what about the native americans and australian aboriginies, do they matter less than the jewish people in ww2? war is war, war is terrorism, to start a war against terrorism is to start a war against war.marc108 wrote:I struggle with this question, and questions of a similar nature. I pile this one into the 'I'll deal with it if it happens' pile... speculation is rather pointless imo.
The Buddha, I believe, had a good understanding of the society he lived in and how war and whatnot functioned in his day. What he did not, I believe, have foreknowledge of is the type of War that exists today. The slaughter of millions of innocents that we see in Africa today, let alone Hitlers slaughter of ~15 million people, did not exist in the time of the Buddha. The capacity for maniacs to literally take over the entire world did not exist in the time of the Buddha. We can not claim to know what the Buddha would say in light of things as they are today... The Buddha was a pragmatist, and the farthest thing from dogmatic... Had he seen the carnage of WWII, tens of millions of dead, half the world destroyed... perhaps he would have changed his position? I think our best bet is to listen to what the great Masters of the modern day say, and hope that we are never put in those positions.
http://dalailama.com/messages/world-pea ... ity-of-war" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"For instance, it is plain to all of us that the Second World War was entirely justified. It "saved civilization" from the tyranny of Nazi Germany, as Winston Churchill so aptly put it."
pointless!
metta,
jason