I don't mean to pick an argument here, but your response captures one glaring omission in a comprehensive, peaceful approach - one that I am always surprised when Buddhists leave out -Kim O'Hara wrote:The only feasible solution, then, is to reduce or remove the conditions which lead to such acts - which are, precisely repression, suppression and demonisation of religious or ethnic groups. It also happens to be the more compassionate solution, so I would hope that members of a Buddhist forum would support it.
At the heart of these acts is Wrong View, and any approach that will work must address this. Addressing these Wrong Views is a messy and complicated endeavor, but it in no small part starts with critique, particularly of strains of Islam that are intolerant and authoritarian in nature. We can point out the scars of colonialism and more recently, the unjust wars in the Middle East, and all the myriad causes of anger, but these sorts of factors are hardly unique to the Middle East, and so it leads to the question, why is the Middle East different? I dunno. Maybe its because of the tropes they're trapped in. Maybe we should give some credence to the explanations of the individuals who pull this stuff off, who claim they do it in the name of their God, and start there.
As Buddhists, is it our responsibility to point out these Wrong Views? Explain how they are Wrong?