[fifeboy]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

fifeboy fifeboy:

herbie herbie:

The skeleton was a Buddhist. The Khmer Rouge were anything but.

Yeah right. The country is Buddhist, the people are Buddhist and they grew up Buddhist. Communism was a recent blip. Next thing you are going to tell us is there were no wars in the Buddhist areas of the world, before the coming of Carl and the Muslims

Something along the order of 1,000,000 people killed out of a population of 8-10,000,000 by the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot and company were extremely hard-core communists who targeted the educated people in order to create a nation of farmers.

I'm thinking they would have left you alone.

Oh my God, I didn't know that. I am so glad you are here to inform us dumbasses about the truth. I of course, being one of the left alone, am so thankful.

[andyt]

fifeboy fifeboy:

Well Well, I have been spanked. Not really. I am not a historian nor am I an expert on religion but me thinks you are being just a bit touchy. I did not accuse Buddhism of being on the par with Christianity or the other monotheistic religions when it comes to atrocity, but they are not innocent. The trouble in Cambodia was, in fact carried out by communists, but they were communists who arose out of a Buddhist tradition. Japan, which has both Shinto and Buddhist traditions was involved in a bit of nastyness in the '30's. And I suspect, if I was a crack historian, I could find a number of wars that arose in the formation of south-east asia in the last twenty-five hundred years. I don't know if the armies of Thailand went out as "Holy Warriors" or not but they did go out and they were Buddhists.

You've been spanked trying to blame the Khmer Rouge killings on Buddhism. That's dumb. Otherwise we more or less agree - Buddhism as a state religion doesn't have a perfect record of non-violence. But the wars fought by those states were not to spread Buddhism but to expand power and territory. As I said, there were sectarian wars in Tibet, but other than that, I can't think of any armies crying Buddha Akbar as they attacked some other army. Nor have we seen Buddhists shouting it in street demonstrations. Buddhism's structure is just poorly set up for crusading. So should be Christianity's, of course, but it got perverted in a way that Buddhism doesn't seem to have.

[EyeBrock]

We come in peace, shoot to kill....

[fifeboy]

andyt andyt:

fifeboy fifeboy:

Well Well, I have been spanked. Not really. I am not a historian nor am I an expert on religion but me thinks you are being just a bit touchy. I did not accuse Buddhism of being on the par with Christianity or the other monotheistic religions when it comes to atrocity, but they are not innocent. The trouble in Cambodia was, in fact carried out by communists, but they were communists who arose out of a Buddhist tradition. Japan, which has both Shinto and Buddhist traditions was involved in a bit of nastyness in the '30's. And I suspect, if I was a crack historian, I could find a number of wars that arose in the formation of south-east asia in the last twenty-five hundred years. I don't know if the armies of Thailand went out as "Holy Warriors" or not but they did go out and they were Buddhists.

You've been spanked trying to blame the Khmer Rouge killings on Buddhism. That's dumb. Otherwise we more or less agree - Buddhism as a state religion doesn't have a perfect record of non-violence. But the wars fought by those states were not to spread Buddhism but to expand power and territory. As I said, there were sectarian wars in Tibet, but other than that, I can't think of any armies crying Buddha Akbar as they attacked some other army. Nor have we seen Buddhists shouting it in street demonstrations. Buddhism's structure is just poorly set up for crusading. So should be Christianities, of course, but it got perverted in a way that Buddhism doesn't seem to have.

O.K. from you I will accept this. Again, I don't know much about south east asia, but it seems the recent history of Thailand would show that Buddhist countries have their own problems. And I was not blaming the Khmer Rouge on Buddhism, but pointing out that they arose out of a Buddhist culture. Street demo's? Check it out.

[andyt]

From Wiki:

$1:

Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge actively persecuted Buddhists during their reign from 1975 to 1979[53]. Buddhist institutions and temples were wantonly destroyed and Buddhist monks and teachers were killed in large numbers[54]. A third of the nations monasteries were destroyed along with numerous holy texts and items of high artistic quality. 25,000 Buddhist monks were massacred by the regime.[55] The persecution was undertaken because Pol Pot believed Buddhism to be "a decadent affectation". He sought to eliminate Buddhism's 1,500 year old mark on Cambodia.[55].

Does that sound like Buddhism was instigating the violence?

