@Birdie How many Buddhists are known for doing harm in the name of Buddhism?

@Birdie I'd honestly have to see some pew research or something. I recall that secular do-gooding is about equal to religiously motivated deeds.

Hi! I am new here.

Well, on Christianity.SE

@fredsbend Myanmar Buddhists come to mind

@TheMattbat999 I'm not really sure if current western civilization is more or less Christian than the rest of the world right now, and even if it were it's not like people don't try really hard to be good regardless of their religion. I imagine the motivation plays a factor, and the culture affects things also. Are Buddhists less morally active than others, and is that because of Buddhism or some other reason?

oops wrong quote. Hi TheMattbat999, welcome!

@Birdie I'd have to look that up.

@Birdie That's kind of what I'm saying. I'm not convinced religion makes good or bad people. I'm more convinced good people make good religion and bad people make bad religion.

@Birdie I don't think you mean this: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron_Revolution

Didn't really fit the bill of "Buddhists doing harm in the name of Buddhism."

Must mean this: bbc.com/news/magazine-22356306

Certainly interesting. Only proves what I said earlier.

> good people make good religion and bad people make bad religion.

And Buddhism is no exception.

> But however any religion starts out, sooner or later it enters into a Faustian pact with state power. Buddhist monks looked to kings, the ultimate wielders of violence, for the support, patronage and order that only they could provide. Kings looked to monks to provide the popular legitimacy that only such a high moral vision can confer.

I shouldn't be surprised that this violence you reference is political more than dogmatic. That's almost always the case. Buddhist nationalism is a thing, apparently.

Yeah was referring to the killing of Rohingya in Myanmar/Burma.

I don't know if you've met people who have had professed religious conversion, but there is often a drastic change in behaviour from before and after. Obviously there isn't a guarantee per se of religiosity causing good behaviour, but for many there is not just good people = good religion, but religion = good people for some.