One of the things that rot any totalitarian regime from within is its inability to keep the route to reform open. The burmese Junta is one such rotting regime. While it's neighbors, which includes India, prefer to sit by the sidelines and watch (the Junta is the gatekeeper and preserver of India energy interests in Burma), burmese monks have been protesting peacefully in the face of certain voilence against them. As a Irrawaddy headline states, the Junta needs a grave warning from the world community.
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If the monks can achieve a regime change then I may finally have to part company from Christopher Hitchens and admit that religion doesn't ruin _everything_.
But I'm not optimistic.
They might, at a terrible cost to themselves. It is a brave step they've taken and I am full of admiration.
Haven't read Hitchens' book yet. Buddhism, IMHO, lies somewhere between a real religion (a real religion being one with certain dogmas) and a socially responsible way of living. I am not an expert so can't really comment on Buddhism. Still, as all not-so-rational belief systems go, Buddhism is also bound to promote superstition, albeit in a very small way.