"You cannot generalise about the role of religion in politics... At some points in human history it has been a malign and terrible influence, at others, it has been critical to the development of progress and challenging injustice."

So writes Madeleine Bunting in a piece in today's Guardian newspaper about the role of Buddhist monks in Burma's nonviolent revolution.

I have reflected on this (with a variety of links providing more detailed comment and analysis) on my FaithInSociety blog: http://faithinsociety.blogspot.com/2007/09/religion-engaging-politics-an...