Just for all those who constantly point to religions like Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism as the 'peace-loving' religions, where Islam and Christianity spawned such violence. Almost any argument where Islam is being portrayed as a religion that is inherently violent and produces terrorism to an unprecedented degree inevitably draws up Buddhism as the 'model' religion, working on the basic assumption that 'there are no Buddhist terrorists'.

Refer to Pol Pot's regime, in Cambodia, which drew heavily on Theravada Buddhist concepts of the denial of self to create the most lethal totalitarian regime in history. Refer more recently to the unfolding conflict in Sri Lanka, where the Hindu Tamil Tigers regularly engage in terrorist attacks (indeed, they invented suicide bombing and exported it and much of the relevant technology to the middle east), and the Buddhist state regularly oppresses and brutalises Tamil residents. Sri Lankan Buddhist monks who occupy seats in Parliament have openly called for the extermination of Tamils in the country.

These are just the two examples I'm aware of. There could be many more, or these could be the only two. Either way, it's something to keep in mind when making the argument that Islam is a dysfunctional religion given to warmongering.

I've read the Dhammapada, supposedly the teachings of Buddha himself, and I can't even find the aroma of violence in it. However, I do agree that some politicos have distorted some of the concepts for evil ends.

The Koran, on the other hand, encourages the killing of infidels. Violence and hatred are sacraments of Islam, and we can clearly see this wherever the insidious teachings of Mohammed have taken root. I can't remember who said it, but Islam has bloody borders.

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"The greatest epochs of our life come when we gain the courage to rechristen our evils as what is best in us." -Nietzsche

So what giorgio, all religion is a load bollocks, football is far better.croatia 2 germany 1, how is the Azzure doing

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None. Mod edit to remove profanity. Fools to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am stuck up the middle of you!
"Some people have recurrent behavior issues" Catz, proof please?

Not all Religion is a load of bollocks,The United Church of the Latter Day Tangental Tarts is moist yet crisp

Im a Tart, What! you want some of this

Man that sucks.....

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"It is extremely difficult for our contemporaries to conceive of the conditions of free banking because they take government interference with banking for granted and as necessary"

-- Ludwig von Mises

i think that terrorism has not certain religion
that is terrorism spreed in every where

no no
islam is religion of peace ,love ,mercy and tolerance
give me the part which mention in koran encourages the killing of infidels ?
i think you misunderstand the koran

It is there, no I will not look it up for you. The term infidel however has been taken by many to mean "anyone I want", instead of its original meaning, which is open to interpretation. My understanding is that it originally referred to people who became Muslims during the time of Muhammad, and then backstabbed and betrayed him, which happened a lot because it was a very tribal society for many centuries, with people vieing to be the leader of the tribe.

It should also be noted that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the 10 commandments, he found his people worshipping a golden calf. According to the bible, he then commanded the tribe of Levi (his tribe) to slay many of them as punishment, killing 300 and wounding many. That is how I envision the term "infidel", though many Muslims today take it to mean Jews, Christians, gays, Americans, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, or any other non-Muslim group that offends them in some way.

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The woman in my avatar is Cristina Scabbia and the woman in my profile picture is Tarja Turunen
Sun flames and moons glow, timeless the tides will flow, what will I face, what will be mine, fortune and fate the other side...

Post of the week:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inferno You just don't relate to my sense of humor. How about this. Gosh darn funny man living in a whale. doncha know that gawd could do that I betcha he could. wink wink.

About the most preposterous post ever made here.

So your evidence that Islam is Peaceful!?$^&%$##.. is that.. You can find a [abberrant] Buddhist's (Pol Pot! no doubt was monk is his spare time.) and the Tamil Tigers also having committed terrorist acts... too.
As if Pol Pot was acting in the name of Buddhism, or sought a world-wide 'Buddhate'.

This against The Islamic Violence that stretches from Mauritania to Mindinao (and places Like the NIF's Sudan in between).. and all along the 'Bloody Borders'/Long Islamic Frontline on which hundreds die every day from the world's Largest cause of unnatural death... Islam.

See sites like http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/ for Daily and weekly Updates of this Religion "Just Like Buddhism".

Anyone who can't acknowledge that Islam not only Has a special problem committing violence, but that this problem is the direct result of that religions Holy Book has a Huge problem/No hold on reality whatsoever.. OR is Himself indoctrinated/an adherent.

Manji
"..The trouble with Islam today is that literalism is mainstream.

Even moderate Muslims take the Koran as the final word of God: unfiltered, unchanged and unchangeable.
This supremacy complex inhibits us from asking hard questions about what happens when faith becomes dogma.
Such a path can lead only to a dead end of more violence...."

So the Problem isn't Misinterpretation of the Koran (Makkede's usual wrong-way advocacy), but in fact, Literal and Faithful interpretation of the Koran by a Religion, UNLIKE Judaism and Chrisitianity (which are probably 90% Non-literalist.. secular) vs Muslims doing an all-Too-Faithful interpretation of their Holy Book.

This bizarre string profer might also explain Giorgio's 'position' on Israel/Palestine.
--

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First of all, the Azzuri are doing FINE, thank you very much. We just need to warm up. Yes. :P

Secondly, violence and hatred are not sacrements of Islam. That's just inaccurate language used to villify the religion. The quote you're referring to about Islam having bloody borders is by Samuel P. Huntington, in his work, 'The Clash of Civilizations', one of the most widely discredited works of International Relations around. IR freshmen cut their teeth criticising it.

The point I was trying to make was not that Buddhism causes just as much violence as other religions like Islam. It is clear that Islam is implicated in a disproportionate amount of contexts of violence. My point is that all religions have the capacity to fuel violence and be used for political ends, regardless of their content or intention.

beletesri, I don't think you're quite right in your view of Islam. It is true that Muslims consider the Koran the word of god, unchanged, unfiltered, and eternal. This is unique to the major religions, which have built up sacred texts over a period of time from a period of authors. However, you go on to say that this means that the problem is not the twisting of the word of the Koran for political goals, but the faithful interpretation of it.

This doesn't follow. Just because the Koran is viewed as unchanged and eternal doesn't mean there can be only one interpretation. Indeed, because Islam has no centralised hierarchy like Catholicism or some strands of Buddhism, what results is a highly dispersed and differentiated religion with dozens of sects each with a radically different vision and interpretation of the holy text. From the Druzes to the Sufi, the interpretation of Islam varies much more widely than other religions. Indeed, the commonly touted term 'fatwa' actually refers to an interpretation of a verse in the Koran by a Muslim scholar. It is commonly recognised that the verses in the Koran are ambiguous and metaphorical, this is why there is such a huge proliferation of fatwas.

Muslims are asking religious scholars to tell them how they can apply the Koran to their daily lives, precisely because they believe that the Koran is the word of god. THIS is where the chance for political hoodwinks come in, and this is where the problem lies, I feel.

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it is a mistake to throw out the language of equal worth because of its contingent historical association with Western power.