Or this:

$1:

Imperial Japan
Buddhist monks were forced to return to the laity, Buddhist property confiscated, Buddhist institutions closed, and Buddhist schools reorganized under state control in the name of modernizing Japan during the early Meiji Period.[8] The state-control of Buddhism was part of Imperial Japanese policy both at home and abroad in Korea and other conquered territories.[9]

Japan has two official religions - Shinto being the other, older one. During Imperial Japan it was favored because if was more warlike.

The best instance I can see is the Sri Lankan Buddhist majority fighting the Hindu Tamils. But the Tamils were trying to break away from the country after having been imported there during the Raj and given favored status. Not really a religious war either, but an ethnic one.

[fifeboy]

andyt andyt:

From Wiki:

$1:

Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge actively persecuted Buddhists during their reign from 1975 to 1979[53]. Buddhist institutions and temples were wantonly destroyed and Buddhist monks and teachers were killed in large numbers[54]. A third of the nations monasteries were destroyed along with numerous holy texts and items of high artistic quality. 25,000 Buddhist monks were massacred by the regime.[55] The persecution was undertaken because Pol Pot believed Buddhism to be "a decadent affectation". He sought to eliminate Buddhism's 1,500 year old mark on Cambodia.[55].

Does that sound like Buddhism was instigating the violence?

Or this:

$1:

Imperial Japan
Buddhist monks were forced to return to the laity, Buddhist property confiscated, Buddhist institutions closed, and Buddhist schools reorganized under state control in the name of modernizing Japan during the early Meiji Period.[8] The state-control of Buddhism was part of Imperial Japanese policy both at home and abroad in Korea and other conquered territories.[9]

Japan has two official religions - Shinto being the other, older one. During Imperial Japan it was favored because if was more warlike.

The best instance I can see is the Sri Lankan Buddhist majority fighting the Hindu Tamils. But the Tamils were trying to break away from the country after having been imported there during the Raj and given favored status. Not really a religious war either, but an ethnic one.

Someone sounds just a bit touchy on this subject! Buy ya a pint.

[2Cdo]

fifeboy fifeboy:

andyt andyt:

From Wiki:

$1:

Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge actively persecuted Buddhists during their reign from 1975 to 1979[53]. Buddhist institutions and temples were wantonly destroyed and Buddhist monks and teachers were killed in large numbers[54]. A third of the nations monasteries were destroyed along with numerous holy texts and items of high artistic quality. 25,000 Buddhist monks were massacred by the regime.[55] The persecution was undertaken because Pol Pot believed Buddhism to be "a decadent affectation". He sought to eliminate Buddhism's 1,500 year old mark on Cambodia.[55].

Does that sound like Buddhism was instigating the violence?

Or this:

$1:

Imperial Japan
Buddhist monks were forced to return to the laity, Buddhist property confiscated, Buddhist institutions closed, and Buddhist schools reorganized under state control in the name of modernizing Japan during the early Meiji Period.[8] The state-control of Buddhism was part of Imperial Japanese policy both at home and abroad in Korea and other conquered territories.[9]

Japan has two official religions - Shinto being the other, older one. During Imperial Japan it was favored because if was more warlike.

The best instance I can see is the Sri Lankan Buddhist majority fighting the Hindu Tamils. But the Tamils were trying to break away from the country after having been imported there during the Raj and given favored status. Not really a religious war either, but an ethnic one.

Someone sounds just a bit touchy on this subject! Buy ya a pint.

He doesn't sound touchy, just correcting someone who is, more often than not, completely wrong and ignorant about what he is discussing.

[2Cdo]

fifeboy fifeboy:

Oh my God, I didn't know that.

Pretending that you knew that little fact is embarrassing.

$1:

I am so glad you are here to inform us dumbasses about the truth. I of course, being one of the left alone, am so thankful.

That's my hobby, to educate those who are lacking in grey matter, but with some it is almost a full-time job.

[fifeboy]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

fifeboy fifeboy:

Oh my God, I didn't know that.

Pretending that you knew that little fact is embarrassing.

$1:

I am so glad you are here to inform us dumbasses about the truth. I of course, being one of the left alone, am so thankful.

That's my hobby, to educate those who are lacking in grey matter, but with some it is almost a full-time job.

My God, two post from the great 2Cdo. wow!

A few points. My original post was that every religion has had it's fair share of atrocity. You have not shown me wrong yet. Waiting for some "Education" from the great 2Cdo. I never singled out Buddhism as being one of the real bad ones. My point about the problems in Cambodia was that it arose in a Buddhist culture. That's all, but your thick layer of grey matter appears to be a barrier to such subtle ideas.