Religious news responses to Myanmar crisis varied

As news is slowly leaking out about the death toll from the cyclone in Myanmar, NPR this morning offers this story that begins with a reference to World Vision, "one of the few agencies with people working in Myanmar."

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization that says on its website that it has been working in the country for 40 years. You can read the organization's take on the cyclone's aftermath. I found the page interesting in that it only had an explicit religious reference at the bottom, where readers were encouraged to pray for relief efforts.

The quite opinion-filled report on Buddhist TV mentions Buddhist monks, but in the context of the political focus of the story.


The CIA World Factbook lists the major religions of Burma (the U.S. does not recognize the nation as Myanmar) as Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%, animist 1%, other 2%.