[Buddha-l] Subject: the poignancy of Donald Lopez

[Curt Steinmetz]

Richard Hayes wrote:
> I'm glad you mentioned Kosuta's M.A. thesis, on which I happen to have been one of the examiners when he defended it. It's an interesting thesis and well worth reading.....

First of all I want to reiterate that Kosuta's paper really is something 
that anyone interested in the subject of Buddhism and non-violence needs 
to read.

Secondly I think that perhaps with a little adult supervision Jerryson 
could possibly produce something that is also worth reading. In fact, at 
least some of the papers presented in the book look like they could make 
solid, if incremental, contributions to an important subject.

Bernard Faure, in his "Afterthoughts" section of the volume in question, 
cites several specific examples of religious persecution associated with 
Buddhism in China and Japan, but then says "these cases are the 
exceptions that prove the Buddhist rule, and they underscore the 
contrast with the practice of Inquisition in Christianity." [p. 218]

But Jerryson and his mentor/co-editor Mark Juergensmeyer (who wanted to 
be a Methodist minister as a young man) appear to be hellbent on 
obscuring precisely this crucial contrast that Faure insists on. That 
just such obfuscation is the primary aim of Jerryson and Juergensmeyer 
is clearly indicated by the way this book is being aggressively 
promoted. For example, the publisher makes this explicit claim:

"Buddhist Warfare demonstrates that the discourse on religion and 
violence, usually applied to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, can no 
longer exclude Buddhist traditions. The book examines Buddhist military 
action in Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, 
and shows that even the most unlikely and allegedly pacifist religious 
traditions are susceptible to the violent tendencies of man."

Such statements combined with the ludicrous nature of Jerryson's 
accusations directed at the Dalai Lama, etc al, would seem to indicate a 
missionary zeal of some sort at work here.

Curt