By Zhongbu. cirenduojie and Lan Guohua (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-29 07:31

Ever since the human society evolved into different social strata, religion and politics have developed close ties.

A set of beliefs and practices originating from man's realization of his own limited capability and his vulnerable existence against the infinity of nature, religion is actually closely linked with the interests of certain groups in a class society. And it is often used by the rulers to cover its manipulation of the common people on spiritual matters.

The religious fever is, mostly, a result of incitements that the rulers use to its own advantage.

Only when the administrative body is no longer a tool for the minority to exploit the majority, could human beings get substantial guarantee for their real freedom. And only under such conditions, religious freedom is purely about belief and faith. Only such conditions enable religion to regain its original meaning and fervor.

The 14th Dalai Lama and his followers claim over and over again that they are trying not to resurrect theocracy in Tibet, but to boost the happiness of the Tibetan people. Such claim is questionable.

It is true that they can never put Tibet back into the theocracy that it suffered decades ago. Yet, are they really struggling for the welfare of the Tibetan people? Have they really dropped their pursuit of theocracy? Reality seems to give negative answers.

Judged from the latest happenings, the separatists are still cherishing their dream of restoring theocracy which sacrifices the interests of most people to ensure the privileges of a small group. The Dalai Lama himself always disguises his political activities under the banner of religion. On many occasions, religion has been only a tool for him to achieve his political goals.

Theocracy in the history of Tibet has been condemned and abandoned by the local people and it is impossible to revive it in modern China.

One of the various types of relationship between politics and religion, theocracy is a combination of the religious power with the secular. In some extreme cases, the two powers are held by one individual.

In other cases, the two powers belong to different interest groups in the ruling class. In Tibetan history, there were examples of a certain religious sect or monastery holding both powers in a region, like the Gelug sect governing other sects of Tibetan Buddhism and the Labrang Monastery governing other monasteries in the Gannan area in Gansu province.

Regardless of the specific pattern of power, the alliance between the two is solid under theocracy. Sometimes it is the civil government that is keener to maintain its position with the religious power, while sometime it is the religious body that needs the State to realize its own objectives. In either case, the two are integrated to garner benefits for each other.

The most typical theocracy recognizes a god as the supreme civil ruler and does not admit other religions.

In other countries, different religions are allowed though the governments are under the influence of a major religion. Under such circumstances, the government only has some vestigial theocratic aspects.

Only when a government puts itself on the position of working for the benefits of all people, it can deliver real religious freedom. And only in such circumstances, religion is nothing but a matter of an individual and his faith.

In most countries, it is still a dream for all to have equal access to development and happiness, but it is also acknowledged that the eternal happiness of an individual or a group cannot be achieved at the expense of others.

The Dalai Lama and his followers, however, have launched a series of activities against the historical trend. They are seeking to revive theocracy, the darkest and the cruelest system in Tibetan history, and are ignoring the value of human beings. The violence they incited mirrors their distain of ordinary people, which is not only against the ideals democracy and freedom promoted in the Western countries, but also contradicts the principles of comprehensive development and freedom of people pursued in our country.

The riot that erupted in Lhasa on March 14 contracts the 14th Dalai Lama's calls for peace. And the riot also demonstrated how theocracy acts against human nature.

If the Dalai Lama is really working to boost the welfare of the Tibetan people, as he has claimed, he should abandon his fantasy about restoring the Buddhist theocracy in Tibet, stop his secessionist attempts and make meaningful contributions to improve the life of Tibetan people. This is what a religious figure should do for his faithful.

Both history and today's reality have proved beyond doubt that theocracy has no hopes of striking new roots in Tibet.

The authors are with Tibet Academy of Social Sciences

(China Daily 04/29/2008 page8)