I've been sponsoring a child in Sri Lanka for a few years through World Vision. They send us blank Christmas cards every year, so that we can write something for the kids.
I was really disappointed when a woman called me today and told me what I wrote on the card had to be deleted. Guess what I have written down??
"May God Bless You."
I told her I wrote this in the card EVERY YEAR. She didn't seem to be sure how to answer my question, and just said the condition in Sri Lanka have changed. I don't know a lot about Sri Lanka apart from the tsunami a few years ago and Tamil Tiger, so I couldn't argue with her, and I am sure she was under some order from above.
I seemed to remember Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country, if it were someplace like Iraq, or any Muslim country, I think I would understand this. It's Buddhism!! And Buddhists ,in my impression, are generally more tolerant to other religions, and honestly the term "God" can be interpreted differently by different people.
I did an internet search, and found that I am right. (I copied this from the Sri Lanka tourism site.)
Sri Lanka is a multi-religious society. Though Buddhism is the major religion, other religions such as Hinduism, Christianity and Islam are also followed.
Of course, I don't know the current condition in Sri Lanka, it could be really volatile.
I just can't help wondering if this is some kind of an attempt of political correctness. Just like what they're trying to do in the Western countries, avoid the term "Christmas", and use the word "holidays" instead... it's really stupid to send a Christmas card and avoid the term "Christmas" like plague...
World Vision is a CHRISTIAN organisation... I think I have expected more from them. While I don't think it is a good idea to antagonise the local people by religion like the South Korean missionaries, neither do I think it's good to do some sort of self-censorship automatically.
I am really disappointed by this.
(Note: Please tell me if you know more about Sri Lanka, any conflicts over religion or politics.)
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