Buddhist Mob Violence Kills Muslims, Destroys Homes

[Oryx]

Further proof that no religion is safe from its extremists; after an altercation between a Buddhist monk and a group of Muslims in Sri Lanka, the Bodu Bala Sena sect of Buddhism allegedly rioted, attacking and killing 4 people and injuring over a dozen more, and burning down over 80 houses.

Addressing the crowd of thousands Sunday, the BBS's leader, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, gave an inflammatory speech.

Video footage from the event shows the orange-robed monk using derogatory terms for Muslims and, to approving roars from the crowd, vowing that if any Muslim laid a hand on a member of the Sinhalese majority -- let alone a monk -- that would "be the end" of them.

After the rally, Buddhist mobs marched through Muslim neighborhoods, torching and destroying dozens of homes and shops, witnesses told CNN.

Following consecutive nights of violence, in which local medical staff say at least four people were killed and sixteen seriously injured, those made homeless by the rioting were sheltering in the town's main mosque Tuesday, shell-shocked and fearful of what may come next.

Link. This raises a lot of questions in my mind about the place of religion as a whole in our world - can a religion become large and still remain harmless? Or are they all doomed to splinter into violent sects that attack other groups as they grow? In many of the Buddhist attacks (this is merely one example of a trend), the government in that area is majority Buddhist and seems to be passively approving the actions of the majority.

Is it possible for the idea of a religion to survive and grow without parts of it descending into violence?

 

[£]

In life, you have the nice majority, and then you get a few ♥♥♥♥s in the mix.

If you've got a religion that's growing, it's almost certain that if you keep growing, you're eventually going to run the risk of having a few ♥♥♥♥s. And if you have them, then you're going to have violence, intolerance, et al.

Are the majority of Christians/Muslims/Buddhists bad people? I wouldn't say so. Are there ♥♥♥♥s among their ranks? Clearly.

Same applies to any group that is independent from religion, I'd say. As the group gets larger, a chaotic influence can seep in with ease~ I imagine anyone who has studied mob psychology will have a very enlightening point or few to make on this matter.

 

[PokemonLeagueChamp]

Literally every ideology in the history of ever that has grown particularly large will have at least some amount of extremism or radicalism, whether that ideology is religious or not.. That's just how things seem to be. To me, that's an indictment of human nature far more than it is one of any given ideology.

 

[Esper]

If religion is a central part of someone's life then, yes, I think when a religion gets too big and inevitably clashes with ideologies of neighboring peoples/religions/etc. then violence is likely to happen.

Like, look at some of the less violent places in the world. How religious are they? Usually not very at all. There are other things that are more important to them. That's not to say they don't have ideologies or beliefs, just that they're more focused on things like happiness or family or justice or democracy or something like that. When you leave behind those kind of core values and instead follow some kind of ideology you risk losing touch with those values if the religion (or whatever) starts to move in a violent or hostile direction.

I can only see non-violent religion surviving in a modern, peaceful world if it becomes a bit watered down to the point where it doesn't have much influence on people overall.

 

[Dakotah]

Yeah, and that leads me to this quote by Christopher Hitchens:

If god really wanted people to be free of [wicked thoughts], he should have taken more care to invent a different species.

 

[BadPokemon]

Yeah, and that leads me to this quote by Christopher Hitchens:

The problem with that quote is that it actually states in the Quran that the world will never be at peace until ALL governments and peoples convert. If they can't be persuaded, they are to be killed. I'm not familiar with Buddhism, so I won't talk about them. As for Christian extremists, I don't believe there are any. Our God teaches to LOVE and befriend non-Christians, homosexuals (they can be Christians), etc. I don't think "Christians" who bomb abortion shelters are really Christians. It's possible because sin happens and we have a sin nature, but I really don't think a true God-fearing person would do such a thing.

And to address the quote: we have free will. Would you rather not?

 

[Nah]

As for Christian extremists, I don't believe there are any. Our God teaches to LOVE and befriend non-Christians, homosexuals (they can be Christians), etc. I don't think "Christians" who bomb abortion shelters are really Christians.

1) No True Scotsman fallacy
2) Westboro Baptist Church

 

[The Void]

The problem with that quote is that it actually states in the Quran that the world will never be at peace until ALL governments and peoples convert.

Nah. Nothing but anti-Muslim propaganda. Where in the Qu'ran does it say exactly that?

On the contrary, Islam expresses religious freedom. There is in fact an entire chapter in the Qu'ran dedicated to it:

Say: O ye that reject Faith! I worship not that which ye worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. And I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. To you be your Way, and to me mine.

-- Surah 109

As for the topic itself, there's really no idea that's safe from extremism. I wouldn't be surprised if people start shooting others in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in the near future.

 

[pippitha]

The problem with that quote is that it actually states in the Quran that the world will never be at peace until ALL governments and peoples convert. If they can't be persuaded, they are to be killed. I'm not familiar with Buddhism, so I won't talk about them. As for Christian extremists, I don't believe there are any. Our God teaches to LOVE and befriend non-Christians, homosexuals (they can be Christians), etc. I don't think "Christians" who bomb abortion shelters are really Christians. It's possible because sin happens and we have a sin nature, but I really don't think a true God-fearing person would do such a thing.

And to address the quote: we have free will. Would you rather not?

There are tons of things in the bible that say to do harm to others for many different reasons. I don't know why Christians always talk about it being about love. lol

Anyways, I don't think it's the religions that make people bad, you get one crazy and then people listen to them and follow them and then that's how you get the mob mentality.

