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Is Atheism compatible with Buddhism?
October 12, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Buddhism is a religion without a God, although it does feature spiritual, transcendental beings.
Is Atheism compatible with Buddhism, or does belief in anything more than the physical universe make this impossible?
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RE: Is Atheism compatible with Buddhism?
October 12, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Your name is Dr Dolittle and yet you still have no avatar?!?
There must be a million pics to use on the internet. Whatever.
Anyway, I'll let the atheists answer this odd question. Seems to me - you would no longer be an atheist = you'd be a buddhist.
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RE: Is Atheism compatible with Buddhism?
October 12, 2011 at 4:27 pm
I personally don't know much about Buddhism to give you a proper answer...
But, do you know what Buddhism is compatible with?
My ass.
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RE: Is Atheism compatible with Buddhism?
October 12, 2011 at 4:28 pm
An atheist is one without belief in a god (i.e higher power/deity). Anything else is up for debate. Buddhists have certain beliefs such as reincarnation and such (I don't that much about it) but essentially, they are atheists. Spiritual beliefs but godless all the same.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
Mankind's intelligence walks hand in hand with it's stupidity.
Being an atheist says nothing about your overall intelligence, it just means you don't believe in god. Atheists can be as bright as any scientist and as stupid as any creationist.
You never really know just how stupid someone is, until you've argued with them.
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RE: Is Atheism compatible with Buddhism?
October 12, 2011 at 4:45 pm
(October 12, 2011 at 4:39 pm)DrDolittle Wrote: Thats an interesting point, and your right - atheism is regarding the existence of God not belief in the unprovable.
Would someone who believed there was no God be able to justify a belief in unicorns?
The answer is yes. One is an atheist based on the lack of belief in god or gods, while able to believe in a being other than a god.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
Mankind's intelligence walks hand in hand with it's stupidity.
Being an atheist says nothing about your overall intelligence, it just means you don't believe in god. Atheists can be as bright as any scientist and as stupid as any creationist.
You never really know just how stupid someone is, until you've argued with them.
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RE: Is Atheism compatible with Buddhism?
October 12, 2011 at 5:38 pm
(This post was last modified: October 12, 2011 at 5:39 pm by Justtristo.)
If with Bob Price is right in his assertion that Sam Harris is a Buddhist. You could be a Buddhist and not believe in the existence of a god or any-kind of afterlife at the same time. Susan Blackmore could be considered a Buddhist (she is a practitioner of Zen) as well and she once (she has recanted of that belief) regarded religion as a mind virus.
However a lot of Buddhists believe in things such as reincarnation. Not to mention the existence of some kind of higher power, also along with believing in the existence a god or gods. For example in places like China, Korea and Japan people have practiced both Buddhism and local religions
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