A couple of stupid Myths

[Annie]

If I could rep you again, I would. Excellent...to the Point. Absolute Truth.

I could, and did!

 

[Abbey Normal]

I could, and did!

Me too. Very good post.

 

[manu1959]

Would you rather be stuck on an island with a bunch of atheistic Buddhists or a bunch of god fearing Muslims?

the buddhists....the women are better looking and will be able to wear thongs

 

[Nuc]

the buddhists....the women are better looking and will be able to wear thongs

The women are so good looking I married one of them!

 

[ScreamingEagle]

Right back at'ya little man.

Tolerance allows others their own beliefs, the only one proselytizing on this site at this moment is you. Everybody must take your belief as their own or they are "stupid" people that believe in "myths". By selecting the language you make a message of intolerance of others beliefs that is astounding in its all-encompassing judgment of all others that believe differently than you.

I find it repellent.

Well said, no1.

He deserves the nickname P-man since all he really does is and

 

[Powerman]

Well said, no1.

His nickname should be P-man since all he really does is and

I don't know about you but I think that magic apples and talking snakes would qualify a story as myth. Tell me that sounds any less mythical than anything else you would regard as myth. Just because a lot of people currently believe in it, it doesn't make it any less absurd.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

I don't know about you but I think that magic apples and talking snakes would qualify a story as myth. Tell me that sounds any less mythical than anything else you would regard as myth. Just because a lot of people currently believe in it, it doesn't make it any less absurd.

Being in the field of science, you must know that even Einstein recognized the existence of God. (or more likely you didn't know) There is no proof that the two cannot be compatible.

The sad thing is you represent what is coming out of the universities and teaching our children today - you are fixed in the liberal opinions you have been taught, you lay down your narrow opinion on others as the sole truth, and you are so closed-minded or else so programmed that you run from a rational debate or else do not know how to even have one.

 

[LuvRPgrl]

Eagle, just as there are numerous kinds of Christians, there are different types of atheists. Buddhism is an atheistic religion, yet it stresses good behavior and holds people accountable for their acts through the law of karma.

On the other hand Islam is an extremely theistic religion to the point that they want the world to become one huge theocracy. Look at the wonderful results.

Would you rather be stuck on an island with a bunch of atheistic Buddhists or a bunch of god fearing Muslims?

I would prefer 69 virgins

 

[LuvRPgrl]

You can't force a gay lifestyle on someone. That's just silly.

Sure you can. That doesnt mean you are forcing them to live a gay lifestyle, but to accept it.

The more "acceptable" it becomes, the people who are "borderline", more of them will go for the homosexual activity. Homosexual activity is dangerous. But the bottom line is, its not the schools business to be introducing such things to kids. You tell me, what is the purpose?

 

[LuvRPgrl]

I don't know about you but I think that magic apples and talking snakes would qualify a story as myth. Tell me that sounds any less mythical than anything else you would regard as myth. Just because a lot of people currently believe in it, it doesn't make it any less absurd.

The FACT that you refer to those items as an "apple" and a "snake" shows your very limited knowledge of a book you so roundly condemn. Thats the popular notion of what those objects were. So obviously you are very influenced by the popular, yet often wrong, concepts of what the Bible says.

It was fruit from the tree of knowledge and it was a serpent, not a snake.

So what if some seemingly absurd things happened. You dont think a Being that can create the universe isnt capable of making a serpent talk?

 

[LuvRPgrl]

The basic problem with atheism as compared to Christian morals is that the atheist morals can devolve into anything. Christian morals have been improving and improving over time.

Atheism can become whatever the people deem "right or good" which could include child sacrafice, infanticide, racism, etc. etc.

While people have misused the Bible for centuries to gain their own agendas, the Book is now in print too much for them to be able to do that anymore on any large scale basis. However, atheism can still lead to the slaughter of millions of people, aka Stalin.

Christianity has a root core morality that cannot be changed, its called the ten commandments and the laws of God, atheistic morality doesnt, it can wind up wherever a culture takes it.

Current atheism in western countries is mostly guided by Christian values, hence the atheists there are bascially following Christian values, but in other parts of the world, atheistic values tend to be less "good" by our pov.

 

[MissileMan]

The basic problem with atheism as compared to Christian morals is that the atheist morals can devolve into anything. Christian morals have been improving and improving over time.

