Christians in Burma under Military Rule

Abstract

Native to the highlands of modern-day Burma, most Burmese Christians belong to peripheral races, such as the ethnic Chin, Kachin, Karen, Lahu, and Wa. The embrace of Christianity by these nonliterate and illiterate races for their religion and culture was, and always has been, key in revitalizing and buttressing their distinct ethnic identities against the stormy forces of Burman military dictatorship in postcolonial Burma. Their new religion has given them an enduring source of power to cherish what makes them distinct, on the one hand, but they, on the other hand, face exclusion and violence under generations of Burman military rulers, because of their religion and ethnicity. Since the 2021 coup, they have suffered the hell of historically unprecedented violence, displacement, and turmoil.