"This kind of stuff [VIOLENCE] is in the holy books of EVERY religion," Thom said today to justify violent extremism in Islam. So... "Everyone is doing it!" So that makes it OK!"
I guess negating the 500 million Buddhists (not counting the ones not counted in China) is a good cover to excuse the worst aspects of these archaic and barbaric systems of patriarchal & hierarchical control masquerading as spiritual practices.
Yesterday, Thom also called for us all to stand with our Islamic “brothers”… because the “sisters”, I'm guessing, are too busy at home trying not to have their noses sliced off.
So... No. Not EVERY major religion on Earth is rooted in violence - OR even mysogyny.
From: http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=70,1627,0,0,1,0
"Once when Lord Buddha was in Shravasti for a short stay, Kosal's king Prasanjit called on him. While they were in deep conversation, a messenger arrived from Kosal with an urgent message - that Queen Mallika Devi had delivered a girl child. The king was visibly upset.
Reading the King's body language, Buddha gave him dhamopdesh: "Many women are superior to men. Geniuses as well. They give birth to male children, many of whom become kings".
From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/war.shtml
“Non-violence is at the heart of Buddhist thinking and behaviour. The first of the five precepts that all Buddhists should follow is "Avoid killing, or harming any living thing."
Buddhism is essentially a peaceful tradition. Nothing in Buddhist scripture gives any support to the use of violence as a way to resolve conflict.
In times of war
Give rise in yourself to the mind of compassion,
Helping living beings
Abandon the will to fight.
One of Buddha's sermons puts this very clearly with a powerful example that stresses the need to love your enemy no matter how cruelly he treats you:
Even if thieves carve you limb from limb with a double-handed saw, if you make your mind hostile you are not following my teaching.
Kamcupamasutta, Majjhima-Nikkaya I ~ 28-29
A Vietnam veteran was overheard rebuking the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, about his unswerving dedication to non-violence.
"You're a fool," said the veteran - "what if someone had wiped out all the Buddhists in the world and you were the last one left. Would you not try to kill the person who was trying to kill you, and in doing so save Buddhism?!"
Thich Nhat Hanh answered patiently "It would be better to let him kill me. If there is any truth to Buddhism and the Dharma it will not disappear from the face of the earth, but will reappear when seekers of truth are ready to rediscover it.
"In killing I would be betraying and abandoning the very teachings I would be seeking to preserve. So it would be better to let him kill me and remain true to the spirit of the Dharma."