SuttaCentral
Well, the country that gave birth to Buddha and his teachings do have many Buddhist lemons.
However, if the Sinhalese did not protect the Buddha Dhamma sometimes taking extreme defensive postures you wouldn’t be here learning Buddhism.
Its an imperfect way of safeguarding the Dhamma in an imperfect world.
Ok, so what you are saying is that the movement described in the article is definitely a Buddhist movement, and not just a nationalist movement that happens to be made up of Buddhists.
That’s interesting. I found an insightful review of Huntington’s thesis by Dr. Shahi. Maybe some will find it useful.
Well some sects of Islam, particularly the Sunni have a strong built-in proselyt (correct word?) element. They are always looking to spread their religion often with the help from other countries.
Spreading the religion by education is fine. Although they use unethical practises that are not very well liked by the locals. Its an ever present issue that never goes away.
Here, two parties clash. One is obviously a Buddhist. Although simple things like this brings issues with Islam unethical practises to the fore.
There is no organised movement that is attacking Moslems. There are strongly vocal Buddhist groups however.
I don’t think Christian identity plays as much a role in the domestic terrorists here in the US as opposed to the Buddhist identity playing its role amongst domestic terrorists in Sri Lanka. The more overarching role here is more a sense of alienation/isolation and hopelessness/despair, the reasons for which I’m not qualified to give a sufficient summary of but of which I know enough to say: it’s very complicated.
That’s all just my impression as a born and bred American
I’m not going to argue with you, but your own words have added credence to the framing in the article that Sujato was pushing back against.
There have been a number of different motivations for the most recent attacks, including antisemitism and white supremacism. Some of these people connect their violent acts with their Christian identity, and some do not.
I think your motive for this post was to “make the world a better place”. It a good motive to have. Although you fail to realise the problem that the Buddha trying to teach. The mundane world cannot ever be fixed. That is why he said Nibbana is the only bliss.
The Buddhists in Sri Lanka will look after the Dhamma what ever way is necessary for the Devas and Humans of this world to find their bliss. Be understanding and appreciative.
The dhamma is not a set of cultural institutions, but the spirit of absolute peace and renunciation. Every intentional killing clouds and defiles it. It will do just fine without the destruction, since hate is not conquered by hate. This is a law eternal.
I agree that antisemitism and white supremicism has been a motive in some of the most recent attacks. It is unfortunate that our current political climate has opened the floodgates for this kind of abhorrent behavior.
Regarding mass shootings in the US in general, AFAICT, any mentioned connection with Christian identity, if there is any mention at all, is secondary. OTOH, you have Buddhist monks in robes not-so-subtly encouraging retataliation and violence. You have Hindus in India killing people who they suspect have harmed cows. I’m not going to even mention Islamic jihadism…
My point is that religion plays a bigger role in other countries’ acts of violence compared to Christianity in the US. Again, I think it’s a sense of alienation/isolation and hopelessness/despair among young men in our country more than religion per se. I say this as a relatively young man 
I had a look at your posting history. I could not find any posts to do with your country that spends 15% of the GDP on defence and mitiary overrun a country every 10 years or so.
So that kind of advise is all well and good its propotional. Otherwise it like kindergarden advise given from an ivory tower.
Lets keep a harmonious and compassionate attitude - and not become divisive and judgemental due to a thicket of views and opinions…
Many times it does. The so-called “lone wolves” are often found to make similar ideological arguments on social media. Of course, that ideology isn’t solely to blame for their actions. Ultimately, people are to blame for their actions.
Unfortunately, this is true. For example, Afghanistan used to be a Buddhist country until it was invaded. Regardless, extremism and terrorism are always wrong. A better approach would be to only defend when attacked, have a smart immigration policy, and to let the existing migrants live in peace.
But does it really make sense to blame Buddhism for the bad acts some Buddhists do? As far as I know, ethnic cleansing isn’t condoned anywhere in the Tipitaka.
I have refrained from injecting too much of my politics into discussions on this site because I think the dhamma should provide refuge from worldly political storms, and I don’t want to contribute to destroying the atmosphere here more than I perhaps already have. I am much more open in other contexts, so if you want to look me up on Twitter, for example, you can get lots of information on just what I think about the US imperium, it’s wars and militarism, it’s inegalitarian economic system, etc.
Just to keep this all in context, the article appeared in a Buddhist magazine, and so it is by no means aimed at blaming Buddhism in general for the uprisings in described. But it does blame some Buddhists. It implies that the Buddhism of the nationalists whose actions it reports is not incidental to their violent actions, but a key part of the motivation for the actions - it’s a spefically Buddhist nationalism. And at least one of the participants in the discussion here seems to accept that characterization of the issue.
The Wakaraka sect whose teachings you proliferate on forums such as this and DhammaWheel, what with these nationalistic claims above, that is part of the problem.
As to the above, it’s not an imperfect way of safeguarding the Dhamma in an imperfect world. It’s a monstrous way of demolishing the Dhamma in an monstrous world.
For more lighthearted material on the Waharaka sect see here, or the embarrassing thread on this very forum trying to spread the conspiracy theory that the Buddha was Sri Lankan.
I do not follow Ven Waharaka anymore though. If re-instating the correct Buddha history is deemed "nationalistic " so be it. I do not care about labels - only outcomes.
Buddha would not endorse it. I personally do not endorse it either. Although part of the reason why the teachings are still available is because someone may have taken difficult decisions in the past. I am sure they have paid if any sins were committed too.
There is no need to get judgemental only understand and sympathise it may have happened.
Well I apologies about any misrepresentations as to your sect then.
Some in Sri Lanka think that the dhamma is only found in Sri Lanka. Hence protecting the nation equals protection of Buddhism. That idea is probably outdated by about 1500 years.
This topic has wandered too far from the OP, and political arguments are not suitable for the watercooler category