Talk:Pacifism

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The Lack of Balance Regarding the Buddhist Approach to Pacifism

This change made in 2021, significantly changes the tone of the section on Buddhist attitudes towards pacifism. Compared to sections for other religions, Buddhism now appears among the most violent.

Nonviolence towards humans and animals is a fundamental tenet of Buddhism and forms the first of the Five Precepts (generally regarded as the most important code of conduct for lay Buddhists). The normative belief is that violence and the killing of another human is to be avoided at all costs and religious justification of any war is likely to be seen as breaking the Five Precepts by Buddhists not involved. Among ordinated monks, the rules for non-violence are stricter and killing a human is one of the four gravest offenses that results in immediate expulsion (Pāṭimokkha). To the best of my knowledge there has never been persistent and widespread support for any religious war like the Crusades.

That is not to say that wars have not been carried out by Buddhists or countries where Buddhism is a major part of life. But in none of the sections for other religions is this brought up. In other religions there are far more direct and substantial associations of religion with warfare yet there is no mention of the Crusades or of Judaic wars, barely a mention of the many Islamic wars, no discussion on the justification of war that appears in certain Hindu texts. For every other religion, the discussion is about the orthodox religious attitude towards war (which in Buddhism's case is quite plainly put against ^[1]), yet for Buddhism it is about Buddhists committing acts of war and any justifications that go against the orthodox interpretations. The edit (linked above) has this to say which I'd argue is a significant mischaracterization of Buddhist religious attitudes towards war, at the very least in the context of this article (the single cited book is a compendium of wars in Buddhist countries and justifications that are the exception rather than the rule to a Buddhist perspective of war and pacifism).

Ahimsa (do no harm), is a/the primary virtue in Buddhism (as well as other Indian religions such as Hinduism and Jainism).^[2] This leads to a misconception that Buddhism is a religion based solely on peace; however, like all religions, there is a long history of violence in various Buddhist traditions and many examples of prolonged violence in its 2,500 year existence. Like many religious scholars and believers of other religions, many Buddhists disavow any connection between their religion and the violence committed in its name or by its followers, and find various ways of dealing with problematic texts.^[3]

I propose replacing the above section with the following text (not particularly substantial, but in my opinion more factual than the original text that was replaced by the above):

Non-violence towards all sentient beings (both humans and animals) is a fundamental tenet of Buddhism that is emphasized repeatedly in the teachings of the Buddha^[4]. Abstaining from killing forms the first of the Five precepts, the most important system of morality for Buddhist lay people^[5]

TranquilDragon (talk) 11:28, 30 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Deegalle, Mahinda. "Is Violence Justified in Theravāda Buddhism?" (PDF).
^ Helen Josephine Baroni (January 2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8239-2240-6.
^ Buddhist Warfare by Michael Jerryson and Mark Juergensmeyer / Oxford University Press 2010, p.3-14 ISBN 978-0-19-539484-9
^ Adam, Martin. "Nonviolence and Emptiness: Buddha, Gandhi, and the "Essence of Religion"" (PDF). ARC, The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University. 34: 1. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
^ Getz, Daniel. "Precepts". encyclopedia.com. Cengage. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

Similarly

"Carthaginian peace" is an American phenomenon most similar to the Muhammadan terminology known as "Religion of Peace", I could write an article about these two concepts.

12:43, 16 June 2023 (UTC)12:43, 16 June 2023 (UTC)12:43, 16 June 2023 (UTC)~\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\12:43, 16 June 2023 (UTC)12:43, 16 June 2023 (UTC)12:43, 16 June 2023 (UTC)12:43, 16 June 2023 (UTC)43.242.178.44 (talk) 43.242.178.44 (talk) 12:43, 16 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Deegalle, Mahinda. "Is Violence Justified in Theravāda Buddhism?" (PDF).

[Baroni2002-2] Helen Josephine Baroni (January 2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8239-2240-6.

[3] Buddhist Warfare by Michael Jerryson and Mark Juergensmeyer / Oxford University Press 2010, p.3-14 ISBN 978-0-19-539484-9

[4] Adam, Martin. "Nonviolence and Emptiness: Buddha, Gandhi, and the "Essence of Religion"" (PDF). ARC, The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University. 34: 1. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

[5] Getz, Daniel. "Precepts". encyclopedia.com. Cengage. Retrieved 30 November 2023.

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