Religion, war and peace
Most Buddhists would consider fighting in wars to be unskilful because:
“Hatred does not cease by hatred, hatred ceases only by love. This is the eternal law. All living things fear being put to death. Putting oneself in the place of the other, let no one kill nor cause another to kill.” (Dhammapada) The rules laid down by the Buddha for monks and nuns allowed fighting in self-defence, but forbade killing. However, in practice, some Buddhist countries have gone to war and individual Buddhists have made the decision to fight in wars. They might have come to this decision because:
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