by LoveUniHateExams 38 Replies latest social current
Correct but mankind needs science and knowledge to help us on a path toward a better living experience.
One can still appreciate the ideology of what Buddhism represents though . - Rocketman123
Well said! Take a look at the studies showing that neuroscience is proving what Buddhism already realized 400 years before the alleged birth of Jesus. Buddhism is considered the first rational ideology in human history.
Hmm! Since we are (in this thread) discussing divinities, may I add:
If we faithfully wear our masks and keep up to date with Saint Fauci's latest updates, we will attain salvation.
Badfish, but according to your version/definition of Christianity the god (God) does require works to become saved (earned). Are you familiar with Pascal's wager? You see some people are very skeptical about certain kinds of claims, including the claim of the existence of a god, including the god of the Bible. Furthermore Pascal was a Catholic and he thus had the Catholic concept of the Christian god. Pascal said one should wager that the god exists and that if one does not believe he exists then one must try very hard to believe and that performing religious rituals (Catholic rituals and type of worship?) over a long period of time will result in one gaining the belief. Doing such would be a lot work (even if only psychological work) and if successful would amount to earning salvation.
Believing in the existence of a heavenly Christ who is the Son of God (and even God to many Christians) and in God the Father, does not come easily to people who are naturally very skeptical of the existence of any spirit beings.
Oh, but I see you have a way out of that matter. You seem to be a Calvinist (at least in one regard) since you say "... if God hasn’t enabled you to believe, you will not believe". Many times when I believed it was hard for me to believe (I thought I never believed in Zeus, Aphrodite, the gods of ancient others, and other pagan gods, nor ghosts, Santa Claus, and gremlins, and I do see anything clearly supernatural ever happen, so maybe Jehovah God, Jesus Christ the Son of God, Satan the Devil, angels, and demons don't exist either. I also knew since grade school that most scientists consider evolution to be true and so I often wondered if it was true.) After I learned more science in regards to the evidence for evolution and the geology and discovered many serious problems with the Bible, I became convinced of evolution and I became an atheist.
Before I became a total atheist (positive atheist, not merely an agnostic) I prayed to Jehovah/Yahweh God and even to Jesus/Yeshua Christ telling them that if God exists please provide me with the evidence (for I wish to only believe based upon evidence and not upon credulity/faith) that you know would convince that you exist. I made appeal using the example in the Bible of the man who asked Jesus for help in his unbelief, so that the man's son would be healed. I also said that according to the Bible Thomas said he would not believe Jesus was was from the dead unless he saw Jesus alive with the wounds present. I also mentioned the example in the Bible of test Jehovah allowed Elijah to do regarding calling down fire from heaven onto an altar. I further gave the biblical example of Yahweh telling Moses he would have Moses perform miraculous signs (as evidence) to convince the Hebrew people that God was directing Moses (that was in response to Moses asking how could he convince the people). In each of the cases the Bible said God (or Jesus) granted the requests. Despite my prayers, I never received any evidence that convinced me that God exists. Instead I learned of scientific evidence that is strong proof against the existence of the God (any god), even of a deistic god - thus I became an outright positive/strong atheist.
If, hypothetically speaking, you are correct about God and salvation, then God doesn't want me to believe in him and he wants me to go to hell for my disbelief in him. That idea of divine hiddenness coming with such severe adverse condemnation is awful and hideous. [The idea of divine hiddenness is also an idea that scholarly philosophers consider to be a very strong argument/evidence for the nonexistence of a personal omni-type of God who loves humanity.] But then again, I think that if a god exists who did a number of the things the Bible says Yahweh did in pre-Christian times then such a god is evil and should be opposed despite the punishment it would bring. So if, hypothetically speaking, the god you believe in exists then maybe that is why he doesn't want me to believe in him.
truth_b_known, what are some "... studies showing that neuroscience is proving what Buddhism already realized..."? I am intrigued by a secularized version of Buddhism. I agree that Buddha did not intend his philosophy to become a religion, but the way many people practice it (including praying to devas and by including some Hindu ideas and worship practices) it is religious.
I have two books on Buddhism. They are: The Teaching of Buddha [by Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (Buddhist Promoting Foundation, located in Japan)] and The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living (coauthored by the Dali Lama and by Howard C. Cutler, M.D.), but I haven't yet read much of the latter. I bought the latter because I want to feel happiness and joy much more often, instead of merely feeling neutral emotionally (or only very mildly happy) most of the time. Most of my free time I only feel content and or fascinated. It is hard for me feel certain positive emotions (such as happiness and joy) other than for very brief periods. I have been trying since as far as I can remember (since before age 8) to feel joy and happiness for more than a few minutes (or a half hour) in a day (tough on some days I do feel joy or happiness for longer, but that is rare), but so far nothing has really worked. I have put much effort into solving the problem, including studying many books and articles (and praying when I believed in the god). It is somewhat like I am an android in that respect or a Vulcan. My mind is very analytically oriented (even since before age 8).
When I said "the gods of ancient others, and other pagan gods, nor ghosts, Santa Claus, and gremlins, and I do see ..." I meant to say "the gods of ancient peoples, and other pagan gods, nor ghosts, Santa Claus, and gremlins, and I do not see ...."
Events as described in the o/p are truly irrational, however, other things like politics and injustice can move men to acts of irrationality too.
At least religion,as practiced by the vast majority of it’s followers teaches them to be virtuous and aspire to a higher level of conduct than otherwise. Despite it’s failings I still see religion as having been a force for good in mankind.
What kind of a God who calls himself "Not Partial" ---enable some to believe and some not to believe?"
Answer; A god who is prejudice!
Prejudice is an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership
God doesn’t enable you to not believe, you do not believe of your own free will. By enabling some to believe, he is having mercy on them. If he gave us all justice, we would all be condemned. He chooses to show mercy to some. Some get justice, others receive mercy. But there is never any injustice with God.
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Romans 9:14-16
A judge who shows mercy to a criminal in one case, but locks up another criminal in another case is not an unjust judge. The act of showing mercy is not an injustice.
Most all religions start with the young and repeat over and over that they are speaking for god and you have loyalty that leads sometimes to insanity, remember the Jesus freaks in the 60,s and 70,s.
DillusionedJW:
I have/read Teaching of Buddha. It is worth the read, but it is written by Pure Land Buddhists and I am not into that. I stay with Soto and Rinzai schools of Zen Buddhism.
I have read No Self, No Problem by Chris Niebauer https://chrisniebauerphd.com/
