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RE: Philosophical Buddhist who is still an atheist
August 24, 2012 at 9:44 pm
(This post was last modified: August 24, 2012 at 10:09 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
(August 24, 2012 at 9:19 pm)TaraJo Wrote: I'm aware of this as well. I wonder, had I been born in Mongolia or Tibet, and followed the same skeptic path I have here, would I be adamantly rejecting Buddhism and eastern religions but finding something to believe in with Judeo Christian philosophy?
However, another one of the things that led me to Buddhist thought is treatment for borderline personality disorder, especially DBT. I don't know of any legitimate treatments that involve Christian philosophy.
What is it that you find in DBT (or Buddhism) that you feel the various western traditions available have missed?
Reading over this I can't honestly see how any of it was "derived from buddhism", the proponents seem to have drawn their particular inspiration from buddhism, granted.....but I don't see anything here that is unique to buddhism at all. It would be like claiming that the color green is derived from Southern Yellow Pine. As far as whether or not any legitimate treatments involve christian philosophy....I'm pretty sure you'd just have to look for someone who caters to that market.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Philosophical Buddhist who is still an atheist
August 25, 2012 at 12:12 am
(This post was last modified: August 25, 2012 at 12:27 am by Jeffonthenet.)
Quote:I've been an atheist for almost a decade and a half now. Back then, I made a deal with any deity out there: if you exist and you want me to believe, it's well within your power to reach out to me so you can do that. Until then, I'm going to not believe and assume that if any God does exist, it doesn't want me to believe. As you can guess, no supernatural being has revealed themselves to me.
I realize the point of this thread was not this, so forgive me if I am being rude. However, I am not sure about the rationality of this decision. I am by nature a very skeptical person, and I can't help but apply my skepticism to your decision here. Are you sure God has not revealed Himself to you, just in a way you aren't watching out for (perhaps by intuition, or perhaps it was your initial belief he gave you from childhood that you rejected later for possibly faulty reasons) And are you sure that if God existed he would be morally obligated to reveal himself to you at all? (say perhaps you have sinned against Him and he wouldn't be)
Kind regards,
- Jeff
"the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate" (1 Cor. 1:19)
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RE: Philosophical Buddhist who is still an atheist
August 25, 2012 at 1:44 am
(This post was last modified: August 25, 2012 at 1:44 am by The Grand Nudger.)
"I am by nature a very skeptical person, and I can't help but apply my skepticism to your decision here."
You keep using that word...I do not think it means what you think it means.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Philosophical Buddhist who is still an atheist
August 25, 2012 at 2:51 am
(August 25, 2012 at 12:12 am)Jeffonthenet Wrote: I am by nature a very skeptical person, and I can't help but apply my skepticism to your decision here.
This really cracked me up. Especially when followed by "god revealed himself".
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RE: Philosophical Buddhist who is still an atheist
August 25, 2012 at 8:55 am
(August 25, 2012 at 12:12 am)Jeffonthenet Wrote: I am by nature a very skeptical person, and I can't help but apply my skepticism to your decision here.
I'm a very sceptical person and I can't help but be sceptical about your scepticism. It would seem to be a very inept god who couldn't adequately reveal themselves without ambiguity. You can say this is human error or misinterpretation, but this raises the question of why this god sends people messages in formats it knows perfectly well they can't (or won't) receive, decipher or interpret correctly.
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RE: Philosophical Buddhist who is still an atheist
August 25, 2012 at 10:07 am
(August 25, 2012 at 8:55 am)Tempus Wrote: (August 25, 2012 at 12:12 am)Jeffonthenet Wrote: I am by nature a very skeptical person, and I can't help but apply my skepticism to your decision here.
I'm a very sceptical person and I can't help but be sceptical about your scepticism. It would seem to be a very inept god who couldn't adequately reveal themselves without ambiguity. You can say this is human error or misinterpretation, but this raises the question of why this god sends people messages in formats it knows perfectly well they can't (or won't) receive, decipher or interpret correctly.
