How do we as Buddhists make sense of military defense and war?

[MettaYana]

Bhante @Brahmali

I have a question that’s weighing on my heart, and that’s the question of Buddhist countries having militaries for defense. To be short and sweet: Would there be any bad karma generated for Buddhist nations protecting itself; and in particular, protecting the Sangha—-even if it lead to all out war? How did the Buddha address things like this?

[SDC]

There are not really any “Buddhist Nations”, but just nations with a Buddhist majority.

In the suttas, there are no cases of physical self-defense being something that preserves or protects the Dhamma.

Kamma is action knowingly taken by an individual, not a nation. So, individuals in positions of power are heirs to wrong actions taken no matter how they attempt to justify them.

[Khemarato.bhikkhu]

I recommend reading this old thread on the topic:

On deeds of war both bright and dark

The Buddha offered us a logical framework, the tetralemma, for unpacking the troubling morality of war. It clarifies not just the ethics of war, but the limits of ethics as well. In doing so, it offers a more nuanced and sophisticated perspective than the so-called “just war” doctrine that has so fascinated theorists of European traditions. Buddhism does not “lack” a just war doctrine; rather, it refuses to be drawn into the errors of thought that make such a doctrine necessary. But first let m…