The Land of the Silent Robots: Why Banning Politics is a Human Error

In a quiet corner of the Kodai-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, a robot named Mindar stands before a group of worshippers. Clad in robes and programmed with the capacity for compassion, Mindar was recently inducted into the Buddhist faith. It was granted the dignity of a spiritual identity and the freedom to "choose" a philosophical path. It is a striking irony of the 21st century. While the global community explores the "sentient rights" of machines, the Nepali government is moving to strip those same rights from its own citizens.