Popular Piety and Intersectional Ethics in Southeast Asia

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.  

As a way of opening space for themselves in a religious world that otherwise refuses to recognize them, queer and trans Thai Buddhist artists in Bangkok have developed an array of innovative aesthetic practices to re-work key Buddhist philosophies, materialities, and rituals and expand the Buddhist path. Queer and trans Thai people have generally appeared in scholarship as victims of religious prohibitions and exclusions. But I approach them instead as agents who actively re-shape Thai Buddhist practices and beliefs. Through their art-making, they at once re-define and strengthen their connections to Thai Buddhism. By working with Buddhist materials—ritual flowers, live fish, monastic robes, rope, and so on—these artists create new relationships with their own bodies, the natural world, and the Buddhist teachings, forging what I call “Buddhist material intimacies.” The result is a profound revisioning of Buddhist ethics for themselves and on behalf of other queer and trans Thai people.

Malaysia’s identity is shaped by its multi-ethnic and multireligious landscape, yet the 1957 Constitution privileges the Malay-Muslim majority. Since the 1970s, ethno-religious nationalism has intensified, marginalizing non-Malay, non-Muslim communities. Race and religion remain central to Malaysian identity, with legal structures reinforcing Malay-Muslim hegemony (Ketuanan Melayu). Malay Islamic nationalists challenge Christianity’s place in Malaysia due to its colonial legacy, yet the Malaysian Christian population is growing, particularly among indigenous populations. This paper argues that Christianity functions as a two-way bulwark: the Church protects indigenous communities from Islamization, while indigenous Christians safeguard the Church from political suppression. Islamization, tied to modernization efforts, is resisted through indigenous self-determination. While non-Malay bumiputera Christians play a crucial role, their precarious position raises sustainability concerns for the Church writ large. Ultimately, the paper concludes with an alternative vision for the church that surpasses tactful political strategy: peacemaker and reconciler. 

This paper reevaluates the portrayal of Cut Nyak Din (1848-1908), an iconic figure in Acehnese resistance against Dutch colonial rule, examining how her image as a religious and nationalist heroine was sculpted by both colonial and post-colonial narratives. Analyzing Dutch texts and Acehnese oral traditions, it reveals the strategic use of her story in constructing national identity and advancing socio-political agendas. The study highlights the intersection of gender and religion in nationalistic discourse, challenging traditional gender roles and illustrating the manipulation of historical memory. Cut Nyak Din's transformation into a symbol of freedom and resistance offers insights into the governance of historical narratives, reflecting broader themes of cultural resilience and the complexities of freedom movements within Southeast Asia.

A fresh and specific context-based reflection is necessary and will be helpful to revisit both their relationship and respective theological implications. This proposed paper presentation would like to argue for the primacy of liberation by engaging and reflecting on the sufferings, struggles, resistances, and aspirations the oppressed masses and ethnic minorities in Myanmar, and by reviewing failing efforts of peace and reconciliation led by successive military regimes. Three basic tenets of liberative theology, namely, the preferential option for the poor, the centrality of praxis, and the epistemological privilege of the oppressed and marginalized, will be revisited and employed as methodological guides to explore and reflect on the liberative struggles, both violent and nonviolent ways of resistance against brutal military oppressions, of the oppressed and ethnic minorities in Myanmar.