The article is impressive in the manner it discusses issues regarding the challenges that people face in their bid to achieve social justice. It is particularly remarkable given that it exposes a contemporary society that is geared towards prosperity by all means possible while disregarding equally important conservative principles. The aspect of fighting for social justice is apparent when the author observes how the Buddhists embarked on a mission to address a local problem of deforestation and destruction of the ecosystem after realizing how harmful the trend was to the community. From the article, the use of religion by the Buddhists is particularly an interesting perspective that Darlington seems to acknowledge as a tool of persuasion. One of the most prominent themes throughout the article is use religion to encourage people locally and nationally to protect the ecosystem by conserving trees. From the article it is apparent that religion has become an effective strategy because the environmentalists are able to reach and influence virtually every person within the predominantly Buddhist society.
Ultimately, the article portrays religion as a multifaceted aspect that is able to influence political and economic decisions notwithstanding whether there is goodwill by the political class. This is particularly so when religion is used to portray certain activities as morally wrong and therefore evil. The article reveals that in a predominantly religious community, it is very difficult for the political class to undo the rhetoric created through religion. The difficulty in undoing the notion that religious activist create is seen in the fact that the actions of the Buddhists towards conservation has elicited opposing political and economic debates. Such opposing debates seem to encounter difficulties from the onset as the Buddhists justify their actions by arguing that the Buddhist principles are closely related to the concepts of ecology by virtue of the Buddhist belief of preserving life in general. As such, although from the article there seems not to be an obvious link between Buddhism and ecology, the emergence of Buddhist environmentalists and activists is defensible.
The fact that the author of the article incorporates statistics and previous studies regarding the extent of the environmental problems facing Thailand is an important aspect that enables the reader to have an informed background of the extent of the problem while also justifying the role of activism that Buddhists have taken over the issue. Information from previous studies is particularly important in developing a believable argument for the involvement of religion on something that would ordinarily be considered to be beyond the reach of religious conviction.
It is important to note that the approach that the ecology monks have taken by teaming up with non-governmental organizations to advocate for the preservation of environment has given them an impetus that is able to be felt throughout the nation. Through the article it is also noteworthy that the ordination rituals have a positive effect, especially when it comes to the rural villages where people are highly affected by the problem of environmental destruction. The article encourages a different way of dealing with the problem of environmental degradation through promoting preservation of forests as a moral responsibility for everyone rather than as a responsibility of the political class. Darlington also promotes the idea that the governments, not only in Thailand, have failed to preserve the forests and effectively the environment because of lack of goodwill from the political class. As such, it is high time that people take an alternative approach to address the problem. The author is right to recognize that so far religion is the most effective tool towards encouraging people to preserve the ecosystem.
References
Darlington, S. (1998).The Ordination of a Tree: The Buddhist Ecology Movement in Thailand.
Ethnology 37(1), pp. 1-15.
