Was Buddhism ever persecuted? Did Buddhism ever persecute another religion?

Question

Where can I find this info?

Answer 1

Buddhists have only been persecuted by people of two religions -- Christians and Muslims which are both "evangelical" religions.

The Chinese communist government has persecuted Buddhist monks in Tibet mainly because the monks were amongst the most outspoken against the incorporation of Tibet into China.

In Southern Vietnam during the reign of Ngo Dien Diem (the US installed dictator who was a Catholic) the Buddhist monks were persecuted and many other Buddhists were killed. The majority of Vietnam (85%) are Buddhist while the rest are Catholic.

In Burma (Myanamyr) the Buddhist monks are often persecuted because they are the most outspoken against the dictatorial regime.

Answer 2

Buddhist Persecution

Answer 3

Yes....and yes.
Buddhists in Thailand are being persecuted by Muslims, who are told by the Holy Koran to kill polytheists. Also, they have often suffered political persecution such as currently in Myanmar, where the monks protested for freedom and the military had a crackdown. There has never been large scale persecution of Buddhists, though. At least not in modern times. Of course the initial wave of Islam, and also the spread of Islam across SE Asia and Indonesia involved a lot of death and conversion.
The Buddhists who persecute are not being "good" Buddhists. A good Buddhist is non-violent of course. However, racist and nationalistic Buddhists are committing some genocidal acts against minority race and religion tribes (such as the Karen tribe) in South East Asia. This genocide is particularly evident in Myanmar, and also in Vietnam. They feel that the impure ethnicity or the Christianity is a threat to the ancient culture, and this is met with violence. But this is really a minority of the Buddhists, for the most part their doctrine emphasizes that you should not care too much about anything.

Answer 4

Buddhism has been persecuted by Secular Communism in China, as well as by Muslims and Christians in South and Southeast Asia. Muslim persecution is one of the main causes for Buddhisms decline in India. Buddhist governments have attempted to suppress both Islam and Christianity in Southeast Asia.

Answer 5

Buddhism has been and is being persecuted in may ways around the world. A few of the more extreme examples are:

5th and 8th centuries saw a decline in Buddhism in India due to the Hephthalite invaders.
Early 1000's Sri Lanka - Muslim invaders kill virtual all of the nuns in the country.
13th to the 16th centuries saw further persecution of Buddhism in India from the invading Turkish Muslims.
Joseon dynasty Korea, (1392 to 1910) Neo-Confucian ideology of the government repressed Buddhism and forcibly closed many monasteries. It wasn't until the end of this period that Buddhism became greatly accepted again as the few remaining Buddhists help fight the invading Japanese.
In the 1950's the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China invaded Tibet and tortured and killed many Buddhist adherents.
During the "Great Leap Forward" (1958-1960) the People's Republic of China tried to eradicate all religious meetings culled many of the religious leaders and burned many religious temples and monasteries including those of the Buddhist traditions.
Today, Muslims in Thailand are persecuting Buddhist and trying to diminish the hold Buddhism has on the people there.

In addition to these large scale atrocities, smaller scale persecution or perhaps discrimination or intolerance would be more apt of a description. This occurs around the world in different arias that are predominantly non-Buddhist, particularly in the west and in India. The sad truth is that it is more prevalent in the U.S. South East, known as the Bible Belt but occurs else ware as well. And usually consist of little more then personal exclusion by social groups, but can from time to time lead to hate crimes. However, in the U.S. and around the world, this is becoming less and less an issue.

As for Buddhists persecuting other faiths. There are accounts where individuals or groups of individuals have persecuted people, but never has it been an activity supported by any member of the Buddhist 'clergy'. In some countries, like Myanmar, where Christians are being singled out, abused and persecuted, many Buddhists monks are speaking out against these actions. However, because of years of Christian interference and discrimination, many natives have a dislike and distrust of Christians. (For a long time, Christians would offer people food, shelter, medication and other aid IF and ONLY if they would sit and listen to a Christian sermon or prayer session. If you refused, they would refuse you aid. As a result, family members who were dedicated Buddhists would suffer and even die. Buddha teaches forgiveness and holding on to earthly troubles. But some individuals are not ready for this yes and have struck out against those they distrust. It is a shame...for many reasons.

I hope this helps!

Answer 6

I agree - no one should treat anyone differently just because they have a different interpretation of the bible. People have a tendancy to notice when someone is different. Not like we all would really want to be the same, but in our society today, "normal" is truly defined as the majority. For example, did you ever see the episode of the Twilight Zone where a woman undergoes several plastic surgeries, and you never see anyones face? You hear the doctors saying how the surgery didn't take and she still looks the same - just horrible and ugly. Then you see their faces, and everyone looks like a pig and the woman who's having the surgery is actually very pretty. It's the same thing here. There is nothing wrong with the way that woman looked, it was just not what those pig people were used to. So the only reason anymore is because you are different. Your views on the bible are not like other religeons, and not like there are a few Jews but compared to others it's a fairly small number. Hopefully this helps a bit - please take it as a compliment - why would you want to be like them anyway? You know? I also know how it feels to be mistreated by others because of the way I feel about god because I am atheist.

Answer 7

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edit for 'athiest consigliori' - how on earth can you say that Judaism is 'racist'? Evidently you don't know the first thing about our religion. Unlike Christianity, we believe that everyone finds a place in heaven, whatever their faith, if they are moral. And unlike both Christianity and Islam, we have NEVER forced others to convert, nor have we EVER persecuted another religion. You need to apologise for insulting our religion, when you have no grounds for doing so. To the asker: sweetheart, come to the Israel section where we discuss this and lots more, it's under Travel. Not 'everyone' hates us, but some people do, and some people misunderstand us also. DR WHAT - so it's OUR fault that we have been persecuted? Oh of course, how silly of me not to realise before! It's OUR fault that Muslim extremists strap bombs round their stomachs and take as many innocents with them as they can so they can have 72 virgins in paradise! And as for 'destabilising the middle east' - pick up a paper and read about what goes on in Arabic countries. How the Lebanese, Egyptian and Jordanian keep Palestinians in camps and don't give a damn about them! You've got a nerve.

Answer 8

They do seem to be a religion that has been stomped on a lot. They got persecuted out of existence in Afghanistan by some extreme muslims, and got persecuted in India by the hindu establishment. Then of course in the 20C the communist Chinese have tried to 'tame' Tibetan Buddhism by trying to bring it under State control; hence the Dalai Lama fled to India.

Read - history of Afghanistan, history of India, history of Mao's China.

Answer 9

The Chinese government has done a lot of persecuting but I think thats about it, and to my knowledge, nobody has been persecuted by Buddhism

Answer 10

well, buddhism has been persecuted a bit over the years, and people who are TRUE buddhists, especially the buddhist monks, NEVER judge anyone by their religion, but by their actions. part of traditional buddhism is not persecuting anyone despite their beliefs but some buddhists, including mysef, slip up and find tehmselves judging christians because of christian acts and sometimed judge all christians as one. but they try not to, however they're/we're not perfect.