Not so long ago I was at a reception following an interfaith meeting. Several of us were discussing the possibility of a peace vigil to be held in the near future. One person, a friend I’ve known for over 15 years, made the statement, “What’s so bad about war?”. At first I was taken aback by the statement until I put this into context and realized my friend is an adamant advocate of Israel’s battles with other nations in the Middle East. He also happens to be a MAGA supporter. We know each other’s perspectives, and we are always civil and respectful. But that does not stop us from discussing our differences.
My position can best be summarized by an open letter written by Members of the Tendai Buddhist Institute Ethics Council. This letter was published in the Columbia Paper, April 16, 2026.
“To: President Trump and all Congressional Representatives of The United States
We, the undersigned, must express our absolute opposition to this country’s war against Iran, an irrational and reckless belligerence that should have been avoided through non-violent diplomatic resolution. It is fundamentally at odds with the Buddhist principles of compassion, the alleviation of suffering, and the sanctity of life.
The Buddha taught that violence is cyclical: the more we attack others, the more hatred and retribution we receive. We are watching this play out with Iran. The Buddha also taught that the way to break that cycle is by refusing violence and working with others to achieve our goals. War will never improve our quality of life; it can only destroy life.
The death and destruction of this war is horrific, tragic, and has brought the perils of retaliation. It does not benefit the Iranian people, the US, Israel, or our global community. Furthermore, as bombs are dropped and targets destroyed, vast quantities of toxins are released, polluting air, water, and ground. This, like every war, is an environmental disaster.
As the technology of modern weaponry becomes ever more lethal and destructive, we must do all we can to avoid war. It is imperative for human survival.
Yours Respectfully,
Members of the Tendai Buddhist Institute Ethics Council, signed, Rev. Monshin Paul Naamon, Rev. Shumon Tamami Naamon, Rev. Koshin Karl Bower, Rev, Kaishin Eric Russell, Ms. Onyo Susan Bues, Mr. Keichi John Seakwood, Mr. Paul St. Germain.”
This letter does exactly what was intended and I am grateful our local newspaper chose to publish it. What it does not state, which is important, but outside the scope of such a communication, is that the effects of warfare go much deeper than those typically reported in the various forms of media.
What I would have liked to have said to my friend at the interfaith meeting is a bit more involved.
War is a dreadful response to conflict on so many levels. The first several levels of damage are obvious; the death of combatants, civilians (so called collateral damage), destruction of infrastructure and important cultural properties. There is then the devastation to the environment, chemical radiologic, and physical, that war inevitably involves.
Not so immediately obvious is the ongoing destruction of families, communities, and social organization the trauma of veterans, that runs deeper and goes beyond the warring nations to include migration and often colonialization. There is the psychic toll of the damage that is done to winners and losers, by way of shame, guilt and moral dissolution.
The above fall into the category of unintended consequences. They are not unforeseeable consequences. War is not just the battles that are fought, bombings and missiles launched. War has been a feature of human behaviors before we were Homo sapien sapiens. As long as anger, greed and delusion are present we will need to work constantly to avoid war and its consequences. Buddhist teachings address this in direct and indirect ways. It is our obligation to not just preach to the ills of war we must do all we can to avoid wars, stop wars, and deal with its consequences.
Gassho with love . . . Monshin