Last summer, I was on a Christian camp for a week, and all the leaders where very religious people, anyway, one dinner time I was speaking to a leader and somewhere along the line we got in to talking about other religions (mainly Satanism, Paganism, Wiccan, etc), and I asked him what his views were on these other religions and he said "all religions have taken Christianity, changed it around a bit, and called it something else" so he was basically saying that all religions are wrong and Christianity's the only right one, then I asked me what I thought of Paganism, Satanism, Wiccan, etc, and he said that they are all devil worship. Bullshit, Wiccan's, Satanist's, Pagan's, etc, are just the same as Christians, they have dreams, go to work to support their family, help people out, and post I know are very friendly people, and most don't even believe in Satan.

Yet the Christians are saying that it's all devil worship. I don't think Christians are very open-minded. Maybe, me not belonging to any religion sees it through a more open-minded point of view, but I take an interest in religions.

If you are a Christian, I apologize if I have offended you, I am not trying to knock you in anyway, I'm just talking about the few who are ignorant.

Thanks,

Spindle

quote:If you are a Christian, I apologize if I have offended you, I am not trying to knock you in anyway, I'm just talking about the few who are ignorant.

Wow, that's very reasonable of you. Maybe i'll start a post titled "Mexicans are the laziest people" and then put a little "disclaimer" like yours at the end. I wonder how that would work out.

Jackass.

The reason Christians say other religions are devil worship is because they believe that other religions are the work of Satan to sway people away from god. Not that the followers are specifically "satan worshipers".

A lot of people have a problem with Christians saying that Christ is the only way into heaven. Why is that? If you don't believe in heaven why do you care if christians say you're not going there? To me, it makes no sense why you'd believe in anything as truth and also acknowledge that someone else's religion is also be true. People don't say that Buddhism is close minded, but if you're comparing the idea of immortal life in heaven, or reincarnation, somebody's got to be wrong. Sorry if that's closeminded.

theBishop

My God has a bigger dick than your God.

That type of "christian" is ignorant. Whats the point of trying to get everyone to follow your religion? Theyre allready being hypocrytes by investing in the christ-killers over in isrel.

Nobody is more ignorant then any other being, we all know nothing. They aren't putting in any less faith into their christian beliefs then you are putting faith into me not being a figment of your imagination, or the faith that I put into not being a figment of your imagination.

quote:Originally posted by theBishop:

People don't say that Buddhism is close minded, but if you're comparing the idea of immortal life in heaven, or reincarnation, somebody's got to be wrong. Sorry if that's closeminded.

theBishop

I apologize for my being blunt, but I would appreciate it if you discontinued any mention at all of Buddhist concepts unless you understand them. By the context of the word reincarnation in your reply I am positive you have little or no understanding of reincarnation and buy into all the bullshit perpetuated stereotypes. G'day.

Doesn't reincarnation imply imortal life in "heaven" (or "hell" depending on how you look at this world.)

What I mean is, if you realize we are reincarnated and you take this positively then you can be in "heaven"(blissful living) for every moment of your life.

ya dude christians suck balls

wait, FUCK

Hey, Ezratal, how about we just don't talk about anything because we don't fully understand everything.

It doesn't have to be reincarnation, it could be any concept that is contrary to some other concept. I'm sorry if mentioning Buddhism makes you uncomfortable.

The fact is, whether i "fully understand" it or not is that Buddhism and Christianity have dramatically different views on what happens after they die. They can't both be true.

Reincarnation is based on the idea of the states of woe.... Reincarnation has NOTHING to do with bodily form, the states of woe are derived from types of unhappiness in life.

I_Like_Traffic You've.... kinda got the right idea... I think. I don't really understand you. http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/biggrin.gif)

[This message has been edited by Ezratal (edited 10-30-2004).]

I am a Christian, but some Christian's do give the wrong idea to equally narrow-minded people like you. Just because he told you the truth about what he thinks, doesn't mean you have to seek problems in the Christian religion. I like "I_Like_Traffic-Lights" too. And i do like traffic lights also. Calming...

You're right, Bishop, Buddhism and Christianity can't both be true, if taken literally, but I don't think it really matters in the big scheme of things.

Religion is important because it provides comfort from the troubles of life, and because it provides structure to one's life.

