RE: Why does science always upstage God?
September 29, 2021 at 11:38 am
(This post was last modified: September 29, 2021 at 11:50 am by Brian37.)
(September 28, 2021 at 5:56 pm)Jehanne Wrote:(September 28, 2021 at 5:52 pm)Brian37 Wrote: Buddhism is not an exception, it is a religion like any other. Buddhism has monks and temples, and holy writings and holy figures. If it walks like a religion and quacks like a religion, it is a religion.
Ha! (Just kidding...)
The response you read, could lead you to believe I am an ABBA traitor. While I am glad they remain relevant in music history, and while I do like this song, it is middle of the road for them. It is not my favorite, nor does it stand out like Watch Out, or SOS or Money Money Money, or The Winner Takes It all. They seem to be playing it safe here. I am fine with that. It still has an ABBA quality about it, but it was a safe song, not a standout.
(September 29, 2021 at 10:47 am)vulcanlogician Wrote:(September 29, 2021 at 10:32 am)Brian37 Wrote: I really hate when lovers of Buddhism argue they are not the same as Christians or Muslims. "Karma" is simply another argument for getting even. Concepts of heaven and hell, and vengeance, are no different.
In all of human history, good or bad, the truth is sometimes bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people.
There is no difference in humanity, worldwide in our species history. If a story is told, it has been told before. The binary 0s and 1s only allow for diversity. But the flight ends for everyone, first class, business class or coach, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Rasta, ect ect. No amount of arguing for a deity or a religion will change the fact all 7 billion of us only have one home to live on.
But there are differences. There are even significant differences between Christianity and Islam. If you study even a little bit of Buddhism you'll find that it is way more acceptable to the skeptical mind than the Abrahamic faiths. That counts for something. Sure, there are unfounded beliefs in Buddhism, but that doesn't mean isn't any solid wisdom or useful practices to be discovered when studying it. It's good to have a little nuance in one's approach toward belief systems. Like Nietzsche does below...
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote:
"In my condemnation of Christianity I surely hope I do no injustice to a related religion with an even larger number of believers: I allude to Buddhism. Both are to be reckoned among the nihilistic religions—they are both décadence religions—but they are separated from each other in a very remarkable way. For the fact that he is able to compare them at all the critic of Christianity is indebted to the scholars of India.—Buddhism is a hundred times [more] realistic [than] Christianity—it is part of its living heritage that it is able to face problems objectively and coolly; it is the product of long centuries of philosophical speculation. The concept, “god,” was already disposed of before it appeared. Buddhism is the only genuinely positive religion to be encountered in history, and this applies even to its epistemology (which is a strict phenomenalism).
To say there are differences in religions is correct. But to claim any religion is special is not. Religion, like politics and economics, are merely human's arguments for tribalism to get at resources.
Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" speech says to me everything humanity needs to know ultimately. We are not special, our labels are not special, and we would do better long term to accept that if we want to extend our species ride.
If someone hates me, and wants to kill me because they hate me, life provides that opportunity. But that does not mean if they are successful, they will have an eternity of being the king of the hill.