Buddhism is the best religion... if you had to pick one.

Nope.

Perhaps you clicked reply to the wrong post.

 

OK put it another way. I don't care when you do good things or why you do them, it wasn't pertinent to my post.

 

So, why is it that atheists, so keen apparently on anything that is not directly rational, are so keenly intuned and dfensive to Buddhism? This despite having an ideology that is FAR from rooted in science or rationality.

The idea that suffering should bring insight in compassion toward fellow human beings, that suffering should be embraced would seem a statement that should send overtly 'rational' atheists into low earth orbit.

I am absolutely flumxed that the same posters are saying, essentially:

If you believe in an ancient man who preached embracing suffering as methodoloy to charitable acts and compassion .... you are reasonable and good man.

If, however, you believe in Jesus and a God, and his teaching on compassion, selflesness, and chairity drive you to charity and acts of compassion .... you are dogmatic kook, without the balls to stand up to your parents, irrational, and have caused everything bad in the world.

What does Buddhism say about such jusxtaposition?

"Instead of converting the followers of other religions into our religion, Buddhists can encourage others to practise their own religions, provided that they promote the well being of all living beings."

http://www.knowbuddhism.info/2009/03/buddhist-attitude-towards-religions.html

Once again, I am left with the distinct impression that many atheists have failed to study the religion they are suddenly embracing.

 

Actually, it was. You said

To which I replied [snipping a couple]

What part do you need explained?

 

If you don't undertand this then perhaps try to ask Bob Dylan why he never lied in the meadow of the birchs in Auschwitz - face down to the ground with all his unsung songs in broken eyes. And ask yourselve what you don't know in this world and what you never will know in this world.

http://youtu.be/Yj9t-3wIvvQ

 

So what?

http://youtu.be/bQ4c_bVpDMk

 

Look, I just said that I think Buddhism, unlike most other belief systems does not claim to have "answers." As a a non-theist, I can certainly respect that. Also, I don't see Buddhists out trying to impose their beliefs on others--something I can really respect.

 

Very likely correct. Just like your "God" and the Muslims' "Allah." For example.

 

What's your own religion?

http://youtu.be/UmPgLCezAGw

 

Rather than wasting my time with such a request as you have posted and in view of the mockery you have allowed to flow from your mind, I will sum up your entire posting with this:

It is obvious that you have no, ABSOLUTELY ZERO, spiritual insight. But what more could I expect from someone who rejects the very language that he attempts to use; that is a FACT that cannot be refuted. Another fact that cannot be refuted is this: God lives in my heart. You are indeed a pathetic waste of human flesh, but God bless you anyway.

 

You did not read the answers written here - and there are still problems: For example: Buddhism is not teaching that someone should not respect people from other religions. And it are still Atheists, Muslims and Hinduists who are the worst enemies of the Buddhists in this world - not Christians.

http://youtu.be/R55qiQAmnYk

 

The difference is that it's very honest about dealing with the self.

 

Because Buddhism is about spiritual freedom, while Christianity and other religions are spiritually oppressive.

 

That's true, and other than that it's a good deal like stoicism. Stoicism is about living your life without being so caught up in the material things that you own that you are dispondent when you lose it. But they still work for a living -- it wasn't monastic.

Though I don't think you could call stoicism a religion, it never really had rituals or other things like that.

I think polytheism of any stripe gives more answers -- you just have to look at the universe itself.

Personally though I think someone saying that WE are the point of the universe is underestimating the scale of the universe. Earth is nothing compared to the size of the universe -- we're on a small outer arm of an average galaxy in an average cluster out of perhaps billions of such clusters. If Christianity or Islam say that their founder was the most important thing in the universe, then why is it so big? What's the point of all of those galaxies and all of those clusters? They have zero effect on Earth. And those stars whose light hasn't reached us yet -- why?

 

in a sense, that is correct

ie.... buddhism is about personal responsibility as the opposing is more about fear and the idea that another is responsible for what you do (ex.... HE forgives you or HE caused you to be bad)


big difference

 

And just how the hell did you arrive at that conclusion?

