The history of Buddhism is interesting for sure. I am not sure exactly what you mean by armed revolt/suppresion line but If you mean what I think you mean philosophically it teaches non violence.

There is good evidence that civil change requires either a threat or undercurrent of violence or even a boiling over of such violence. Interesting topic but so beyond me I can't weigh in.

There are often criticisms of Buddhists and I am far from a historian on the topic. I would be happy to learn more.

Buddhism is an beast that has splintered a thousand times many of its principles are maleable, thats how you get some Buddhists staring at a wall for hours a day, and some discussing chakra points and others offering services where they recite prayer and many many other differences. To what degree do we hold Jews accountable for the abuses of the latter day saints.

Anyway you are right there is no value in idolizing anyone but on the other hand no group of people has ever been free from extreme cruelty.

You can teach meditation without the philosophy, the research is in my opinion less than robust as to how it effects the mediator, but it is very evident that a regular meditation routine has meaningful effects on physiology. I think of it as similar to having a daily reading habit or journaling.