Here is an article the appeared in The Lion's Roar. I personally loathe these dog-whistling inflammatory vague 'calls to action' that are rife in 'hip' Buddhist online and offline publications. It is tiring.
Here is an archive link. https://archive.ph/4KHEa
Ah! Lion's Roar has done it again! The whole idea of that publication is to get people talking. Basically 'click bait' and look! it worked. Well done.
Getting mad at someone for posting it is ludicrous. In Buddhism historically and largely do not 'take sides' and do indeed attempt to live with (and eventually change) such groups like those 'anti-democracy, bigotry, racism, and religious phobia' BY EXAMPLE- not with protest, violence, stonewalling, 'cancelling', belittling, or admonishment.
I have been a part of inter-religious councils for over 15 years, there are many groups whose dogma is set on elimination of non-believers etc. But there is a civil relationship. We know they will not 'change' us. (we do not need to be 'saved' by anyone else, that is our own work to be done) We don't need to change them either. It is all about understanding and the wisdom we develop when we understand suffering and its causes and remedies.
This may be a part of a much newer idea in Buddhism "engaged Buddhism" which is more appropriately should be labeled "enraged Buddhism" as they typically are very vocal and confrontational (especially in the West, especially coastally it appears and nearly always... white).
Typically in the social and political issues these groups gravitate toward are but a snapshot of the real story. The whole reasons for these problems go far back and deep in social culture, tradition, history and situation. It is always very very sticky to choose one side when the previous chapter was the 'karmic' action that resulted in today's mishap.
In Buddhism the locus of control is your own understanding and the practice of striving to understand more and approach that with the understanding of impermanence, interdependence, and ahimsa... Only by example, not with force we can change things. You cannot force someone to be calm when they are in upset, it takes time. This is what is missed.
Even in the Bodhisattva vows it speaks of being the refuge, the boat, the bridge the medicine. Nowhere is it the hammer, the sword, the bludgeon. We accept people and practice that, it is difficult to have compassion in the face of any tragedy, we help them with the refuge of calmness, understanding, and compassion. We cannot do anything against a madman like the Buddha did with Angulimala, we are aspiring though, we can be the respite when he arrives for help though, (but not be so dumb that we let him in our space to cause havoc) we can help protect the innocent by being a person they can be safe with, not go out and after their aggressors.
Often Buddhist leaders will lead into a situation like the author is alluding to with 'this is regrettable' not taking a side, being open to see what IS happening as it is often too complex to judge from one incident.
"The silence that has pervaded Buddhist communities in reaction to extremism is indicative of an unwillingness to speak not only about uncomfortable issues, but also of the work that still needs to be done in order to support those harmed by alt-right and extremist Buddhist voices. "
It is Buddhism's purpose to teach the individual not rally a group. Unwillingness to speak is more about not causing more strife and instead to teach patience, compassion, empathy and perhaps wisdom. I hate to see "the work that needs to be done" BS with these types of writings. What work? It is an affront and insult to the vast teachings of the Buddha that these authors and people 'engaged' in social issues have only read the cliff's notes.
This is an inflammatory article at best, it does not mention one "alt-right" group or concept. (so I guess it worked on me). I think this article is in fact the definition of 'dog whistle'. Which I have not only been accused of but banned from groups for telling people to study deeper the sutras and contemplate.
This is unfortunately where extremism begins, in half baked "I hear that Buddhism" does or thinks this or that. Then attempts to admonish the teachings because they have propped themselves up on a cardboard box mountain of ethics and 'I know better' because I identify as a Buddhist rather than practice the teachings...
We must also remember that Buddhism was founded on the principle of 'the middle way' that goes for all things. if you think about Taoism, for example, we see the Yin/Yang symbol we are all familiar with. In the dark area there is always some light, in the light area there is always some dark and because this is an in motion concept, constantly changing and we find that as some say, what the fly finds as a nightmare, the spider finds as a luncheon.
We have to take into consideration both sides of a story, and consider all aspects before we jump to a judgment or conclusion. Nothing is black and white. If we take some of the topics mentioned in the article in Lion's Roar, we also see a history that is not easy to peel apart. The strife between Islam and their conquests are as poignant as those of colonial English Empire as well as anything done since. We too often are shown a 'snapshot' of a situation and consider that the only truth. Every thing is very complex and not to mention that there are also cultural considerations as well as social ones that may not fit 'our' idea of how things should be. When that happens it is the very definition of appropriation and should be restrained.
I have posted similar comments on different Reddit forums and have been permanently banned by moderators, called a racist, a bigot and even a Nazi once. I posted this comment on r/Buddhist in relation to this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/vkft84/we_cannot_ignore_buddhist_extremism_lions_roar/
I post under u/sittingstill9 , you can follow me or ban me. I don't really care.
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