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Yeah, statistically it's zero people. There are an infinity of possible gods. The idea that it "has to be one in the books" is a ridiculous assumption, more ridiculous than the assumption that such a thing as a "God" exists in the first place or would give a tinker's spunk bucket what our opinion of it was.
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(August 3, 2015 at 8:38 am)ChadWooters Wrote: The last question is the most interesting. Why have you singled out Christianity? You're just picking a fight.
It was SOOOOOO interesting that you didn't bother to answer it... right? I singled out christianity because I haven't researched much about the hindu's gods' personalities, or Allah, or Ba'al. I sincerely don't know, so I can't discuss it.
(August 3, 2015 at 2:59 pm)Shuffle Wrote: I singled out christianity because I haven't researched much about the hindu's gods' personalities, or Allah, or Ba'al. I sincerely don't know, so I can't discuss it.
If you want any info on the a-holineses in hinduism, feel free to ask me
Your questions from a hindu perspective:
1) Is God good?
A: Nope, but nor bad either, at best it is neutral.
2) Why?
A: Those concepts are an illusion within the circle of life and don't apply to it. So anyone who can rise above these illusions can then finally break free of the circle of life and merge with their god.
3) Do you base your opinion more on the Old Testament or the New?
A: Doesn't directly apply to hindus, but hindus do have a lot more scriptures across a long time span. However none of the actual scriptures except "The Bhagvad Gita" is considered a word of god, but all are wisdom from wise men, and hindus are free to choose what they want to believe among all these scriptures. Yes, the hinduism comes packaged with the cherry-picking clause!
As for the Gita itself, even it itself isn't a rulebook like the abrahamic faiths, rather Krishna, whose words comprise the Gita, is claimed to have said in the Mahabharata (the gita is actually a sub-portion of this epic) that the dharma or wisdoms belong to a certain time period and must be changed with time.
4) Why?
A: Cherrypicking ofcourse!
5) Is there any bible verse that might remotely contradict your answer for question #1?
A: Again doesn't apply to hindus, but hindus do have totally contradictory scriptures with one rejecting the other. Ex: Manusanghita vs Padma-mahapuran
6) Why might I disagree with you?
A: Because you literally have the right to believe anything you want in hinduism, including god doesn't exist, or rejecting the concept of karma, and also there is no final authority in hinduism, unlike the vatican, which can declare your beliefs as true or false.
Quote:To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.
- Lau Tzu
Join me on atheistforums Slack (pester tibs via pm if you need invite)
(August 3, 2015 at 3:33 pm)Aoi Magi Wrote: If you want any info on the a-holineses in hinduism, feel free to ask me
Your questions from a hindu perspective:
1) Is God good?
A: Nope, but nor bad either, at best it is neutral.
2) Why?
A: Those concepts are an illusion within the circle of life and don't apply to it. So anyone who can rise above these illusions can then finally break free of the circle of life and merge with their god.
3) Do you base your opinion more on the Old Testament or the New?
A: Doesn't directly apply to hindus, but hindus do have a lot more scriptures across a long time span. However none of the actual scriptures except "The Bhagvad Gita" is considered a word of god, but all are wisdom from wise men, and hindus are free to choose what they want to believe among all these scriptures. Yes, the hinduism comes packaged with the cherry-picking clause!
As for the Gita itself, even it itself isn't a rulebook like the abrahamic faiths, rather Krishna, whose words comprise the Gita, is claimed to have said in the Mahabharata (the gita is actually a sub-portion of this epic) that the dharma or wisdoms belong to a certain time period and must be changed with time.
4) Why?
A: Cherrypicking ofcourse!
5) Is there any bible verse that might remotely contradict your answer for question #1?
A: Again doesn't apply to hindus, but hindus do have totally contradictory scriptures with one rejecting the other. Ex: Manusanghita vs Padma-mahapuran
6) Why might I disagree with you?
A: Because you literally have the right to believe anything you want in hinduism, including god doesn't exist, or rejecting the concept of karma, and also there is no final authority in hinduism, unlike the vatican, which can declare your beliefs as true or false.
Hinduism has always intrigued me, however I have never bothered to research, since there is no movement to teach children Hinduism in public schools.
