There are many books on the subject, such as "Buddha's Not Smiling" by Erik Curren (a former Tibetan Buddhist), "Zen at War" by Brian Victoria (a Soto Zen Priest), etc. Even without those books, it is easy to look up the fighting Monks of the Tibetan tradition, or the Shaolin Buddhists, or the fact that the Zen monasteries in Japan during WWII helped fund the war effort.
Any institutionalized belief system can be used for violence and even hate. Why is this largely ignored in the West?
I'm an atheist, and think highly of the actual teachings of Buddhism, but I don't pretend it is any better in practice than any other religion.
Yes, those things happen in Buddhism. I think most Buddhists are honest enough to say that that is wrong. The teachings of the Buddha do not condone violence under any circumstance. That is not to say that I think people who do this are not real Buddhists because no True Buddhist® would do that. It's that I think people who do those things are simply out of line. What they are doing is wrong.
In Sri Lanka, Buddhist zealots stormed a radio station for playing music they felt was insulting to the Buddha, injuring several people. In the US, a Tibetan Lama was known for getting drunk and having sex with the women of his Sangha. Another knowingly infected members of his Sangha with HIV. This is the dark side of Buddhism, and I don't deny that it is there. When it rears its ugly head, I am as outraged as anyone and as broken-hearted for those those were hurt as anyone can be.
EDIT--I never said the violence was on a par with other religions. What I said is that it exists. Pretending that it does not exist does not help Buddhism and Buddhists as a whole. Neither does trying to mitigate it by saying that it is not as bad as others. If you were one of the people who was knowingly infected with HIV by a trusted teacher, it most certainly would look worse than it might if you aren't. No matter how you cut it, raping and rioting are major issues. They are in fact crimes. In this case, they were crimes committed by Buddhists, and in at least one case, in the name of Buddhism.
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