're involved with politics, what makes them any different than a politician? Maybe being a religious politician or a political monastic isn't so bad; after all, politicians often have much influence over important local and national decisions and what better way to decrease suffering than to influence those decisions with Buddhist ideas.