Since the outbreak of the civil war in Libya, I’ve been avidly watching the news almost daily. I’ve written about it in the past,1 hoping that the conflict will end soon, and even now as we watch the fall of Qaddafi, I am watching the news almost hourly.
It’s hard to comprehend a country at civil war. Imagine your own country divided between two warring groups, imagine that you might be killed in your own home by a bomb, or the enemy, and not being able to work and live anymore. That’s what it’s like for thousands, millions of people over there. But it’s hard to imagine this, especially because it’s far away. That’s why I really liked this article by Reuters about two friends, both college students, who joined the rebellion and fought separately until they reunited in Tripoli.
It’s easy to forget that the people fighting for freedom and tryign to overthrow Qaddafi’s insane, ego-driven tyranny are regular people like you and me: parents, students, etc. I suppose if I were in their place, I’d probably take up a rifle and defend my family and friends too. Thankfully, I don’t haev to do that, and I hope that future generations of Libyans will never have to do this again.
For a Free Libya
عن ليبيا الحرة
1 Not to sound mean, but I am thoroughly amazed at how few Buddhist blogs are writing about any of this. Instead, I see blogs about Tibet, conferences, and other topics, even as people are fighting and dying there. As a community, where are our priorities?
Hello, this blog is about my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile / Koreaphile. Any useful information I can pass along will hopefully make the 
Sorry Doug,
I really don’t want to glorify anyone who is running around killing others.
Everyone knows what happens after most revolutions, the violence simply intensifies as the new group, who killed their way to the top, uses more violence to stay on top.
You say you’d probably kill too in the same position. But I imagine that most Libyan people aren’t running around with guns. Most, I imagine, wish the violence to stop rather than joining it.
As for our priorities as a Buddhist community, I see no problem with out priority being Buddhism and the Buddhist world.
Sorry to be a downer. I mean, I love your blog and all, but there’s no way I can join you in your enthusiasm for war and violent revolution.
Marcus
Hey Marcus,
All I can say is that we should be thankful that we don’t live somewhere where we’re forced to make this choice.
I agree with you.
Yet, at the same time, we are everyday forced with the choice of how to respond to our difficulties.
Some people respond with agression and violence (see the recent riots in England) and that seed is in us all, while others are lucky enough to find better ways.
Thanks again mate, and all the best,
Marcus
I’m not so good at expressing myself in English, but I will try my best.
First of all I would like all beings in this universe to be free of suppression and off course suffering. Therefore I’m happy for all Libyans that they have expelled Khadafi, but he is still not defeated, and people loyal to him are still fighting. In my opinion they are fighting for a lost cause.
Although I am happy for the Libyan people, I’m also sad. There has been a lot of fighting, causing death and pain, etc. I think that after Khadafi is captured or killed, the now united factions will fight each other for power. This will also cause a lot of death and suffering for the Libyan people.
It could go the right way which will result in a harmonious society where the people have rights just like in modern societies. It could also very well go the wrong way where factions will again suppress the people or extremist will rise up and form a muslim theocracy.
I am happy that the western world did not invade Libya, because I think revolution must be done by its own people. Now let’s hope that the people in power want to reform Libya in a good way. Or else I see a dark future for all Libyans.
A Buddhist turning to a fighter reminds me of the Ikkõ-Ikki. It’s an interesting topic for Buddhist, is it ok to fight and kill for the wellbeing of your family and friends? I myself would say yes, but it would bring me further away from enlightenment I think.
the rebells are enemies of lebya , as they are giving the country in the hands of the so called international forces, NATO , USA etc.
shame on them.
Hi Kevin and welcome to the JLR. I think you raised some good points:
It’s an interesting topic for Buddhist, is it ok to fight and kill for the wellbeing of your family and friends? I myself would say yes, but it would bring me further away from enlightenment I think.
Indeed. Sometimes people have to do things that are not easily avoidable, but still bring negative consequences. Taking life always brings one further away from Enlightenment, but sometimes there is no easy alternative.
Hello saeed and welcome to the JLR. Unfortunately I think you missed the entire point of this post. That too is a shame.
Also, as I don’t want to turn this into a forum on the merits of UN involvement (again, not the point of this post), I am closing comments on this thread.