(10 of 10)
There is no evidence that a Buddhist-controlled government would press the war against the Viet Cong. There is a great deal of evidence that instead it would try to negotiate with the Reds to bring about the "neutralization" of South Viet Nam. U.S. officials tend to accept Tri Quang's assertions that he is not a Communist or working with them. Still, there can be little doubt that the Communists have infiltrated the Buddhists to some extent. Besides, illusions may well be more dangerous than infiltration. Tri Quang is guilty of the classic, fatal error: he seems to believe that he and his fellow Buddhists could "handle" the Communists.
In the Heartland. Yet the lesson of Buddhism's fate under Communism is plain to see. In North Korea, the monks were simply put to work in factories or on farms. In North Viet Nam, where, oddly enough, Buddhism officially remains the state religion, the Communists have killed Buddhism with "kindness" by installing puppet monks to back the government. But with 6,000 pagodas, North Viet Nam now has only 4,000 monks. Says one recent resident: "They don't even bother to light incense in the temples any more."
Peking's brutality in suppressing the Buddhist revolt in Tibet in 1959 outraged the world. Monks were shot, forced to sole their worn boots with sacred Buddhist texts, induced to take opiates. Members of a strict male celibate order were locked up with prostitutes imported for the occasion. Some of the younger monks gave way and then committed suicide in shame.
In the heartland of China itself, Buddhism fares not too badly—on the surface. Ancient shrines have been refurbished. A few sample monasteries and nunneries, while shorn of their lands, are meticulously maintained to impress and soothe foreign Buddhists. But Peking has killed the living faith: of half a million monks in China in 1949, it is estimated that barely a few thousand survive.
Put Out More Flags. Despite the antics of the Buddhists in South Viet Nam and elsewhere, it would be a grave error for the U.S. and the West to conclude that a great and ancient faith is necessarily prey to Communism. When it comes to an ultimate choice, the majority of Buddhist leaders still know that Buddhism is incompatible with the Marxist gospel.