Why should we think that statement is anything other that anti-religious propoganda spawned from atheisms many rantings?

What the hell is wrong with atheists that they think running around using SOMEONE else's religion as a tool to ATTACK yet ANOTHER PERSON'S RELIGION is acceptable.

Once again, I am shocked, dismayed, but hardly surprised at the deliberate ignorance that suffuses atheist cirtiques of anything religious.

The only thing this thread has shredded is any credibility to claim that atheism is the result of rational study.

 

So why you are no Buddhist but a spiritually opressive Atheist?

http://youtu.be/2PTsvRLHYZU

 

A) Probably because a lot of us have studied and been influenced by Buddhism at some point or another. Atheists as a whole tend to study many religions before deciding that they're all wrong. You keep insisting that "atheists" haven't studied various religions, but that's objectively not true. Atheists are actually one of the most religiously literate group you're liable to find, outside of people who study religions professionally. Why do you lie so much?

B) Buddhism does not require a person to actively reject science and rationality in order to practice it. Most Christian churches explicitly require this with their demands for faith in God and the Bible in place of genuine evidence. It is easier to reconcile Buddhism with a rational outlook than it is to reconcile any brand of Christianity with rationality. Especially the western variants of Buddhism, which have become increasingly different from what was originally imported.

You have a very poor understanding of atheism and atheists. Perhaps rather than assuming you do understand us and running into such contradictions, you should instead try to learn. You think that atheists should dislike buddhists only because you misunderstand atheists.

I doubt very much that any atheist on this board would have much of a problem if a Christian stated that Jesus lived a model life, and that you wanted to follow his example (presumably without the death sentence at the end). The problem here is that Christians assert a lot more than that--they insist that not only are the magical tales of Jesus real, but they also insist that God presently exists, and that Jesus lives. They delude themselves into believing in magical thinking, like the idea that prayer is going to magically improve your life, or that god will intervene on their behalf. Buddhism can be viewed in such magical terms as well--but that tends not to be popular among western audiences, and so the western variants generally do not. The magical beliefs are not a core component of Buddhism the way they are a core component of Christianity.

And for the most part atheists do not have a problem with people practicing their religion. We only have a problem with this when theists insist on basing laws off their superstitions, or insisting that school curriculum be changed to incorporate their bizarre mythologies in place of actual science. If Christians would be content with simply practicing their religion, rather than trying to force their religion on everyone else, atheists would not have a problem with them.

More correctly, you have an incorrect understanding of atheism (in that you think it is something more than denial of belief in gods), and the viewpoint of the atheists on this board towards buddhism.

 

I'm not an Atheist. I'm Agnostic. If you can prove to me that God exists, that will make me very happy. I was raised a Catholic, and that religion is spiritually oppressive. Anyway, you responded to my'attack' on religion with an attack on Atheism. What's sauce for the goose..............

 

I'm Agnostic and i don't oppress anyone.

 

The best someone on the thread...................


Thank you for your input.

Cudos....

 

Non-apostolic religions tend to be more palatable in general.

 

And some atheists (one in particular on this forum) will delude themselves with the notion that it is OK to reject the standard definitions as presented in a dictionary, thus murdering the language that they attempt to use in forming their theories, conclusions, and such. That one atheist (having been supported in his endeavors by others on this forum) promote the concept of telling lies by the use of 'rationalizations' (devising excuses and justifications) that are not naturally inherent to the subject that is being rationalized.

 

Let me say it in this words: "funny". I'm also an Agnostic - and I have very well the feeling that you are fighting against my own religion Christianity without any reason to do so. I guess never a Christian did you something bad in you whole life and I think also you would erase the Christian religion from this planet if you could do so immediatelly. Would be interesting for me to understand why. And by the way: It could help you maybe to become really a buddhist and to learn something about "illusion vs reality".

http://youtu.be/2xV8xgWlZy0

 

And what was it concrete what opressed your spirituality? And don't try to tell me propagandistic nonsense please.

http://youtu.be/MjFxCmQj0gM