As a former Burmese monk and a long-term meditator, I will just say that labeling yourself a "buddhist" does not in itself improve your behavior or grant you sp

As a former Burmese monk and a long-term meditator, I will just say that labeling yourself a "buddhist" does not in itself improve your behavior or grant you special wisdom, even if you're wearing colorful robes. E.g., s/Why are Sri Lankan Buddhists espousing racist ideologies?/Why are American Christians espousing anti-gay ideologies?/ and you understand the context just fine. Even in Burma, a place where about 1 in 120 citizens are monastics, I met many, many monks with little wisdom or deep commitment to practice. Some were doing it because their family was poor, and joining the monastic orders was a way to get regular meals. Many liked having the respect of the community, but didn't really aim for enlightenment. Some are scholarly, and were essentially confusing the menu with the meal. Some people are super into self-denial, and joining the monastic order can be a great way to make yourself suffer like that. Some were earnest, but assumed that rebirth meant they didn't have to meditate now, they could get around to that in a later life. I even saw one monk in Thailand messing around on Candy Crush only minutes after joking to my gf that the one thing I hadn't yet seen a monk do was playing Candy Crush.