Cambodia Hosts Religion Conference
By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Wa****ngton
17 April 2008
More than 200 participants from seven different religions joined a
conference in Phnom Penh earlier this month, in an effort to better
understand each other.
Leaders from the Anglican, Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Lutheran
and Muslim faiths gathered to discuss interfaith understanding and
conflict resolution.
Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist, but it is home to people of many
other faiths.
=93We have to have tolerance among all religions and help build morality
in society,=94 Min Khin, secretary of state for the Ministry of
Religion, told VOA Khmer, quoting a speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Though Cambodian Buddhists are generally tolerant of other faiths, Min
Khin said, it remains unlawful for groups to use propaganda and
improper coercion to convert others.
=93It is prohibited to use money, food, and other materials to convince
people to convert to another religion,=94 he said.
Christopher Lapel, a pastor for a Cambodian congregation of the Golden
West Christian Church in Los Angeles, Calif., said participants of the
April 3 conference adopted an action plan to promote interfaith
understanding and conflict resolution.
=93Cambodia gives freedom to its people to participate in other
religions,=94 he said.
Keo Vimuth, an Abhidhamma teacher at Wat Dam****, in Siem Reap, said
Christians visit people=92s homes, knocking and saying, =93The Lord has
arrived.=94
This was not always effective, he said.
=93It=92s not easy to convert Cambodian Buddhists who have had a deep
belief in Buddha for many generations to another religion,=94 he said.
About 95 percent of Cambodians are Buddhist, 3 percent are Muslim, 1
percent are Christians, and another 1 percent comprise other faiths,
he said.
=93The rebirth of Khmer culture and society depends to a great extent on
the renewal of Buddhist Sangha,=94 he said. =93The Western concept of
=91church=92 is meaningless in Cambodia.=94
Meanwhile, new freedoms, the introduction of drugs and the ***
industry, and much material assistance by the international donor
community have brought great changes to Cambodia and, in the view of
some, have seemed to help foster a growing climate of greed,
corruption and moral and intellectual paralysis.
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