[Buddha-l] Buddhism & War

[W. Codling]

I thought the office of the Dalai Lama came about as part of a 
non-violent resolution of a crisis of Mongol invasion.  I think HHDL is 
the very embodiment of non-violent activity, even against the well-known 
brutal Bhutanese.
Wayne

Barnaby Thieme wrote:

>> > The single most important defining characteristic of pacifism is it's
>> > rejection of "defensive" violence - including especially defensive 
>> wars.
>
>
> Case in point - it's hard for me to imagine that His Holiness the 
> Dalai Lama would be advocating a non-violent path if Tibet had been 
> invaded by Bhutan instead of the PRC....
>
> B~
>
> _________________________________
>
> It's not getting any smarter out there. You have to come to terms with 
> stupidity, and make it work for you.
> - Frank Zappa
>
>
>
>
>> From: Richard Hayes <rhayes at unm.edu>
>> Reply-To: Buddhist discussion forum <buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
>> To: Buddhist discussion forum <buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Buddhism & War
>> Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 10:42:07 -0600
>>
>> On Wednesday 20 September 2006 08:29, curt wrote:
>>
>> > The single most important defining characteristic of pacifism is it's
>> > rejection of "defensive" violence - including especially defensive 
>> wars.
>>
>> I have spent most of my adult life hanging around people who define 
>> themselves
>> as pacifists, and I have never encountered a position such as the one 
>> you
>> state. I suppose the Quaker testimony may come close. There are various
>> versions of it. For every Quaker it is a guideline and not an 
>> absolute creed,
>> and it pertains to a lot more than just armed conflict.
>>
>> It seems to be that the attempts by Paul Fleischman and others to draw a
>> distinction between non-violence and pacifism is an exercise pointless
>> hair-splitting. The pacifist stance they present strikes me as a 
>> caricature.
>> While I admire these folks for doing combat with straw men instead of 
>> with
>> living human beings, I fail to see how they are offering any insight 
>> into a
>> complex problem.
>>
>> Perhaps I am unusually insensitive, but I have yet to feel any 
>> tension at all
>> between my commitment to non-violence as a Buddhist practitioner and my
>> whole-hearted endorsement of the Quaker peace testimony.
>>
>> -- 
>> Richard P. Hayes (the 'P' is for 'pax')
>> Department of Philosophy
>> University of New Mexico
>> http://www.unm.edu/~rhayes
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