Buddhism is the only ‘religion’ (sorry I have to say religion because it is classified as one) that I find positive. It’s more of a personal search for enlightenment,… that’s how I see it anyway.
Teaching is something you need to follow
You don’t need to follow teaching… people do because … I don’t know why, but they do. But that doesn’t mean you must follow it. You might also question and come to other points and other ways to interpret this ‘teaching’.
Your mind will become so pure and clear that even problem is not a problem anymore
I remember that reading about that. No one is poor in Buddhism, because is not your possessions that makes you happy, so it has no value, but happiness and wealth is inside you, so actually you are only poor and unhappy is you want to.
I don’t really understand that Karma thing… it has to do with your other lives or something, right? Is one of the things that puts me off Buddhism.
What i like best is it’s interaction with the natural world. Everything seems important not only humans… i like that.
There really is no such thing as a ‘true faith’. All faiths advocate positive teachings, nevertheless how can all religions be ‘true’ if most believe they are the only path to truth.
For example, both Christianity and Islam believe themselves to be the true faith. Both cannot be correct; who is right and who is incorrect?
I think that people have a religion to suit their way of life. As you can see, there are many different religions, each one with their own standards. I think you should just pick the religion that best suits your beliefs.
No. Karma is real, and I can give you every day examples that may not be what youre expecting to hear, but it is still technically karma. Karma, from my understanding, is basically “what goes around comes around.” People read too deeply into this and make it a very deep spiritual thing but it really isnt. For example, if you do nice things for people, they will remember the things youve done for them and they will appreciate you and your actions. To show their appreciation, they will do nice things for you. That is karma in the world today.
while i can not state which is the best religion for you i will tell you mine
Blu’s Religion
There is something more powerfull than you
There is something less powerfull than you
You may ask for something from what is more powerfull than you but do not expect it.
You may be asked upon for something by those less powerfull and grant them what they request.
Those that do good are rewarded by others
Wile those that do bad reward themselves
Do not harm or kill others or yourself unless you have no option.
Do what makes you feel good only if it doesnt harm others.
In the question of which religion is the “right” one, terms must be understood; first, I believe religion is the search for God; Christianity is the revelation of God in Jesus Christ! That said, consider the proof of Christianity; you can go to the tombs of many religious/philosophical/historical figures, and they are still in their graves; but you will never find the body/bones/dust of Christ! In His lifetime, Jesus made clear who He said He was, and in fact raised several from death, walked on water, healed, cast out demons, predicted His own death, burial, resurrection; He proclaimed that He could forgive sins, and belief in Him would bring eternal life; No Other leader ever made such claims, let alone suggested they were God! And when Peter was asked by Jesus who did men say He was, Peter said,“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” The resiliency of Christianity for 2000 years, even in the face of intense persecution, demonstrates it’s veracity; it all turns on one point; “If Christ is not raised, we have no hope; and might as well eat, drink, and be merry, for we shall then die; but Christ is risen!” St. Paul said that, and on that point, I rest my case! Christ is risen, the tomb is empty, and He is coming back soon! To add to that is the example of the apostles; would it be logical for eleven men to die for a lie,knowing it was a lie? I don’t think so; and since all eleven saw the risen Christ(along with 500 others),they were willing to die for the truth; further, there is more historical evidence of the crucifixion than there is that Napolean fought the battle of Waterloo! In the end one must look at all the evidence,weight it, and then with reasonable faith, and logic conclude that Christianity makes more sense,provides greater assurance, than any other philosophy!
Sigh my liberal attitude is all that’s saving you from a particularly withering counterargument. My opinion on this is that you can’t say that one religion is “right” for all, people are too diverse. However IMO some are better generally than others, and Buddhism falls into this category.
Sounds like someone just finished reading “More than a Carpenter”. . .
Well written but philisophically and logically, it is holier than swiss cheese. and when I say holier, I mean full of holes!
