Comments on: Maverick Philosopher on the Historical Atrocities Argument

By: Thulla

Thulla — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:53:24 +0000

Recent Sri Lankan war on terror was not officially fought in the name of Buddhism, it’s merely a sovereign nation defending its integrity. But sadly some Sinhala Buddhist fanatics tried to interpret that cause as a holy war to defend Buddhism, which eventually convinced some ppl, that violence is caused in the name of Buddhism too. However in Sri Lankan history, I can give 2 examples where Buddhists caused violence in the name of religion. King Valagamba once destroyed a Jaina temple and built the Buddhist temple ‘Abayagiriya’ , and during the time of king Mahasen there was an insurgency between the Mahayana & Theravadhi factions of Buddhism.

By: Madeleine

Madeleine — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:36:00 +0000

That’s strange. When I comment on his blog I just comment – no log in needed.

Recent blog post: The Problem of Evil: Why does God Allow Suffering?

By: bethyada

bethyada — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:12:00 +0000

Maverick would not allow comments there without logging in. I agree with his claims. I think the denial of stuff done in the name of atheism because it is really done in the name of communism is a contemptible argument. You may not wish atheism to take the blame for the deaths, but if that is the case you need to give up your claim against religion causing war. Very few wars can even be attributed to religion anyway.

By: LittleShepherd

LittleShepherd — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 02:12:00 +0000

Yes, we know this. And Vallicella admitted up front that people have done horrible things in the name of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity. He never claimed otherwise, so all you’re doing is giving an example of something Vallicella already admitted occurs.

What he said is that, while people do horrible things and attribute them to their religion, in the case of at least these 3 religions their reasoning is unsound. Their justifications for their actions fall flat in light of what their foundational religious texts actually say.

By: Stephanie @ Faithful Follower Of Christ

Stephanie @ Faithful Follower Of Christ — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Good article. If their argument was true or logical, then same argument could also be used against atheism. Hitler was an atheist, as was Stalin I believe.

Recent blog post: Photo Story Friday

By: Chucky

Chucky — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 09:29:00 +0000

I always thought this was more of an emotional argument than a logical one. Surely there is a way to turn this argument around to point out the sinfulness of man (as if we needed more confirmation of that).

Recent blog post: Example article

By: Fustbariclation

Fustbariclation — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 07:12:00 +0000

Sri Lanka is a buddhist country and, in the name of buddhism, has been suppressing the minority for many years. So the notion of buddhist terrorism or a buddhist war is not that remote.