Dear All,
I rarely make overtly political statements in this Place, believing that interpretations of the Precepts (such as the Precept to Avoid Taking Life) and the Bodhisattva Vow (to "Save All Sentient Beings") can vary in the hearts of sincere Buddhist people.
However, sometimes there are exceptions.
In light of another mass shooting in America (this one, about 10 minutes from where my family used to live), I want to say that the absence of very strict gun control in the United States is, in my view, not in keeping with the Precept and the Vow.
Here in Japan, there are actually guns (people don't know that). There are plenty. There is a sign nearly identical to the following just 20 steps from my house here in the Japanese countryside.
Most of the guns are shotguns owned by farmers to keep pigs from eating their crops, and those are very heavily regulated. Here in Japan, there are also people suffering mental disease who do such things (contrary to the image of a country without violent crime) but, because they can't get their hands on firearms (usually only a knife), the damage is much less.
If someone wants to keep a gun for protection of their family in their home in America, hunting or sport, I am not going to say that it should be forbidden. However, I believe that they should be subjected to the same level of psychological testing and training, as well as other restrictions, as an airplane pilot about to get in the cockpit. Automatic weapons and the like should be banned.
Of course, others are free to disagree, I am not the final voice on the meaning of the Precepts for all Buddhists.
Gassho, Jundo
SatTodayLAH
I rarely make overtly political statements in this Place, believing that interpretations of the Precepts (such as the Precept to Avoid Taking Life) and the Bodhisattva Vow (to "Save All Sentient Beings") can vary in the hearts of sincere Buddhist people.
However, sometimes there are exceptions.
In light of another mass shooting in America (this one, about 10 minutes from where my family used to live), I want to say that the absence of very strict gun control in the United States is, in my view, not in keeping with the Precept and the Vow.
Here in Japan, there are actually guns (people don't know that). There are plenty. There is a sign nearly identical to the following just 20 steps from my house here in the Japanese countryside.
Most of the guns are shotguns owned by farmers to keep pigs from eating their crops, and those are very heavily regulated. Here in Japan, there are also people suffering mental disease who do such things (contrary to the image of a country without violent crime) but, because they can't get their hands on firearms (usually only a knife), the damage is much less.
If someone wants to keep a gun for protection of their family in their home in America, hunting or sport, I am not going to say that it should be forbidden. However, I believe that they should be subjected to the same level of psychological testing and training, as well as other restrictions, as an airplane pilot about to get in the cockpit. Automatic weapons and the like should be banned.
Of course, others are free to disagree, I am not the final voice on the meaning of the Precepts for all Buddhists.
Gassho, Jundo
SatTodayLAH
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