[Buddha-l] Buddhist warfare

[andy]

On Saturday 31 July 2010 09:18:24 am L.S. Cousins wrote:
>   Well, I have finally managed to read the book. It is actually quite
> interesting to read a book after so much discussion.
> 
> I share the view that the editors have a definite agenda of some kind.
> Mark Juergensmeyer is the author of a book on global religious violence
> and perhaps wants to assimilate Buddhist approaches to violence to that
> of other religions. It is difficult to be sure because he doesn't
> actually contribute to the volume.

Agenda sounds so much more acceptable than conspiracy!  But attempting to 
assimilate Buddhism into an overarching theory of religious violence does seem 
to do violence to the tradition. 
> 
> This is much more clearly so with the other editor: Michael Jerryson. He
> writes the introduction. That has already been much criticised and
> rightly so. He seems rather lacking in historical judgment and draws on
> all sorts of dubious and inaccurate sources. He is clearly trying to
> make a case rather than engaging in any kind of serious scholarly
> evaluation.

Jerryson organized the orignal panel at the AAR (Buddhism Section and 
Religions, Social Conflict, and Peace Group) in 2006, as mentioned in the 
acknowlegements. I am still curious about what exactly the case being made is, 
however.  And we have gone around this a few times already.  

> His other contribution is the chapter on "Militarizing Buddhism:
> Violence in Southern Thailand". I was left quite uncertain how much of
> this to believe.

One of the most telling arguments that Michael Walzer makes for the 
applicability of morality to warfare (as against the "Realist" school of 
international relations) is the lies that soldiers and statesmen tell. Lance's 
point four is right on the money. 

>4. The significant thing, surely, is that this is so alien to the
>normative views of Thai society that it has to be done covertly. If
>indeed the whole thing is not the kind of shaggy dog story that Thais
>love to tell to innocent westerners.


-- 
James Andy Stroble,