Some of the ads here are funny, Um, I'd like 2 Buddhisms for the price of one, and another small one for my little brother... ...ew, I don't want one of those used religions Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
can i return this relgion??? it didnt work right.. no i dont have my receipt, but i payed with my credit card... could you look that up??
This solves all my problems. I can just buy a religion? Thanks for pointing out that ad SG. Very funny.
Honestly if you check out some of the westernized buddhist groups as long as you have plenty of cash, you can go to all the courses and retreats. I would think at best it should be on a donation basis. If you don't have money then it shouldn't matter. After all money is a hindrance to desirelessness (sp). Buddhism should be free to those who wish to study, learn and participate. For the fine print...not all associations are like that. There is a Theravada Buddhist Group up the road from me that is all donation and it doesn't matter if you don't have money they will still let you participate.
the price of christianity is too high. you most likely have to be born into a christian family (unless some traumatic event makes you believe taking it to jesus can help you). then you have to believe: jesus rose from the dead having died for your sins, jesus is the 'son' of god, obey old jewish commandments (except the ones jesus 'fulfilled'), then after your boring life you have to go to heaven & praise god forever with the only diversion being watching the sinners burn.
Christianity gained a foothold in Korea before any missionary set foot there.It was brought back to Korea by educated elites on their annual buying trip to Peking for books. Ni-seung-houn return to Peking in 1784, was baptize "Peter" and returned home to spread the faith. Never noticed any obsessiveness among Buddhists about money. No doubt there is some. But in over a decade in the free Tibet movement and importing Buddhist ritual items, I never saw it. The growth of Christianity in the developing world is explosive. In 1900 there were 10 million in Africa, today there are 360 million--over 45 % of the population. More Christians are baptized in the Philippines every year than in Italy, Poland, France and Spain combined. There are 480 million Christians in Latin America and over 300 million in Asia--around 2 billion worldwide. The explosive grow in the faith is not from Christains having kids. It is from conversions.
being born into a developing country could be described as traumatic, hence these conversions are covered under the 'formula' i gave. :bugeye:
Met lots of very happy untraumatized people--poor, doing OK or wealthy-- in developing countries. What is fascinating is the type of Christainity which is growing in say, Nigeria, for instance. It has more in common with medival Catholicism, Luther and Calvin than it does with the church in the West. The idea of Christendom--as was found in medieval city states and principalities--as unifying force is also appearing in the global south. Most African states, for instance, are artifical. But the faith unifies those within the state and between states.
It's a great thing that unifies people. Unfortunately it often seems to lead to crusades and jihads against those "on the outside". Wouldn't it be better to feel unified not by a specific religious doctrine but by things we all share: our confusion and fears, our dread of death and loss, our hopes for love, for recognition, for justice, our loneliness, our struggles, our fondness for the little things we treasure and our loved ones, and our strong sense of something beyond the "ratrace", Soul, God, Atman, Buddha-nature, Universe, Mother-Earth, or whatever infuses our lives with deeper meaning...
Difficult to make the case Christainity leads to crusades as the last crusade was in 1270 A.D. It was directed at those who had invaded Christian land, were persecuting Christians and blocking access to Christian Holy sites. Now the nation state, that is another matter. But one cannot claim that because a nation is Christian that is why those wars occurred. Even the so-called "religious wars" in Europe between the 16th and early 18th centuries were more about the formation of nation states than denomination against denomination. Catholics and Protestants often fought on the same sides against rival states. The English saw the American Revolution, in large part, as religious war. And it partially was--more so in the north than the south. But had parliament not declared absolute sovereignty over all matters (blasphemy to New England protestants), that aspect would have evaporated and war over trade and taxes eventually occurred.
I have a lot of respect for Christianity and Christians. The point I was trying to make was that even words like "Christian", "Buddhist", "Muslim", etc, separate people. You must've been reading different history texts to me, Muhlenberg, but that's not so important. Look how divided the world is today! Sure, even Bin Laden says it's more about politics and "American aggression", but religious divisions continue to fuel and support many conflicts around the globe. I wouldn't dream of denying that Christianity carries precious spiritual messages, that's not the point. The point is our need for an identity, for a label. Or if not, then a vehement rejection of these and everything associated with them. We create camps, then we fight each other, we hate and kill, in the name of god. It's not just them (!)
Sure. But that is what others are doing as well. Jews Muslims, Christians are what they are because they believe it. Just as you are. So...go out and convince everyone your way is the correct way. I'm not being facetious about it. My message is one of not denigrating faith (unless one zooms off into the danger zone). Rarely get involved in intra-Christian disputes.Never get involved in the disputes within other faiths.I do go after human based pseudo-religions such as marxism, fascism, objectivism, secular humanism and so on. But they are always on the attack against people of faith. I support Christianity because my culture is based upon it, the history is rich and there is almost some angle to it there for everyone if one looks. With two billion Christains in the world (vs 1.3 Muslims) it has the best shot to be a truly small "C" catholic faith.
"vs" means "against" - do you see how it inevitably creeps in? We don't just slide into regigious prejudice and conflict "accidently", the very setup predisposes us to it! I'm not about convincing people my way is the correct way. There are many peoples and many ways. But these ways often have pitfalls that people aren't aware of. They aren't really questioning.
How do you know if they are questioning or not? And why is it any of your business anyways? To claim "they" don't know the pitfalls of their faith is well....a broad statement. And how would you know anyways? All religions can be tore to shreds from the outside. Your philosophy certain isn't perfect. Seems to me you simply don't like to hear some people express their faith unless they agree what you want them to say and think.
Forgot to address your claim that "they" aren't really "questioning". Again, seems to be you say that because they don't see what you see. Very elitist and patronizing to claim anyone does not search their soul.
I Just made copies of the religion and distrubuted it using file sharing software over internet , Am I in trouble ?
And Yet the shameless GOD dosent Show up in Olympics Games and declare a New United Religion for all and End Our Agony.
