Thomas Terry on Buddhism and corruption in Mongolia – an answer to his response

By Egil
Lothe, President of Buddhist Federation of Norway

My
article “Buddhism – the cause of corruption in Mongolia?”
published in UB Post and Mongolia Web drew attention to viewpoints on corruption
in Mongolia expressed by Mr. Thomas
Terry, the president of Eagle Channel in UB, on his homepage[1].
Judging from his emotional outburst in his comments to my article this seems to
have caused him some embarrassment. The main point in my article was a
discussion of his allegation that the prevalence of corruption in
Mongolia can be explained by the
influence of Atheism and Buddhism on the Mongolian people. This is how he
expresses himself:

Mongolian
society has primarily been informed by the worldviews of Atheism and Buddhism;
but they don’t seem to be able to affect the kind of character in society that
makes corruption a source of personal shame. If these worldviews actually had
that ability, then one would expect with such a long history here that
corruption’s acceptability would not be on the rise[2].

 In
other words the prevalence of corruption in Mongolian society can be explained
by a deficiency in the worldviews of Atheism and Buddhism that prevents
Mongolians from perceiving corruption as morally offensive. Thomas Terry
generally expresses himself clearly, and so also here where he elaborates on
this point:

Corruption
can only be solved when people make a personal decision that corruption is so
morally offensive that they will not participate in it at any cost. When we view
corruption as personally
offensive and destructive to personal character, then we will take
pains to avoid it and consistently condemn it in deeds as well as words
instead of the situation we have now – excusing it and finally accepting it
as so much of Mongolian society seems to have done. (my underlining).[3]

This
reasoning clearly justifies in his thinking the title of his article: “Why do
Mongolians view corruption as “acceptable”” He does not say “some Mongolians”
but “Mongolians”. Presumably he excepts the 1,5% Christian Mongolians from this
characterization but as far as the Atheist and Buddhist Mongolians are concerned
(the great majority of Mongolians), is it precisely his arguments quoted above
that target them as the objects of his characterization (underlined above). This
is nothing but a vicious attack on the moral integrity of most of the Mongolian
people. Thomas Terry’s attempt in his response to my article to claim that he
has been falsely charged with attacking the Mongolian people[4]
is therefore without any credibility whatsoever. I am in fact surprised by his
cowardice when confronted with his insulting allegations regarding the Mongolian
people. Rather than defending his statements that Atheist and Buddhist
Mongolians are morally blind in relation to corruption due to the influence of
the worldviews of Atheism and Buddhism, which thus facilitates corruption, he
makes a pathetic attempt to avoid the condemnation of Atheist and Buddhist
Mongolians (which he will surely receive once they read his article)[5]
by making the ludicrous statement that my analysis of his article is a
“misunderstanding”. However, strangely he also adds a new insult to his previous
insults in his response to my article:

 

What
I did do was make a social commentary on the historic influence of
Atheism and Buddhism and ask why, if these worldviews are so constructive,
hasn't their increasing influence and exercise here facilitated a dramatic drop
in corruption instead of a dramatic rise?[6]
(my
underlining)

 

The
derogatory insinuations expressed in this quotation and elsewhere above have not
been supported by any evidence. On the contrary, as I have shown in my article,
as far as Buddhism is concerned, its moral stand against corruption is crystal
clear. I would therefore suggest that Thomas Terry pay more emphasis on speaking
truthfully about Buddhism. Unfortunately the misrepresentation of Buddhism in
his present article is not an isolated case, but only one of many others found
in his writings[7]
. In the present case I suggest that if Thomas Terry is not ready to stand up
and defend his accusations against Atheist and Buddhist Mongolians he should
have the moral courage to offer them an apology for his untrue and insulting
statements.

Finally,
regarding Eagle Television I would like to repeat that I do find it disturbing
that a person, being as careless about truth concerning other religions, as
Thomas Terry has proven himself to be, is allowed to operate a television
channel in Mongolia. Presumably the channel will
be sufficiently scrutinized in regard to this particular area. To the extent
these attitudes of Thomas Terry are reflected in the editorial policies of his
channel any renewed discussions about the future of Eagle Television are surely
justified.

 

 

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