Truth does not matter, if you think about it. So many things in this life are based on illusions and falsehoods that we take for truth. The effects of that belief are all that matters.

Going to reincarnation, many Westerners believe that it entails the same being or "self" coming back again and again in different bodies. This is not true in Buddhism. "Energy" (for lack of a better word) is being reincarnated, not souls. Think of the conservation of energy principle in chemistry.

quote:Originally posted by Social Junker:

You're right, Bishop, Buddhism and Christianity can't both be true, if taken literally, but I don't think it really matters in the big scheme of things.

Literally is such an obtuse word to use with this stuff.

*scratches head*

'Going to reincarnation, many Westerners believe that it entails the same being or "self" coming back again and again in different bodies. This is not true in Buddhism. "Energy" (for lack of a better word) is being reincarnated, not souls. Think of the conservation of energy principle in chemistry.'

No, buddhists beleive in the continuum of consciousness.

quote:Originally posted by shuu:

'Going to reincarnation, many Westerners believe that it entails the same being or "self" coming back again and again in different bodies. This is not true in Buddhism. "Energy" (for lack of a better word) is being reincarnated, not souls. Think of the conservation of energy principle in chemistry.'

No, buddhists beleive in the continuum of consciousness.



Ummmmm, it would appear to me that that was the entire point of the person's post. That "continuum of consciousness" wasn't emphasized, rather existed as a misunderstood expression AT BEST. But that the overall "energy"(for lack of a better word) of "reality" simply took on a different picture of what the "energy" previously was. It was always the same overall "energy" but parts or it took on a different "front" for the sake of it's grand schema.

But what do I know? I'm drunk.

quote: I'm just talking about the few who are ignorant.

unfortunately most of us christians are disgustingly ignorant about their own faith and know even less about the faith of others.

quote:Originally posted by jackketch:

unfortunately most of us christians are disgustingly ignorant about their own faith and know even less about the faith of others.



Ignorance kills. quote: They believe in the continuum of consciousness What do you mean by consciousness? Buddhists have a lot of diverse beliefs pertaining different areas of Buddhism and most can be classified by the different sects of Buddhism but I have NEVER met a serious Buddhist who believed he could remember his past life.. You're right (in my thoughts) though if you meant that the karmic actions we take in the life will alter the state of woe we're in, in the next life. We're not consciously aware of this change though. I can't remember my past lives, or the karmic actions I took in those lives. This is a very complex subject to explain.. I apologize for not being able to do it better, It's my flaw and I'm going to try to learn to explain it better.

QUOTE Originally posted by Spindle:

so he was basically saying that all religions are wrong and Christianity's the only right one, then I asked me what I thought of Paganism, Satanism, Wiccan, etc, and he said that they are all devil worship. Bullshit, Wiccan's, Satanist's, Pagan's, etc, are just the same as Christians, they have dreams, go to work to support their family, help people out, and post I know are very friendly people, and most don't even believe in Satan.

Bishop explained this very well. Although, many Christians may not have thought it this far through. Even though i used to understand things (and still do) the way Bishop has explained it to you, not to long ago i did think that satanist believed and worship satan. In fact i still have a hard time "grasping" that people would have a religion named after someone that they, as followers of that religion, dont beleive or worship...name it something else then..right?

Now if you had not understood those camp leaders in the same way that Bishop explained, wouldnt that make you ignorant? All humans are ignorant.

I don't think Christians are very open-minded. Maybe, me not belonging to any religion sees it through a more open-minded point of view, but I take an interest in religions.

Many people look at open-minded/narrow-minded in terms of right/wrong. Let's see if we can understand that, that is a wrong outlook.

Let's say that you go to a doctor, and he tells you that you have a disease and there is only one cure. If you dont have the cure, you will die. You say to yourself, "he is narrow-minded. How does he know for sure, that i have this disease? How does he know if there is only one cure? How does he know that i will die if i dont have the cure? How does he know that i even want to live?". Now a different person comes along and says he is a doctor. Says that there are more than one way to cure the disease. Says that you dont even have the disease.

Who is being narrow-minded? Who is being open-minded? Who is being ignorant? Who is being right or wrong? Who's life is in the balance of these choices?