I never said God reveals Himself ambiguously. You do have a point about the messages he sends that people wont receive. Perhaps in such a case the sensical thing to do would not be to send any messages about His existence to a person who he knows will not receive them anyway. And given that the goal of God according to Christianity is a holy life and the knowledge of God, (rather than having people simply believe he exists) perhaps it doesn't make sense to reveal himself to people who he knows wouldn't worship Him even if he did. (as I have heard some atheists say)
"the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate" (1 Cor. 1:19)
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RE: Philosophical Buddhist who is still an atheist
August 25, 2012 at 10:25 am
Excuses are like assholes.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Philosophical Buddhist who is still an atheist
August 25, 2012 at 12:50 pm
(August 25, 2012 at 12:12 am)Jeffonthenet Wrote: I realize the point of this thread was not this, so forgive me if I am being rude. However, I am not sure about the rationality of this decision. I am by nature a very skeptical person, and I can't help but apply my skepticism to your decision here. Are you sure God has not revealed Himself to you, just in a way you aren't watching out for (perhaps by intuition, or perhaps it was your initial belief he gave you from childhood that you rejected later for possibly faulty reasons) And are you sure that if God existed he would be morally obligated to reveal himself to you at all? (say perhaps you have sinned against Him and he wouldn't be)
Kind regards,
- Jeff
If God tried to reveal himself to me and failed, she isn't all powerful. Or if she tried to reveal himself to me but I didn't understand it, she didn't communicate the message properly. That would be like me sending a television signal, expecting you to pick it up when all you have is a radio and then me sending you to hell because you didn't get the signal. Any God that is all knowing would know exactly what it would take to get through to me and any God that is all powerful is also able to meet the criteria of getting through to me.
No, if you're saying that God didn't know or God didn't care enough to send the message, you're talking about a God who is either not all powerful or is not all knowing. I guess I can't specifically disbelieve in the idea of a deity that created the universe, created the laws of the universe and then just left the universe on its own. I also don't see any reason to believe such a being exists, either. And if you're going to believe in some kind of 'hands off' God, something like the deist God many of our founding fathers believed in, why worship such a deity? She obviously doesn't care whether we worship her or not.
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RE: Philosophical Buddhist who is still an atheist
August 25, 2012 at 6:35 pm
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RE: Philosophical Buddhist who is still an atheist
August 26, 2012 at 12:35 am
(This post was last modified: August 26, 2012 at 12:38 am by Jeffonthenet.)
(August 25, 2012 at 12:50 pm)TaraJo Wrote: (August 25, 2012 at 12:12 am)Jeffonthenet Wrote: I realize the point of this thread was not this, so forgive me if I am being rude. However, I am not sure about the rationality of this decision. I am by nature a very skeptical person, and I can't help but apply my skepticism to your decision here. Are you sure God has not revealed Himself to you, just in a way you aren't watching out for (perhaps by intuition, or perhaps it was your initial belief he gave you from childhood that you rejected later for possibly faulty reasons) And are you sure that if God existed he would be morally obligated to reveal himself to you at all? (say perhaps you have sinned against Him and he wouldn't be)
Kind regards,
- Jeff
If God tried to reveal himself to me and failed, she isn't all powerful. Or if she tried to reveal himself to me but I didn't understand it, she didn't communicate the message properly. That would be like me sending a television signal, expecting you to pick it up when all you have is a radio and then me sending you to hell because you didn't get the signal. Any God that is all knowing would know exactly what it would take to get through to me and any God that is all powerful is also able to meet the criteria of getting through to me.
No, if you're saying that God didn't know or God didn't care enough to send the message, you're talking about a God who is either not all powerful or is not all knowing. I guess I can't specifically disbelieve in the idea of a deity that created the universe, created the laws of the universe and then just left the universe on its own. I also don't see any reason to believe such a being exists, either. And if you're going to believe in some kind of 'hands off' God, something like the deist God many of our founding fathers believed in, why worship such a deity? She obviously doesn't care whether we worship her or not.
Perhaps it is not God that failed, perhaps you are the one who has sinned. Do you do all that you ought? Do you do all that you ought with regards to the masses of starving people in africa to whom your superfluous wealth (everyone who has a computer, has this) could certainly save lives. Not that I am not a sinner too, but I don't see why being a such sinners, God is under any obligation to reveal Himself to us.
"the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate" (1 Cor. 1:19)
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