most of the current strife and murder that is propagated because of war is a result of religious convictions and religious impositions. it seems like it has always been this way since time began. i know the search for power and land acquisition is a close second if not closely linked to the original assertion. but i am looking at war from a religious perspective.

could it not be reasonably argued that buddhism is the religion that most clearly lays out a path for peace? islam, judaism, and christianity all sprang from wars and mayhem. whereas buddhism sprang from the search for enlightenment. buddhism has conqured through reasoning and not from the sword like the others. paradoxically it is their lack of a sword that has kept them from true expansion as it is a religion that is accepting of all viewpoints and claims no superiority. it even accepts atheists beliefs as plausible.

so looking at that as a starting point the nature of man to embrace war through their religious convictions means peace can never be achieved. and looking down on religion is the exact same viewpoint reversed from religious folk who look down on non-believers. in a hypothetical world where everyone was a buddhist would there be no war? or could it be minimized to an extreme anomaly?

Let's do one better:

Jainism - The Absence Of Violence

Buddhism isn't free of warfare.

In China the Buddhist message was propagated by warfare:
http://books.google.com/books?id=WZd...um=2&ct=result

Buddhist Nichiren Sect led to Japanese WWII aggression:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichiren_sect

Some Buddhism is dogmatic, some Buddhism less so.

You don't see a lot of harm caused by Zen Buddhism, for example.

But in general, yeah, if I had to choose one I'd choose Buddhism.

No. War would still exist. In an environment of scarce resources and organisms that propagate exponentially, war is inevitable. So in a very real sense war is not a human invention. I forgot which writer said it but, "Man did not create war. War was always here, waiting for him."

Given above, I would say no in regards to the extreme anomaly idea. Would there be less war if everyone were Zen Buddhists or Jainists? IMO yes.

Satan will always find his way.

Happy to hear that Satan is a Buddhist.


-Zeno

I don't think that's what Erf is saying.

Not really.

China and its human rights violations.
North Korea and its constant nuclear threats.
Mexican drug wars.
Genocide in Darfur.
Russian aggression into Georgia.
United States aggression into Iraq.

That's just off the top of my head, I'm sure there's more.

On the religious side, we have.... what? Islamic extremism in the middle east? What else?

Two words: Imperial Japan.