Talk:Religion in Myanmar

State Religion?

The article states that "(Section 361) of the Constitution states that "The Union recognizes Buddhism as the state religion."", but the link to the pdf of the 2008 constitution doesn't confirm that. Section 361 actually says "The Union recognizes special position of Buddhism as the faith professed by the great majority of the citizens of the Union." (sic) I'm not qualified to say what the accurate line on this is, so I've left the article as it is. Anybody know better? Piers Fletcher (talk) 14:27, 16 May 2021 (UTC)

In 1961, a State Religion was declared but was removed by the 1962 coup. This is explained in the Freedom of religion in Myanmar article. However, Article 361 merely recognizes the special position allowing the government to have a dedicatedly Buddhist component. For example the Department for the Perpetuation and Propagation of the Sasana explicitly deals with Buddhist issues, the state sponsors a several Theravada universities, etc. There's also restriction on other religions like a ban on importing bibles in indigenous languages. Depending on what you mean by a state religion, you could say that Buddhism is the de facto state religion. I've edited the section to provide more context EmeraldRange (talk) 03:47, 17 September 2021 (UTC)