(August 3, 2015 at 3:52 pm)Shuffle Wrote: Hinduism has always intrigued me, however I have never bothered to research, since there is no movement to teach children Hinduism in public schools.
That's in a specific part of the world. In the other specific parts, religion in public schools is the least of peoples worries, and thus the nuttiness is more prevalent.
Quote:To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.
- Lau Tzu
Join me on atheistforums Slack (pester tibs via pm if you need invite)
(August 3, 2015 at 2:59 pm)Shuffle Wrote: I singled out christianity because I haven't researched much about the hindu's gods' personalities, or Allah, or Ba'al. I sincerely don't know, so I can't discuss it.
If you want any info on the a-holineses in hinduism, feel free to ask me
Your questions from a hindu perspective:
1) Is God good?
A: Nope, but nor bad either, at best it is neutral.
2) Why?
A: Those concepts are an illusion within the circle of life and don't apply to it. So anyone who can rise above these illusions can then finally break free of the circle of life and merge with their god.
3) Do you base your opinion more on the Old Testament or the New?
A: Doesn't directly apply to hindus, but hindus do have a lot more scriptures across a long time span. However none of the actual scriptures except "The Bhagvad Gita" is considered a word of god, but all are wisdom from wise men, and hindus are free to choose what they want to believe among all these scriptures. Yes, the hinduism comes packaged with the cherry-picking clause!
As for the Gita itself, even it itself isn't a rulebook like the abrahamic faiths, rather Krishna, whose words comprise the Gita, is claimed to have said in the Mahabharata (the gita is actually a sub-portion of this epic) that the dharma or wisdoms belong to a certain time period and must be changed with time.
4) Why?
A: Cherrypicking ofcourse!
5) Is there any bible verse that might remotely contradict your answer for question #1?
A: Again doesn't apply to hindus, but hindus do have totally contradictory scriptures with one rejecting the other. Ex: Manusanghita vs Padma-mahapuran
6) Why might I disagree with you?
A: Because you literally have the right to believe anything you want in hinduism, including god doesn't exist, or rejecting the concept of karma, and also there is no final authority in hinduism, unlike the vatican, which can declare your beliefs as true or false.
What you say is interesting, but with your number 6, if anything goes, how is it a belief system at all? Aren't there Hindu priests or holy men or women who exert authority over others? Even if your answer to 6 is true in theory, it does not seem to be true in practice.
Also, it is worth mentioning that a significant percentage of Christians reject Catholicism and do not care what the Vatican says. There are thousands of different, independent sects (or denominations) of Christians.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
(August 3, 2015 at 4:06 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: What you say is interesting, but with your number 6, if anything goes, how is it a belief system at all? Aren't there Hindu priests or holy men or women who exert authority over others? Even if your answer to 6 is true in theory, it does not seem to be true in practice.
Also, it is worth mentioning that a significant percentage of Christians reject Catholicism and do not care what the Vatican says. There are thousands of different, independent sects (or denominations) of Christians.
Good question, and after banging my head for several hours the only explanation I could find is, if you consider yourself a hindu, you are a hindu. The only concept common in hinduism is probably the "paramatma" or the original soul, which essentially says every soul(existence of a soul is pre-established somehow I guess), including the gods/deities, us, animals, and even non-living things like stones and the planets themselves are part of this original soul, and the life cycle is a test to purify our impure(?) souls for re-merging with this original soul. If you ever argue a hindu though, you are eventually gonna get slapped with "it is not a religion but a way of life".
Also as per many hindus, everyone is a hindu, even if they belong to a different faith. I hope you know Gautama Buddha is considered an avatar of Krishna, and the popular belief also includes that God, Allah, and everything else is just different names of the same entity. It's one of the most stupidest and facepalm-worthy belief system out there, and arguing against it is the hardest.
As for the priests and such, yes they do dictate the rules, but they are too localized, and the rules, rituals and everything in between vary wildly between each priest you encounter. There is no centralized body to dictate any specific set of rules, and thus you cannot pin it down as a specific belief system.
Quote:To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.
- Lau Tzu
Join me on atheistforums Slack (pester tibs via pm if you need invite)
The odds are, you won't ever get straight answers from any theist on here, if it's logical question about their faith.
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'-Isaac Asimov-