More of the same stuffy argument. Atheistic morals can evolve as well as devolve, the same as Christian morals. Last time I checked, it wasn't atheists who dressed up in black suits with funny white collars and molested the children that they were supposed to be spiritually developing.

Come down off your self-granted pedestal. You may believe that your bible makes you a better human being than everyone else, but it doesn't.

 

[Nuc]

Current atheism in western countries is mostly guided by Christian values, hence the atheists there are bascially following Christian values, but in other parts of the world, atheistic values tend to be less "good" by our pov.

Excuse me? Buddhism is the major atheistic "faith" in this world and most of its practicioners have very strong and specific moral values. Which atheists are you talking about "in other parts of the world" and do they outnumber Buddhists?

 

[Powerman]

Excuse me? Buddhism is the major atheistic "faith" in this world and most of its practicioners have very strong and specific moral values. Which atheists are you talking about "in other parts of the world" and do they outnumber Buddhists?

Most atheists aren't guided by anything. In the case of Buddhists you have a different example but other atheists are independent of outside leadership when it comes to pretty much everything. I don't need Christianity to tell me what is right and wrong although I do agree with a lot of their morals.

 

[Nuc]

Most atheists aren't guided by anything. In the case of Buddhists you have a different example but other atheists are independent of outside leadership when it comes to pretty much everything. I don't need Christianity to tell me what is right and wrong although I do agree with a lot of their morals.

When the fundamentalists make generalizations about atheists you get upset, then you turn around and make a generalization about atheists.

Do you have any hard data about the number of secular atheists in the West versus the number of Buddhists around the world? In America the percentage is probably around 1 or 2%. That's not a lot of people compared to Buddhists around Asia for example. Japanese are either Shinto or Buddhist. Buddhism is atheistic by any standard and Shinto is atheistic in the sense that they worship nature, not gods. So right there you probably have more atheists than in the whole of North America and Europe combined. China has more people than any other country and except for a smattering of Christians and Muslims they are mostly atheists. Yet they would also identify themselves as Buddhists or Taoists. So to say "most atheists aren't guided by anything" is a ridiculous assumption.
:huh:

 

[ScreamingEagle]

When the fundamentalists make generalizations about atheists you get upset, then you turn around and make a generalization about atheists.

Do you have any hard data about the number of secular atheists in the West versus the number of Buddhists around the world? In America the percentage is probably around 1 or 2%. That's not a lot of people compared to Buddhists around Asia for example. Japanese are either Shinto or Buddhist. Buddhism is atheistic by any standard and Shinto is atheistic in the sense that they worship nature, not gods. So right there you probably have more atheists than in the whole of North America and Europe combined. China has more people than any other country and except for a smattering of Christians and Muslims they are mostly atheists. Yet they would also identify themselves as Buddhists or Taoists. So to say "most atheists aren't guided by anything" is a ridiculous assumption.
:huh:

nucular, he doesn't have any substantial idea about anything...much less any hard data...he's just another fallen Christian who has bought into the liberal lies of today which seem cool to him because he does not have to answer to anyone or anything. God and religion or even a moral code can be a real drag when one is out to have fun and "be free". "Atheism" is just a catch-all for these people because, like he says, "most atheists aren't guided by anything" and atheism has no real meaning for them other than a handy excuse to live life the way they choose. Typically they have some sort of an axe to grind or were just lost and "found" themselves in college.

I wouldn't even begin to consider him to be one of the 1-2% true atheists in this country. P-man is just a typical product of the left liberal secularist garbage being spewed out in our schools and colleges today. He is just regurgitating the nonsense he has bought into. One has to wonder why someone would sell their soul so cheaply.

I'm also sure he hasn't the faintest idea that he is just another pawn in the left wing agenda.

 

[no1tovote4]

"Buddhism is atheistic by any standard and Shinto is atheistic in the sense that they worship nature, not gods."

Um...

Buddhism is not atheistic by any standard...

This shows a misunderstanding of different types of Buddhism and attempts to take the fact that Theravada Buddhism (my particular type) does not center itself on a belief in a Deity and make that into "All Buddhists are Atheist", which is untrue. Theravada Buddhism doesn't deny a Deity any more than it promotes one, nor does it state that one should not believe in a Deity. Theravada Buddhism centers itself on this lifetime and the spiritual growth of your current incarnation. Not all Buddhists even believe in reincarnation, not all Buddhists are atheists, there are many different beliefs held by those that are Buddhist. Most believe that all living things are part of the Deity, that which gives us life and unites us is the part of us which is the smallest part of the Deity.

