Buddhist scripture condemns violence in every form. Ahimsa, a term meaning 'not to injure', is a primary virtue in Buddhism. History suggests it is naïve to be surprised that Buddhists are as capable of inhuman cruelty as anyone else, Buddhists have historically used scriptures to justify violence or form exceptions to commit violence for various reasons.

As found in other religious traditions, Buddhism has an extensive history of violence dating back to its inception. Buddhist principles with regard to violence, contradicts certain, historical instances concerning the use of violence by Buddhists, including acts of aggression committed by Buddhists with political and socio-cultural motivations, as well as self-inflicted violence by ascetics or for religious purposes.

Despite these historical instances, as far as the Buddha's teachings and scriptures are concerned, Buddhism discourages violence for resolving conflicts. Contemporary violence, or the promotion of violence, has been on the rise in some Buddhist communities, most notably the persecution of the Rohingya by the Myanmar government.

Michael Jerryson, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Ohio's Youngstown State University and co-editor of the book Buddhist Warfare, said that "Buddhism differs in that the act of k*****g is less the focus than the 'intention' behind the k*****g" and "The first thing to remember is that people have a penchant for violence, it just so happens that every religion has people in it."

In Southeast Asia, Thailand has had several prominent virulent Buddhist monastic calls for violence. In the 1970s, nationalist Buddhist monks like Phra Kittiwuttho argued that k*****g c*******ts did not violate any of the Buddhist precepts. The militant side of Thai Buddhism became prominent again in 2004 when a Malay Muslim insurgency renewed in Thailand's deep south. At first Buddhist monks ignored the conflict as they viewed it as political and not religious but eventually they adopted an "identity-formation", as practical realities require deviations from religious ideals.

Myanmar had become a stronghold of Buddhist aggression and such acts are spurred by hardline nationalistic monks. The oldest militant organisation active in the region is Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), headed by a Buddhist monk U Thuzana, since 1992. In the recent years the monks, and the terrorist acts, are associated with the nationalist 969 Movement particularly in Myanmar and neighboring nations. The violence reached prominence in June 2012 when more than 200 people were k**led and around 100,000 were displaced. As of 2012, the "969" movement by monks (the prominent among whom is Wirathu) had helped create anti-Islamic nationalist movements in the region, and have urged Myanmar Buddhists to boycott Muslim services and trades, resulting in persecution of Muslims in Burma by Buddhist-led mobs.

However, not all of the culprits were Buddhists and the motives were as much economic as religious. On 20 June 2013, Wirathu was mentioned on the cover story of Time magazine as "The Face of Buddhist Terror". According to the Human Rights Watch report, the Burmese government and local authorities played a key role in the forcible displacement of more than 125,000 Rohingya people and other Muslims in the region. The report further specifies the coordinated attacks of October 2012 that were carried out in different cities by Burmese officials, community leaders and Buddhist monks to terrorize and forcibly relocate the population. The violence of Meiktila, Lashio (2013) and Mandalay (2014) are the latest Buddhist violence in Burma.

John the apostle had the distinguished role of collecting all the books extant and completing the canonization of the Bible between 96 to 99 A.D.

The New Testament was written by, or its writing was supervised by, the chosen disciples of Jesus Christ. John, the son of a Levitical priest, and the last living apostle, was uniquely qualified to canonize the Scriptures. We can therefore have full faith and confidence that the original Greek text, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the very Word of God.

The New Testament was written in the common Greek of the day, Koine Greek. However, it is remarkable to contrast and consider the sentence structure, vocabulary, and writing habits of Dr. Luke, the Apostle Paul, with others, like Peter. God's Word is not a robotic, mechanical transcription, the text clearly shows the personalities of it's chosen earthly agents.

Conservative scholars date books of the New Testament earlier (closer to the events they describe), while liberal scholars tend to date them later. It is possible to approximate the date of each one of the books through the dates of the historical events they witnessed and described. Jesus Christ selected faithful, mature men to compose the most important book man ever received, and to make it available to all people, through the power of his spirit. The great commission work of taking it to the entire world continues today.

The New Testament was written down through the efforts of eight men. Six of these were selected apostles of Christ. Three were eyewitnesses of his life and ministry (Matthew, Peter and John). Two were the physical half brothers of Jesus (James and Jude).

One of the New Testament writers, the apostle Paul, was specially called to serve the Gentiles and for three years preceding his ministry was personally taught by Christ in Arabia. The last two of eight authors were Mark (who penned his Gospel under Peter's supervision), and the physician, Luke (who authored his Gospel and the book of Acts under the Apostle Paul's supervision).

The New Testament is based on books and documents that begin to appear around 35 AD to 95 AD, yet
Muhammad, born 570 A.D., thought that k*****g the unbelievers in the name of god, and being k**led in the process was one of the Gospel’s teachings:

"God has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties in exchange for Paradise. They fight in God's way, and they k**l and get k**led. It is a promise binding on Him in the Torah, and the Gospel, and the Quran. And who is more true to his promise than God? So rejoice in making such an exchange—that is the supreme triumph."
Qur’an 9:111

That is kind of a vague remark. Any one of us could meet God today, and we had better be good with him. For the rest of us who will not meet him today, every moment of life our belief and view of God is subject to improvement.

I always go by the fear of God first. He will take me out of this World whenever it suits him. I do not go around poking him to move that day forward. I've had a few close calls where I think he changed his mind at the last second. The second thing I go by is that God wants us to love one another. That is where I fail miserably. That whole turning the other cheek thingy goes against my Celtic and Russian heritage, but I am working on it.

The other day I saved a man from a severe beating. I changed my mind.