I have and I came to a different conclusion. Are you suggesting that I’m an idiot? j/k but seriously, I am quite happy with my current philosophy, atheism, and hope to carry on further discussion with you so that you may either come to the same conclusions that I have or at least, understand my and others’ perspective.
Respectfully,
-Skep
P.S. - Thanks for coming to ILP.com and I am sure that I speak for all when I say that we’d love for you to join and stick around. I plan to check out your poetry when I get a chance. I’ll let you know what I think.
You know, I made the mistake of going online with my new-found evidence after I finished reading Josh McDowell. Well, I got a verdict on that stuff alright (and a great deal of embarrassment), and that verdict was: read the real scholars! So I did and now I’m an agnostic. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned in studying Christianity, it’s that a lot of smart people have been thinking about this stuff for a long time; and they’ve come to many different conclusions. There are many reasonable positions on Christianity, and conservative evangelicalism is not one of them because it brazenly refuses to recognize this. So take it from me: don’t come in here (like I did) after reading a few books espousing a particularly narrow position and assume that all the ivory towers of secularism will crumble before your irrefutable logic. You’ll find out the hard way just how big the world really is.
p.s. Did anyone else know that McDowell graduated Magna–not summa–Manga Cum Laude from Talbot Theological Seminary when he got his M. Div (the bio on the back of his books never fails to stress this). You know what that means? It means he must be right about the age of the earth after all! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but I used to earnestly trusted in McDowell as maybe not cannonical but at least apocryphal. And the bastard let me down!
Has anybody read The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel? I’m sure the avid Christian fellow above has, possibly Skeptic and Pax Vitae as well. The reason I mention this book is because it was written by a former Atheist, who converted to Christianity. Strobel is a Lawyer, so his book is an attempt to “logically” demonstrate that belief in Christianity is a rational decision. He interviews well educated people from around the U.S, each who claims they are befuddled at how anybody couldn’t believe in Christ.
Needless to say, it was a painful book to complete. It was riddled with illogical and fallicious arguments. I was annoyed at how how often Strobel ignored the counter-arguments to his counter-arguments. In fact, here are some words that I found laughable, yet at the same time horribly irritating (especially because a professor of philosophy spoke them)
Good God. Of course the truth is coercive Numnuts!!! If you take Moreland’s comment to the extreme, he is basically saying that all of our actions are determined (where he clearly states above that we are free); we only believe in God if we are given enough evidence to “coerce us”- but if what is needed to coerce us is the “truth”, we unfortunetly must reside in hell for all of eternity. I guess God doesn’t reward those that like to make informed decisions.
I recently read this on the internet. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did-
The only argument for Christianity that I can bear is “I can’t prove if God exists, or if Jesus was his son, but I’m happy believing it.”
I don’t think there is a wrong or right religion out there. Many people used to see their own religion as the “right” one and don’t respect the others.
I think it’s totally wrong. There is a God in all of us and religious rituals are just habits which were developed by the nations. I don’t think we all believe in different Gods just because we have a different name for God.
Recently, I’ve met many people who approve Marx’ theory :“Religion is opium of the nation.”
Religion gives hope to people in desparate situations. Even people who consider themselves as atheists, turn over and recognize the God inside.
I have made my negative expirience with religion, being a jew myself.
As soon as people who seem to be so tolerant hear that you’re jewish, they start reducing you. Our nation is not the one to blame and we are always seen as scapegoats, no matter what happens, especially here in Germany.
I suppose it’s not up to us to find out with is the “right” or the “wrong” religion. We should try to respect every religion instead of discrimination against.
And just wanted to add something about Buddhism.
I totally agree with this theory and I would never come to the idea to classify it as a “religion”… because it is more in it than only belief.
It’s hard to define it or put it in a category. I would dare to say it’s also a lifestyle.
