I know nothing about Buddhism but I don't see anything wrong with taking a few concepts from religion that you like and applying them to your life. The Dali Lama has a facebook page and I sometimes read his comments. He sounds sort of Jesusy to me but that is fine. As long as I know that he is just a human being with biases and the ability to be wrong just like me, I'm fine. To be honest, I like George Takei's facebook post better
Atheists are in a unique position. We can stand back and see the entire picture in a way that most religious people can't. Most religions have some positive values along with the negative ones. Because Atheists don't believe that there is anything holy in Jesus or Buddha's words, we can take what we like and ignore the rest. Religious people, especially if they are conservative, have to accept both the bad and good as being inspired by god. I can, acknowledge that treating others like I want to be treated is a pretty good rule and ignore the parts about keeping slaves.
Atheists are in a unique position. We can stand back and see the entire picture in a way that most religious people can't. Most religions have some positive values along with the negative ones. Because Atheists don't believe that there is anything holy in Jesus or Buddha's words, we can take what we like and ignore the rest. Religious people, especially if they are conservative, have to accept both the bad and good as being inspired by god. I can, acknowledge that treating others like I want to be treated is a pretty good rule and ignore the parts about keeping slaves.
