ABSTRACT
Long before the Pol Pot regime succeeded in eliminating organized Buddhism from Cambodia the communists had engaged in an ongoing campaign to undermine the standing of the Buddhist monastic order (sangha) by criticizing its lack of engagement in progressive, socially engaged activity. From this standpoint, Buddhist monks were compared with intestinal worms that sucked the blood of the peasants. In addition they were accused of perpetuating a superstitious world view, and supporting a reactionary social system through their propagation of the doctrine of karma. Nevertheless, monks who were prepared to embrace a changed role by joining the rural revolutionary vanguard were tolerated, since through their contribution of useful labor or work as ideological propagandists, they could be incorporated into a united front in the battle against feudalism and obscurantism.