Mahayana Buddhists believe in a Central Deity, so do Shin Buddhists (a Japanese form of Buddhism that believes in Amida Buddha, the Great Compassion, as a central Deity), Tibetan Buddhists believe in much that I have still to understand, but they are more mystical than the type of Buddhism that I study.

 

[Nuc]

"Buddhism is atheistic by any standard and Shinto is atheistic in the sense that they worship nature, not gods."

Um...

Buddhism is not atheistic by any standard...

This shows a misunderstanding of different types of Buddhism and attempts to take the fact that Theravada Buddhism (my particular type) does not center itself on a belief in a Deity and make that into "All Buddhists are Atheist", which is untrue. Theravada Buddhism doesn't deny a Deity any more than it promotes one, nor does it state that one should not believe in a Deity. Theravada Buddhism centers itself on this lifetime and the spiritual growth of your current incarnation. Not all Buddhists even believe in reincarnation, not all Buddhists are atheists, there are many different beliefs held by those that are Buddhist. Most believe that all living things are part of the Deity, that which gives us life and unites us is the part of us which is the smallest part of the Deity.

Mahayana Buddhists believe in a Central Deity, so do Shin Buddhists (a Japanese form of Buddhism that believes in Amida Buddha, the Great Compassion, as a central Deity), Tibetan Buddhists believe in much that I have still to understand, but they are more mystical than the type of Buddhism that I study.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. My wife is from Sri Lanka and is a lifelong Theravada Buddhist. Her grandfather was one of the most prominent Buddhist activists there. She says that in its pure form Buddhism is atheistic and that Buddha's purpose was to create a philosophy that eliminated such things, which he thought were unnecessary. I defer to her in these matters.

At the same time I agree with you that some or perhaps most Buddhist also engage in things which look like worship of a god or gods. In Sri Lanka I saw many Buddhist people making offerings to Hindu gods such as Ganesha. When I would razz them and say, "I thought you said you were a Buddhist, not a Hindu" they said there was no harm in it, that it was well known that Ganesha was good for certain aims, and so on. But the intellectual Buddhists I talked to thought it was superstition and cultural, not religious.

Japanese Buddhism, which incidentally is the kind I practice, is pretty far from the source and has incorporated local ideas. The Zen Buddhists I know do not believe in a central god. Japanese take a smorgasbord approach to religion, to the extent that every Buddhist temple has a small Shinto shrine, and every Shinto shrine has a small Buddhist altar. The same can be said even moreso about Tibetan Buddhism, which incorporates many animistic ideas and gods predating Buddhism.

So can we compromise and say that Buddhism at its source is atheistic, but nevertheless many Buddhists also believe in god or gods?

The original point I was trying to make to Powerman was that not all or most atheists in the world are independent freethinkers devoid of any cultural context. That still stands.

 

[MissileMan]

nucular, he doesn't have any substantial idea about anything...much less any hard data...he's just another fallen Christian who has bought into the liberal lies of today which seem cool to him because he does not have to answer to anyone or anything. God and religion or even a moral code can be a real drag when one is out to have fun and "be free". "Atheism" is just a catch-all for these people because, like he says, "most atheists aren't guided by anything" and atheism has no real meaning for them other than a handy excuse to live life the way they choose. Typically they have some sort of an axe to grind or were just lost and "found" themselves in college.

I wouldn't even begin to consider him to be one of the 1-2% true atheists in this country. P-man is just a typical product of the left liberal secularist garbage being spewed out in our schools and colleges today. He is just regurgitating the nonsense he has bought into. One has to wonder why someone would sell their soul so cheaply.

I'm also sure he hasn't the faintest idea that he is just another pawn in the left wing agenda.

I'm curious. How many of the millions of atheists in the U.S. do you personally know well enough to make these blanket statements about how atheists live or what motivates them?

 

[ScreamingEagle]

I'm curious. How many of the millions of atheists in the U.S. do you personally know well enough to make these blanket statements about how atheists live or what motivates them?

What blanket statement about atheists? I don't consider P-man to be a true atheist. Just a handy label he gives himself.