"Peaceful" Buddhism vs. "Violent" Christianity

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mikeledes

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Okay guys and gals, I need some dirt on Buddhism or Buddhists. Several people that I know have compared the peacefulness of Buddhist countries with the violence of Christian/ Catholic ones. The implication being that Buddhism is a superior form of spirituality. Does Buddhism have any skeletons in its closet?

God Bless
 
I think the Chinese experienced much more terror from Buddhist Japan than they ever did from any European Christian nation.

Fiat
 
There’s a great Kung Fu flick entitled “Killa Priest” Its part of the WuTang collection. The Buddhist monk comes to China to spread the faith and must wipe out the evil Taoist priest! Buddhist vs. Taoist! Groovy stuff.

Seriously though, I believe that historically there have been various exploits by religious groups in the east, buddhist vs. Taoist, hindu vs. Moslem and so forth. In fact, there are quite a few violent hindus out there today now that I think about it.
 
Thank You. Do you know of any examples of religious persecution or wars.
 
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mikeledes:
Thank You. Do you know of any examples of religious persecution or wars.
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Does Pearl Harbor ring any bells?
 
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Della:
Does Pearl Harbor ring any bells?
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Interesting reply … especially considering the emperor was viewed as divine. I wonder if the kamikaze pilots were religiously motivated?
 
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PeterC:
Interesting reply … especially considering the emperor was viewed as divine. I wonder if the kamikaze pilots were religiously motivated?
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I think most Japnese are Shintoist, no?
 
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MonkeyTape:
I think most Japnese are Shintoist, no?
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Yes, and emperor worship certainly would not be condoned by Buddhists. The only thing I can think of is Buddhist monks in Vietnam protesting during the Vietnam War by setting themselves alight.
 
Why in the world are you looking for dirt on Buddhists or anyone for that matter? I absolutly cannot stand this ‘my religion is better than your religion’ thing or ‘you’re Christian so you’re violent’. If you think that Buddhists are more peaceful than Christians then ask yourself why. If some Buddhist is taunting you and holding this over your head then take internal peace in the fact that you don’t have the same condecending attitude (or maybe you do and you need to purge it). Don’t search hard for something that may not even be there. And even if it is, what use does it have?
 
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precious_roy:
Why in the world are you looking for dirt on Buddhists or anyone for that matter? I absolutly cannot stand this ‘my religion is better than your religion’ thing or ‘you’re Christian so you’re violent’. If you think that Buddhists are more peaceful than Christians then ask yourself why. If some Buddhist is taunting you and holding this over your head then take internal peace in the fact that you don’t have the same condecending attitude (or maybe you do and you need to purge it). Don’t search hard for something that may not even be there. And even if it is, what use does it have?
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Dude, you need to see “Killa Priest.”
 
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precious_roy:
Can I get it on Amazon?
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Sure, on DVD or VHS. You should be able to get it pretty cheap too. If it doesn’t come up as “Killa Priest” then try “Killer Priest” Its part of the Wutang Clan Kung Fu collection. If you get the DVD, you should get some trailers and a Wutang Clan video to go with it.
 
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DreadVandal:
Sure, on DVD or VHS. You should be able to get it pretty cheap too. If it doesn’t come up as “Killa Priest” then try “Killer Priest” Its part of the Wutang Clan Kung Fu collection. If you get the DVD, you should get some trailers and a Wutang Clan video to go with it.
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Looks sort of random. Maybe I will try out my local blockbuster and save a few bucks…
 
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mikeledes:
Okay guys and gals, I need some dirt on Buddhism or Buddhists. Several people that I know have compared the peacefulness of Buddhist countries with the violence of Christian/ Catholic ones. The implication being that Buddhism is a superior form of spirituality. Does Buddhism have any skeletons in its closet?

God Bless
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Looking at the scriptures, Buddhism is indeed more peaceful; the Buddha kills far fewer people that the OT God does.

Buddhists have of course been involved in wars. The wars do not get a lot of mention in the history books in the West because they mostly happened before the arrival of westerners in Buddhist countries. Examples that come to mind are the long standing Tamil/Sinhalese conflict in Sri Lanka, the wars between different sects of Tibetan monks (the first Dalai Lama won by allying himself with the Mongols) and the wars between different sects of Buddhist monks in Japan which tended to break out when central control was weak.

In short Buddhists all too often fall short of the best ideals of their religion, just as Christians sometimes do. I do think that there is a real difference in the respective scriptures in that there is far less killing in Buddhist scriptures. The New Testament is a lot better in this respect than the Old.

rossum
 
Yeah, those evil, low-down, dirty-rotten-scoundrel Buddhists. Someone that peaceful must have a violent uncle in his closet.:rolleyes:
 
I have people that bring that up too. “Well, buddhists don’t go on Crusades etc.”

I say that just because they sit and meditate all day doesn’t mean that they have a true religion. “Peacefulness” doesn’t entail Truth. Buddhists don’t really care if they are specifically right, they see all religions as paths to “enlightenment”. We Catholics know with the light of faith that we are right, and we should use that gift to bring others into the Faith.

Aside from that, most western folks (i.e. white Americans) that I know that are into the whole Buddhist things really aren’t into Buddhism, they are more into the idea that there is no canon or rules or whatever. The idea that basically anything goes is attractive to them. It is easier to justify their actions when their "religion’ doesn’t really come down and demand anything of them. Thus, basically they are spoiled college age brats or aimless drifters that are going through a phase.
 
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ComradeAndrei:
Buddhists don’t really care if they are specifically right, they see all religions as paths to “enlightenment”.
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As you note yourself, this is more a case of Western Buddhists, who are still relative newcomers to the Dharma. Traditionally, Buddhists have thoroughly demolished claims that non-Buddhist paths can lead to enlightenment; Buddhist exclusivism goes back to the Buddha himself. The difference separating Buddhist exclusivism and Christian exclusivism is that Buddhism doesn’t argue that anyone is eternally condemned to hell: your path might not lead to enlightenment, but that doesn’t mean you’ll suffer eternal fire and brimstone for eternity.😃
 
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Ahimsa:
As you note yourself, this is more a case of Western Buddhists, who are still relative newcomers to the Dharma. Traditionally, Buddhists have thoroughly demolished claims that non-Buddhist paths can lead to enlightenment; Buddhist exclusivism goes back to the Buddha himself. The difference separating Buddhist exclusivism and Christian exclusivism is that Buddhism doesn’t argue that anyone is eternally condemned to hell: your path might not lead to enlightenment, but that doesn’t mean you’ll suffer eternal fire and brimstone for eternity.😃
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Question:
If your religion happened to have beliefs that followed the Four Noble Truths, why couldn’t you achieve enlightenment outside of Buddhism? Just curious.

Also it is not the belief of Christians, or at least myself if no one else is on this wagon, that you must be a Christian to have salvation. 😃
 
Oops, I’m sorry. I just reread what you wrote and my response about salvation really made no sense. I think what you are saying is:

Buddhism
Enlightment = great, not Enlightment = average

Christianity
Salvation = great, not Salvation = really bad
 
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