What do Buddhists here think of stories like this one

This is the latest in a series of stories about Buddhists attacking members of other religions and preaching exclusivity, something that I would have thought antithetical to Buddhism:

Radical Monk in Myanmar Pledges to Protect Global Buddhism

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Speaking at the convention, Bodu Bala Sena’s leaders called for a new constitution to protect the majority Sinhalese community and for a new national flag that would recognize only the Sinhalese and no minority ethnicities and religions. Harshly criticizing the government, they vowed to field their own candidate for president if the current administration failed to protect Buddhists in the country.“This is not a multireligious country,” Bodu Bala Sena’s founder, Kirama Wimalajothi, said. “This is a Sinhalese country.”

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the country’s main Muslim party and a government ally, urged the authorities to step up protection for Muslims in the capital ahead of the Bodu Bala Sena convention.

Religious violence has been on the rise in Sri Lanka. In June, three people died and hundreds of Muslim homes and businesses were damaged in rioting in Aluthgama and Beruwala in the worst sectarian violence here in decades.

Last year, a mosque in Grandpass, a suburb of Colombo, was attacked by a mob at the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy season.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/w...anmar-pledges-to-protect-global-buddhism.html

namaskaram

this is the latest in a series of stories about Buddhists attacking members of other religions and preaching exclusivity, something that I would have thought antithetical to Buddhism:

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personaly yes as far as I am concerned it is in complete contradiction to Buddhist principles .

declaring and promoting a state of intolerance and agression seems completely contradictory .

however not that this excuses anything , these monks are Buddhists not Buddhas , A Buddha is all knowing , but Buddhists are only aspiring to atain the wisdom of a Buddha . saddly Buddhism has slowly become a cultural identity , therefore it becomes political , this is when it becomes all too easy to loose sight of Buddhism as a practice .
unfortunatly Sakyamuni Buddha himself fortold that Buddhism would florish and then decline , it would then reach a stage where the teachings were lost , and allthough we have verbal and written transmitions of the teachings they are becoming lost to us in that we do not understand them and are incapable of putting the teachings into practice .

the most unfortunate thing is that because of our stuborn and unsurrendered nature as human beings we are un able to benifit from the teachings and become peacefull and well ajusted people , instead we hijack the teachings and use them to justify our own ignorant and intollerant thoughts and actions .

Radical Monk in Myanmar Pledges to Protect Global Buddhism

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this is so sad , ....this merely shows that one who is lacking in knowledge and understanding will just cause more suffering in the world , the Buddhas teachings were intended to be used for the removal and understanding of personal suffering , by teaching non attatchment . the Buddha saught to free us from our ignorance and provide for us a path to liberation , but here unfortunately there is a great display of attatchment to self , to opinion , and to culture , there fore allthough these people wear the robes of monks they are not in truth surrendered , to take refuge in the Tri Ratna , ...Buddha Dharma and Sangha is now meaningless as there is in this case , a Sangha which is unworthy and should not be taken refuge in .

it is very very sad , those who should lead the lay comunity on the path to liberation now lead them into more suffering .http://uk.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

Monks and nuns are not supposed to get involved in politics. (They've supposedly renounced the worldly life and have withdrawn from society.)

Thanks. You've confirmed what I thought was the case

It wouldnt be a Buddhist issue.

Just Buddhist monk(s) with issues.

namaskaram

Nowhere Man said:

It wouldnt be a Buddhist issue.

Just Buddhist monk(s) with issues.

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true it is not realy a Buddhist issue , it is a political issue , ...

and I love your reply .....''Just Buddhist monk(s) with issues.'' ....but these Monks are insighting violence and unrest , ...there are increasing problems between Buddhist comunities and muslims in quite a few areas and increasing suffering , ...so it becomes a Buddhist issue especialy when violence and unrest is insighted in the name of Buddhism ....''Radical Monk in Myanmar Pledges to Protect Global Buddhism'' .....if one wants to protect Buddhism then surely there are ways far better than a call for violence ???


http://uk.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

"The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the country’s main Muslim party and a government ally, urged the authorities to step up protection for Muslims in the capital ahead of the Bodu Bala Sena convention.

Religious violence has been on the rise in Sri Lanka. In June, three people died and hundreds of Muslim homes and businesses were damaged in rioting in Aluthgama and Beruwala in the worst sectarian violence here in decades.

Last year, a mosque in Grandpass, a suburb of Colombo, was attacked by a mob at the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy season."

Click to expand...

IS and al-Qaeda will take note. Not a good thing in present-day world and in Buddhism.

Yeah, nothing more for me to say than to echo that it's not a Buddhist thing to do. Like crossfire said, monks and nuns are not to be involved in political things. Actually, monks and nuns have been doing things like this wrong for centuries. They're not even supposed to be involved in weddings and yet they do in many countries

Anyway, it's a political issue and some of the people involved happen to be Buddhists and/or monks and are betraying their renunciation with political involvement/violence. In that sense, they're not exactly Buddhist.

As a Buddhist, and being mindful, we can't suppress others, their beliefs, and growth. We can be compassioannt, offer wisdom, and reflect the qualities.

Not all who call themselves Buddhists reflect it, and not all can be Bodhisattva.

Hopefully they will become mindful.