Edward Becerra wrote:

At 11:48 AM 4/23/99 -0700, Larry Fontenot wrote:

      That's something I knew of off the top of my head.  When the Chinese
invaded, they systematically suppressed the Tibetan Buddhists.  Why?  I
don't know.

        I can answer this question for you, Larry.

       One of the changes they noticed immediately was the famous
Bus boycott instituted by Martin Luther King, Junior. This boycott
lasted for nearly 13 months, and impoverished the bus line. Attempts
to _force_ black Americans to take the bus were, of course, both
futile, and caused the segregationists to look REALLY foolish.

        China, having seen this and paid attention to it, realized
that such a non-violent (but _certainly_ not passive!), could easily
cause great difficulty to their self-confessed intention of recreating
a CHINESE Tibet, inhabited by loyal Chinese immigrants, shipped there
by rail from China. (Their own little version of ethnic cleansing.)

        Such non-violent, yet quite aggressive, methods of defiance
would put one hell of a crimp in their plans, so they attempted to
try to prevent them in advance by decapitating the only group of
people who possessed the moral authority to pull it off. Namely, the
Buddhist priests.

        This was later confirmed by a Chinese defector who, while
being debriefed, wondered why America didn't simply deal with the
annoyance Reverend King presented by shooting him.

        "After all," he said, "it's what _we_ would have done if
he'd tried that in China."

    Thanks!  I love the intelligent comments I'm getting on this chapter.  Bert
Miller also responded privately with some excellent points after this.  There
weren't very many massacres, although they did happen; the Chinese broke up the
Buddhist Orders because about 25% of the adult male population of the country
was actively involved in them.  It was also the fact that Communist doctrine at
the time taught that "religion is the opiate of the masses" and therefore the
Buddhist minority MUST be oppressing the peasant majority.

    It's C&C like this that helps one to write a better tale.

Ja ne,
Larry F