I mean religions, althought I can’t comprehend them all…
But listen, if you believe in something it’s your own decission and your right and why should you be descriminated against just because you belong to so called minority like we jews do…
I don’t get it!
I will tolerate any belief. Respect is something which I do not give unearned. People are free to believe whatever they want, yes. But I am free to as well, and I find most religions laughable. Instead of asking us to respect ideas which many see as childish and absurd, I would appeal to us to respect the right to choose.
What does this mean? ‘the God inside’ If I am in atheist (belief in no god or gods), I don’t believe in a God inside. The only thing inside me is me, not God.
As for respecting other religions, there is a thin line. There is no need for me to “respect” anyone’s religion, but I am very big on respecting the person whether they are religious or not. I have respect for you as a person but as for your religious beliefs, I cannot respect them due to my own beliefs; however, there is no reason that you as a religious person should be discriminated against. 86% of the world’s population has a religious belief in some form or fashion, so you are in the majority. I am the one who should be worried about discrimination. My entire world is surrounded by religious fanatics that look at me as if I am crazy when I mention my atheistic beliefs.
This is, in fact, exactly how I view religious beliefs. 86% of the world’s population suffers from these delusions.
Delusion
o A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence, especially as a symptom of mental illness: delusions of persecution.
Nice to have someone agree with me. I can safely say that if I started talking to an imaginary friend, believing that an external force controlled my every action and that I was being watched everywhere and indulging in cannibalistic rituals (sorry, couldn’t resist it) I’d be in a straitjacket in no time. What difference does it make if I call my imaginary friend “Jesus”?
Perhaps by “the god inside” xplicit meant that everyone worships something, even if it is the self? Can’t tell really.
This is the only part of your post I do not agree with. I would not let a doctor who subscribed to creation theory anywhere near me, this is discrimination by most definitions.
Actually, my pediatrician growing up was a creationist (not the 6-day brand, but still…), and he was ranked one of the fifty best doctors in the Washington, D.C. area by Washingtonian Magazine. He teaches at George Washington U. Med. School, so even if you won’t see a creationist doctor, you might’ve ended up with one educated by a creationist (so now would be a good time for panic and paranoia, GD ). Seriously, evolutionary theory and Medicine overlap in very limited areas, so I think I’d have to accuse you of unwarrented predjudice in that area.
I certainly agree with skeptic. It’s our nature as humans to discriminate against those who are different from us–hence millenia of religious wars. I think we should recognize this in ourselves (meaning, don’t just blame it on religion or something) and be careful to treat everyone as we’d have them treat us: as flawed human beings trying to make sense of this mess we call life (and I disagree with the author of that principle on lotsa issues, but I still think he was a good guy). I have several creationist friends, and yeah they annoy me when they start getting proselytory, but there’s a hell of a lot we share in common as human beings.
And I’d say, in terms of the delusion thing: I agree to an extent, but often religious belief is just a substitute for real reflection on what is–because most people have neither the time nor the inclination to really engage in philosophy; sad, yes. But delusional? Or often it’s a pragmatic solution to a real problem: the problem of creating meaning for oneself in an inherently pointless world. Of course, there are huge problems for that solution, but faith does do very good things for some people. To insist that it cannot do so borders on dogmatism, which just gives ammo to those who’d like to call Atheism a religion.
As for the inner god question…it should be no problem to use the term god as a poetic metaphor for spiritual feeling–e.g. awe at oneself or the world, connectedness with nature, etc…I mean as long as we’re not then jumping to concrete notions of a real entity that exists outside of what we can test and observe.
this is exactly what I mean, but being jewish doesn’t only mean your so called religion, but also your ethnic background and here it’s only the 2nd case, because as I’ve mentioned before … I have smth I believe in and I don’t let the society (mostly catholics here) influence me by their habits.
I called it “God” to make it easier, but it must not be God … it’s just the way I’ve expressed it … and about respecting … I guess I’ve picked the wrong word to tell what I mean!