 

[BadPokemon]

There are tons of things in the bible that say to do harm to others for many different reasons. I don't know why Christians always talk about it being about love. lol

Anyways, I don't think it's the religions that make people bad, you get one crazy and then people listen to them and follow them and then that's how you get the mob mentality.

Name the verse that says to do harm to others.

As for the other quotes:

@the void- I watched a video stating the following (not word for word): "the Quran teaches peace in the beginning, but in the later verses it teaches the exact opposite. It also states in the Quran that the later verses supersede the earlier ones". I'm not denying that there are "Christian" extremists. Again, my defenition is different from our worldly defenition which is of you go to church on Easter and Christmas, then you are Christian. Just because you go to church, doesn't make you Christian.

@saltandpepperdiner- same as above. As for the Westboro Baptist Church. What they are doing is WRONG. While yes, God says homosexuality is a sin. Do I agree with it, no. They just sin differently than me. I'm not going to hate on lying more than I'll hate on homosexuality. I would be a huge hypocrite.

Matthew 7:3-5 3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Mark 12:31 The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

 

[pippitha]

Name the verse that says to do harm to others.

As for the other quotes:

@the void- I watched a video stating the following (not word for word): "the Quran teaches peace in the beginning, but in the later verses it teaches the exact opposite. It also states in the Quran that the later verses supersede the earlier ones". I'm not denying that there are "Christian" extremists. Again, my defenition is different from our worldly defenition which is of you go to church on Easter and Christmas, then you are Christian. Just because you go to church, doesn't make you Christian.

@saltandpepperdiner- same as above. As for the Westboro Baptist Church. What they are doing is WRONG. While yes, God says homosexuality is a sin. Do I agree with it, no. They just sin differently than me. I'm not going to hate on lying more than I'll hate on homosexuality. I would be a huge hypocrite.

Matthew 7:3-5 3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Mark 12:31 The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

here ya go. https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/stoning.html

unless, you're going to say the bible is WRONG about that.

 

[maccrash]

here ya go. https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/stoning.html

unless, you're going to say the bible is WRONG about that.

I know that I'm not involved here (and I'm not trying to defend the use of the Bible (or any other religious text) in an argument because I think it's stupid) but what does that have to do with anything

 

[pippitha]

I know that I'm not involved here (and I'm not trying to defend the use of the Bible (or any other religious text) in an argument because I think it's stupid) but what does that have to do with anything

He asked me what verses had to do with harming people, so I answered. I guess it's off topic, but I was asked a question.

 

[maccrash]

He asked me what verses had to do with harming people, so I answered. I guess it's off topic, but I was asked a question.

wow I feel like a fool now

sorry carry on

 

[BadPokemon]

here ya go. https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/says_about/stoning.html

unless, you're going to say the bible is WRONG about that.

Here is your answer. This is evidence for how much God hates sin. Second, it was a punishment. Just don't do it. Third, Jesus came to fulfill the law. When he died on the cross, he was our substitute. He took our sins and put it on the cross, and defeated sin and death. We no longer have to stone people to death and such.

Jesus even said not to stone a person in the Bible when some people were going to do it.

 

[pippitha]

Here is your answer. This is evidence for how much God hates sin. Second, it was a punishment. Just don't do it. Third, Jesus came to fulfill the law. When he died on the cross, he was our substitute. He took our sins and put it on the cross, and defeated sin and death. We no longer have to stone people to death and such.

Jesus even said not to stone a person in the Bible when some people were going to do it.

But why have them do that in the first place if god is so loving? Most of those 'sins' are no even bad things, or they punish victims. Instead of torturing his son, why didn't he just do away with punishment altogether?

 

[BadPokemon]

But why have them do that in the first place if god is so loving? Most of those 'sins' are no even bad things, or they punish victims. Instead of torturing his son, why didn't he just do away with punishment altogether?

I found a great link:

https://ubdavid.org/youthworld/winners1/winners1_08.html

It's from a youth site, but I think it provides an amazing analogy and it explains it very well. If you want a different one, I can give it to you.

 

[pippitha]

I found a great link:

https://ubdavid.org/youthworld/winners1/winners1_08.html

It's from a youth site, but I think it provides an amazing analogy and it explains it very well. If you want a different one, I can give it to you.

That... makes it sound even worse. Why punish anyone at all? If everything he does is right, then he could make 'sin' right or not punishing right. Punishing an innocent person for someone else's 'crime' is way wrong, so obviously if he can call that right, then just not punishing anyone at all would be right, too.

 

[Alexander Nicholi]

To the topic at hand, I don't think those people really follow Buddhism at all. To me, Buddhism is a path to finding happiness and spiritual completion (ergo nirvana) through discovering one's self, learning from others without any regard to who they are, pushing to have compassion for those you hate, et cetera. I imagine maybe the Bodu Bala Sena sect is full of bogus leaders, as I know the philosophies of Gautama Buddha were so stunningly far from what these people are doing that it is quite the stretch for anyone to call them Buddhists, including themselves.

To the theistic side-debate that seemingly arose, I don't even…

In regard to the No True Scotsman fallacy, I guess I would be denying that you're Scottish at all rather than saying only "true" Buddhists follow the above. They aren't Buddhists. No one who calls themselves a Buddhist displays this sort of behavior and isn't massively full of ♥♥♥♥.

 

[BadPokemon]

That... makes it sound even worse. Why punish anyone at all? If everything he does is right, then he could make 'sin' right or not punishing right. Punishing an innocent person for someone else's 'crime' is way wrong, so obviously if he can call that right, then just not punishing anyone at all would be right, too.

Jesus is God. They are one. There has to be a punishment when there is a wrong. If God didn't do this, we couldn't have a relationship with God. We couldn't go to Heaven. Jesus wanted to do this.