Myanmar is known for its prolonged and unjust military rule. The Myanmar people have dedicatedly upheld the legacy of resisting the military regime for over seventy years. In this paper, I argue that the legacy of the resistance movement in Myanmar has profoundly influenced Kachin Baptist women’s struggle for equality within the church and society.
First, I trace back the resistance movements against the military regime. Myanmar gained independence from the British in 1948, but it was ruled by the armed forces from 1962 until 2011. Before 2011, the Burmese dictatorial regime has repressed people who fought for democracy brutally. There were two public uprisings happened in Myanmar. The “8888 Revolution”[1] led by university students occurred in 1988. Then, the “Saffron Revolution”[2] led by Buddhist monks occurred in 2007. The dictatorial regime killed thousands of people and arrested many people during the public protests. In the 2015 election, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won the election and led the country for five years. In November 2020, the current leading party, NLD, was reelected.[3] However, Myanmar military again ceased power from the elected civilian government on February 1st 2021 and Myanmar has been under military coup for over four years.
In response, as Myanmar people cannot stand under the military regime, since February 2nd, the civil disobedience movement has been led by healthcare workers. Protesting on the street led by youth has started since February 5th.[4] The latest revolution, known as the “Spring Revolution,” unites generations from 1988, 2007, and the present, all actively working together to end the military dictatorship. The legacy of the resistance movement has impacted and continues to impact the lives and thoughts of the people in Myanmar.
While the military coup is happening in Myanmar, the Pro Kachin Women Leadership (PKWL) Group looks back at the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) and search for justice in ministry. Kachin people are one of the Christian ethnic minority groups in Myanmar. The unjust political structure is reflected in KBC churches. Kachin women are seen as subordinate to men. The ordination of women is an issue in KBC.
Thus, the PKWL group has advocated for gender equality and ordination of women in KBC. The group has approached top leaders of the KBC to discuss about fairness among male and female ministers since January 2022. However, the leaders did not cooperate with the PKWL group. Then the group decided to send a letter to K.B.C executive council members to ask for the consideration of the ordination of women. After gathering 154 signatures, the group submitted the letter to the executive council of K.B.C. on March 11, 2022. However, they were unsure whether the leaders would read it. To ensure their message reached the congregation, they held a press conference after submitting the letter, publicly sharing the PKWL group's objectives.
The group leveraged media to raise awareness among the public and put pressure on the leaders. Additionally, they launched a photo campaign with the slogan/hashtag, “We Support the Ordination of Women in the Kachin Baptist Convention.” Many friends from other ethnic Baptist Conventions and social activists have participated in the photo campaign to show their support and solidarity. The group has learned that the letter was discussed at the executive council meeting, but the official statement about the letter has not been released. The PKWL group knows that the struggle for equality would be long, but it became a historic movement in KBC history.
However, Some Kachin Baptists criticized the group for doing the movement in the wrong time because Myanmar people are under military coup. The uncomfortable situation reminds me of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior’s letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963 in response to white moderate church leaders who constantly advised the Negroes to wait until a “more convenient season.”[5] King said “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed, and ‘wait’ means ‘never’.” The PKWL group asked for the ordination of women without waiting for the convenient time.
Moreover, Kwok Pui-lan’s postcolonial feminist theology includes many aspects of marginalization to liberate all forms of marginalized people and transform unjust social, political, and religious structures.[6] According to Pui-lan, Kachin Baptist Convention leaders are much like Myanmar regime and they are both the oppressed and oppressors. If Kachin male leaders are continuously applying liberation theologies for ethnic autonomy and their interest, there would be no liberation for all the oppressed groups. Then resistant movements need to be continued until the oppressed groups have been fully liberated from different forms of oppression.
In brief, this paper is about the legacy of resistance movement in Myanmar and how it affects Kachin Baptist women’s liberative movement. First, I trace back the resistance movements against the military regime. Next, I present the impacts of the legacy of the resistance movement on Myanmar people. Finally, I discuss the effects of the resistance movement on Kachin Baptist women and how they respond to dictators and dictator-like church leaders. To support my argument, I employ postcolonial feminist and liberative approaches in dialogue with various scholars. I am confident that this proposal is in line with Conference and Unit’s themes of freedom movement.
[1] “Inside Burma- Land of Fear (Bullfrog Films clip),” You Tube, Jan 22, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L48BW_Z-FNs.
[2] Pum Za Mang, “Separation of Church and State: A Case Study of Myanmar (Burma),” Asia Journal of Theology 25, no. 1(2011): 42-58, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308910456_Separation_of_Church_and_State_A_Case_Study_of_Burma.
[3] Flora Drury, “Myanmar’s coup: Why now-and what’s next?” BBC News, February 1, 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55882938
[4] Brian Wong, “The World Has Failed Myanmar, So Now Its Youth Are Stepping Up,” Time, March 4, 2021, https://time.com/5943708/myanmar-youth-protests/.
[5] “Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” University of Pennsylvania, accessed October 10, 2021, https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html.
[6] Kwok Pui-lan, Postcolonial Imagination & Feminist Theology (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005), 144.
Myanmar is known for its prolonged and unjust military rule. The people of Myanmar have upheld the legacy of resisting the military regime for over seventy years. In this paper, I argue that the legacy of the resistance movement in Myanmar has profoundly influenced Kachin Baptist women’s struggle for equality within the church and society. First, I trace back the resistance movements against the military regime. Next, I present the impacts of the legacy of the resistance movement on Myanmar people. Finally, I discuss the effects of the resistance movement on Kachin Baptist women and how they respond to dictators and dictator-like church leaders. Like Myanmar female activists, Kachin Baptist women also seek to end dictatorship both in the church and in the state. To support my argument, I employ postcolonial feminist and liberative approaches in dialogue with various scholars.