30 Matthew J. Walton and Susan Hayward conduct, and when these sermons are peppered with sensationalized rumors of Muslim violence or sinister plots to destroy Buddhism in Myanmar, their listeners take their words as reflections of the Buddha’s teachings. Additionally, in a world where a monk’s sermon to 50 people can be recorded and quickly distributed to tens of thousands via DVD, and instantly disseminated to hundreds of thousands more online, a monk like U Wirathu can no longer disassociate himself from the violence committed in the name of the nationalist ideals that he preaches. His awareness of the potential consequences of his words and actions is enough to make him culpable in spreading violence, despite his protestations as to his actual intentions. The rhetoric from those who spearhead the organizations effectively employs a perspective that separates intention and results through willful ignorance and denial. Through this logic, U Wirathu can effectively deny With social media’s far culpability simply by stating that he does not directly advocate or commit violence reach, anti-Muslim rhetoric against Muslims. Additionally, he claims cannot be disassociated from that he is consistently misquoted by Western journalists, despite ample video violent acts against Muslims evidence of his anti-Muslim preaching. Again, this explanation should not be taken as cultural or religious justification for the actions of 969 or MaBaTha monks and supporters, but to help shed light on the ways in which their denials of responsibility acquire some grounding when understood in the context of Buddhist doctrine. Constructing a Counternarrative Many in the West have questioned the lack of Buddhist voices challenging or critiquing the anti-Muslim narratives of Buddhist nationalist organizations in Myanmar. That accusation is not entirely fair. In fact, a number of monks have publicly criticized the 969 movement and critiqued the anti-Muslim message it advances, and some critiques of MaBaTha are beginning to emerge. These Buddhist voices demonstrate that the lay and monastic Burmese Buddhist communities are not monolithic, and they are currently struggling to determine the