[Buddha-l] Buddhist Intolerance?

[curt]

Jim Peavler wrote:
>
> On Oct 15, 2006, at 3:39 PM, curt wrote:
>
>> ...... But outside of Christendom vigorous debate and disagreement do 
>> not go hand in hand with mob violence and state-sponsored persecution.
>
> Um, excuse me. Isn't this utter bullshit?
>
>
There are two points here. One is that within Christendom mob-violence 
and state-sponsored persecution have historically gone hand in hand with 
religious disputes. This is not some heavy-handed accusation cooked up 
by Christianity's wild-eyed enemies - it is something that Christians 
from Eusebius to John Calvin boasted about for 1300 years (and it did 
not stop with Calvin by any means). While some people might consider it 
impolite to point this out - it is not "bullshit". See, for example

"The Archeology of Religious Hatred" by Eberhard Sauer
"Hellenistic Religion and Christianization" by Frank R. Trombley
"Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries" by Ramsay 
MacMullen
"How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West" by Perez Zagorin
"There is No Crime for Those Who Have Christ" by Michael Gaddis

(Please note that the above authors are all, unlike yours truly, all 
respected academic historians. The American Historical Society described 
MacMullen, for example, as the "greatest historian of the Roman Empire 
alive today" - when he received their Award for Scholarly Distinction in 
2001.)

The second point is that this pattern of systemic religious violence 
does not exist outside of Christendom (with the notable exceptions of 
Islam & Communism). Violent persecution has been the exception rather 
than the rule in places like, for example, the continent of Asia (again, 
except for those portions that have fallen under the sway of 
Christianity, Islam or Communism.)

Where religious persecution has occurred outside of Christianity, Islam 
and Communism - these persecutions have been limited in scope and 
duration. They have also been half-hearted, inept and ultimately 
unsuccessful. To get some perspective on this one can simply ask the 
question: "What happened to the hundreds of different religious cults 
that existed side-by-side with Christianity in the Roman Empire?" To get 
an even better perspective one can compare the treatment of religion in 
the Edicts of Asoka with that found in the Code of Justinian.

In East Asia, Buddhists, Confucianists, Taoists, and also 
Shamanists/Shintoists have a long history of both vigorous disputation 
with each other, and also of attempts at "harmonization." Interspersed 
with this have been short-lived attempted persecutions. The same pattern 
holds in India with respect to the interactions of Buddhism, Jainism and 
the various (dozens? hundreds?) "Hindu" sects. One should be able to 
distinguish such a pattern (in which, at the risk of being redundant, 
persecution is anomalous) from that of relentless persecution over a 
period of centuries by one religion against all others, as has been 
found in lands ruled by Christians and Muslims - or persecution of all 
religions whatsoever, as has been found in lands under Communist rule.

- Curt