Comment by jwdunne

Of course we should. We should always be asking why in the way you describe. It doesn't make sense not to. We can do that without attributing blame.

Your post makes it clear: no matter what belief system, there are bad actors that use it as a justification. There exists Buddhist extremism. There is absolutely nothing to suggest in their doctrines that violence is the answer. In fact, with the focus meditation it should be surprising there is any violent extremism.

My point is that we cannot blame something for the actions of bad people if that thing does not in anyway support those actions.

My point is that because there are American Nazis, it does not mean Americans in general are to blame. By extension, Communism isn't to blame for Stalin distorting the ideology to his own ends in the USSR and that being repeated in Cuba, etc.

On top of that, I say Nazism is a special case in that if you associate with it, you are a problem simply because it supports extreme violence. The Nazis of old explicitly supported the kind of actions seen in Charlottesville.