yes, the eightfold path is a blueprint for enlightenment. but nowhere in buddhist text has there ever been a statement that our way is the only way and others should be enlisted to follow this path. The buddha and all buddha's and bodhisatvas beliefs were put in writing and offered as a guide to enlightenment. Those that came to it are always given a choice, and there has never been a war, or even a broken finger nail over the expansion of buddhism and the aquisition of money, property prestige or power. darn it I forgot the last part of your post and I can't see it right now, but I never said what I had to say was outside of this topic. Just because buddhism does not spawn a whole lot of fanatasism, doesn't mean it doesn't have a place in a discussion of religion and fanatasism. We just are the fanatics...we are too busy lighting incense, taking refuge and searching for peace for ourselves and for the world to fight :)

What information can you provide that affirms atheism is not.... a system of beliefs concerning the presence and nature of the divine or metaphysical? (paraphrased...)

i meant to say that we just are not the fanatics

LoriZ

"As buddhists we try not to depend on a deity to take care of things that we can take care of on our own by looking at our actions and deciding what the heck we did to bring whatever is going on, on ourselves. its all about god helps those that help themselves!"

The last part comes from the Christian Bible and yes you are correct God helps those who help themselves. By your wording, I know you weren't meaning to be rude but something was off a little.

I don't see myself as "depending" on God to take care of things, but I know he can do the impossible. Majority of life is doing things by yourself with the guidance and strength from God...

You know what I mean.

ok bored i agree my wording was inconsiderate and I really didn't mean it that way. I understand taking strength and support from your belief, and I never meant to imply anything negative. I'm sorry if I made you feel that I did, I would have never wanted that.

LoriZ

I didnt accuse Buddhism of not being passive. It is. There have been some tumultuous times, though.

LoriZ

I didnt accuse Buddhism of not being passive. It is. There have been some tumultuous times, though.

It's all good. I was like "eh?"

I'm not helpless and lazy. God is a provider of abundant blessings but he does not accept laziness (sloth). There are many scriptures that show how God approves tremendously on hard work.

although I have to add here that I have known some people that tell me "i put my life in gods hands" now that is fine and I don't mean to imply anything more, but these people I have known make the statement, "i accept christ as my personal savior" then "i put my life in gods hands" and then they sit there and wait. There whole life could be crumbling around them, yet they sit and wait for god to intervene. God can not get you out of the house to find a job, although he can be there to support and guide when things get hard, god is not going to put food in your refrigerator, but through prayer and actually getting off of the couch to contact the agencies you need to help you food will land in your refrigerator. I think those are dangersous statements for some people who have had enough, they have been through some tough times, and then someone tells them, that is all you have to do, and they just assume it literally.

although I have to add here that I have known some people that tell me "i put my life in gods hands" now that is fine and I don't mean to imply anything more, but these people I have known make the statement, "i accept christ as my personal savior" then "i put my life in gods hands" and then they sit there and wait. There whole life could be crumbling around them, yet they sit and wait for god to intervene. God can not get you out of the house to find a job, although he can be there to support and guide when things get hard, god is not going to put food in your refrigerator, but through prayer and actually getting off of the couch to contact the agencies you need to help you food will land in your refrigerator. I think those are dangersous statements for some people who have had enough, they have been through some tough times, and then someone tells them, that is all you have to do, and they just assume it literally.

Like the subject of this thread emphasizes.."DON'T let a couple of people represent the ENTIRE group of people affiliated with a particular faith"

That doesn't represent what Christ is about just because you experienced that with like 2 people.I think you also misunderstood. "My life is in God's hands" means God direct all things and you can pray ...but WE HAVE to get up and work or search for a job. On you search is where you find blessings.

Actually Satanism was what I was thinking of when I mentioned I was speaking in a broad generalization. I'm not up on Satanism (although a major thread as I understand it is a foundation and worship of logic and curiosity, not necessarily Samahain and blood spilling. What many people think of as occult practices usually stem from cults rather than from established, mainstream religions)

sorry typos..It's time to get off the computer

no really I need to go

massage...

i do mix various degrees of the term, and that is my fault.

you have religion, but it's not A religion with a neat name, its A religion unqiue to your individual tailoring.


Atheism is religion, not A religion. Theism, in this sense, the opposite of Atheism, affirmiation in the existence of a divine power, not clarifying the nature of that divine power, again, is religion, not A religion. even theism as the complement to deism is religion, not A religion.

i am probably missing some key grammatical effect here that describes my interpretation of the word religion.

confusing? probably. I should get back to work.

everyone has religion. your form of atheism that you customize on personal experience and experience of those before you is YOUR religion.

tom..

i did say some forms, didnt i? and samhain is a bit different, still.

LoriZ it's like you know God can provide blessings but you also work for it. He create a plan for all of our lives but also gave us free will (independence) meaning we make our decisions

Sure did Papa smurf! LOL, Darn the sometimes lack of clarity due to lack of emotional context in digital communication

hitler in a dress still makes me smile.

>> What information can you provide that affirms atheism is not.... a system of beliefs concerning the presence and nature of the divine or metaphysical? (paraphrased...)

I'm guessing thats directed at me.

Strong atheism requires the belief in the non-existence of God. Any normal person with that belief will of course, being human, have their own personal system of beliefs concerning all of reality, including the nonexistence of the divine and metaphysical. You would like to use the word 'religion' for that simple fact, by a kind of phrase substitution... but their -religion- is not the atheism! There religion is that-system-of-beliefs-which-they-have, of which atheism is one way of categorizing, one quality. There is a connection between 'atheism' and the fact that their system-of-beliefs -includes- the belief in the non-existence of a God, but atheism itself is not the system-of-beliefs. That system of beliefs is entirely personal and unique to that person. You could say its an 'atheistic' system of beliefs, but you cannot say that 'system of beliefs' is atheism. Another atheist may have their own, separate system of beliefs.


Is theism a religion?

>> There religion is that-system-of-beliefs-which-they-have, of which atheism is one way of categorizing, one quality.

And that is said under the assumption that the phrase substitution is valid, assuming that we can truly say that -every- person has a religion, and, by this definition, that religion which every person has is also their -own- religion. So a Christian belongs to the religion of Christianity, and the Christian religion shapes strongly shapes their personal system-of-beliefs, but they would -also- have their own religion,since there are inescapably minutiae in each persons -complete- system of beliefs which are not identical to any others. So a Christian belongs to a larger religion, and has their own religion; two religions, for two different applications of the word.