July 10
Went to Tibet Museum with our learning partners. I’m not sure that was such a good idea. Of course, it was shockingly informative, with very graphic news footage of Chinese abuse of Tibetans (including a man being strangled with a rope). One of our partners was riveted (though she had been to the museum before), but I went upstairs with my own partner to look at the “good news” or rather positive depictions of Tibet. Interestingly, there was a photo of the Dalai Lama taken at UC San Diego at an event I attended. We talked about the whole Chinese invasion afterwards. Our partners showed us on the map where they were from. Since they grew up under Chinese rule, they don’t have memories of the horrors, and apparently did not have any relatives harmed (though it’s hard to tell due to our possibly misunderstanding). One partner said she did not know there was a flag for Tibet until she arrived here in India. She also knew no Tibetan language. The whole Chinese takeover reminds me of the American “conquest” of the West: the extermination of Native Americans, eradication of language, culture, religions, etc. I wonder if that is the future of Tibet: small reservations here and there in India, where the people and culture are preserved, but no sovereign nation. Comments are closed.
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Author Rebecca Moore is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. She is currently Reviews Editor for Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions and Co-Director of The Jonestown Institute. Archives
December 2021
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