If you could choose...

[SelfAppointedGunslinger]

To be honest I don't want to live forever, as in I hope my existence ends when I die. Eternal rest basically.

 

[Arseface]

In the reincarnation belief system there are only a 'set' amount of souls.

Who says? Weirder things have happened.

 

[TRA Rotid]

That's the beauty of Buddhism: it doesn't tell you how to live your life unless you're giving it your consent.

I really like Buddhism. Now, don't get me wrong, I like my sex, meat and material possessions far too much to become a Buddhist

What?

 

[Tsuyu]

What?

The keyword here is consent. Only if you are a Buddhist do those things apply to you and if you're not a Buddhist there is nobody out there who wants to force you to become one. It is entirely up to you if you want to give up on earthly pleasures and material goods to seek enlightenment.

Unlike Christianity/Islam where you're going to hell for not being a Christian/Muslim and believing in Jeebus/Pedohammed.

 

[queenofdisco]

I know this is just a theoretical topic but...
In the reincarnation belief system there are only a 'set' amount of souls.

You can come back as human or animal. Or when you achieve the 'right' life you just stay dead and become one with every thing sorta' deal. If that where true, the human population would only decrease due to the amount of people

Never heard of the limited souls idea.

But they're are actually six things you can come back as;
-A God; these are the highest form you can attain outside of a truly enlightened soul, the gods live the longest and have the easiest chance to attain enlightenment.
-Titans; These guys are lower down and are generally pretty angry and full of jealously.
-The realm of the hungry ghosts; being born as one of these is bad its a sign you were addicted to something, obsessed or full of compulsion.
-Hell; fairly obvious one this, this is where people like hitler, popes, terrorists, and justin bieber go aka the lowest realm you can get into, the punishment isn't eternal, you'll eventually die after paying off your sins against fellow souls.(far more mature than Abraham's hell I may add)
-Animal; to come back as an animal can do no good, it is a realm of stupidty and ignorance as they cannot concieve of the divine or deity.
-Human; is the second best realm to attain enlightenment as one can hope to escape the wheel of re-incarnation in this life, but can also fall deeper into a negative realm should they commit any immoral things.

Outside of the wheel of re-incarnation is Yama the demon whom is lord of death, he 'controls' the wheel. And looking down at Yama and his wheel is the Buddha who has attained true enlightenment supposedly.

​

In the middle of the wheel is a picture of a snake, a pig and a rooster this is called the 3 fires which are the cause of all suffering; greed, ignorance & hatred they are shown biting each others tails reinforcing their vice upon each other.​

 

[TRA Rotid]

The keyword here is consent. Only if you are a Buddhist do those things apply to you and if you're not a Buddhist there is nobody out there who wants to force you to become one. It is entirely up to you if you want to give up on earthly pleasures and material goods to seek enlightenment.

Unlike Christianity/Islam where you're going to hell for not being a Christian/Muslim and believing in Jeebus/Pedohammed.

So what exactly forbids me from following the Christian code of morals without abiding by the restrictions that come with the full fate?
You're only saying here that Christian "truebelievers" condemn you to a made up afterlife of pain and torture for not adobting their full fate - something a semi-follower shouldn't care about anyway.

 

[Tsuyu]

Again, what followers believe doesn't really matter. The religion itself clearly states its views on non-believers.

 

[queenofdisco]

Again, what followers believe doesn't really matter.

Therein lies the irony that if you follow of these three religions but don't adhere to all of it, you are commiting heresy for which yada yada yada eternal hellfire in the afterlife as well as the chance of being persecuted, burnt alive, beheaded, or hanged from having alternative beliefs.

Many people call themselves 'christian' but don't follow the terms and conditions, as well there are far too many to remember on a daily basis, and in so people are sinning against their religion without realizing it.

You can say you only follow parts of it but don't literally believe in it, but to do so is heretical and therefore you misewell believe in something which isn't so judgmental and orderly. As with Christians who believe in science, this co-operation between science and scripture cannot exist at all.

For if genesis isn't true then there is no original sin for which immanuel Jesus had to be sacrificed, making christianity redundant. But if you just follow the tenents of Jesus you might as well just become a stoic or a buddhist or a hindu leaving aside all the hateful pro-Judaism beliefs he told you to adhere to as well. Jesus says you can't believe in the new testament without believing in the old so he is promoting the barbarism of the last two dozen books

 

[TRA Rotid]

Again, what followers believe doesn't really matter. The religion itself clearly states its views on non-believers.

Why not? You're essentially trying to cherrypick all the troublesome things that come with being a follower and compare it with things that make any religion worthwile (how to be a good person). Practitioners are what make religion happen, not some thousands of years old book. Times change, people change.
Naturally, comparing two Christians can be like comparing night and day and Christianity has had the misfortune of becoming a major social and/or political institution; and I'm not even trying to say one is better than the other - purely by examples, Christians have done more harm than Buddhists I would imagine.

What I'm saying is - if you don't find that Buddhism prohibiting meat, sex and material possessions violates your rights as a human, why would the Christian belief that all nonbelievers go to Hell do?

Therein lies the irony that if you follow of these three religions but don't adhere to all of it, you are commiting heresy for which yada yada yada eternal hellfire in the afterlife as well as the chance of being persecuted, burnt alive, beheaded, or hanged from having alternative beliefs.

Are you serious? Are we actually talking about burning people alive, beheading and hanging in the year 2012?
And no, it's not heresy, Christians would call it "being on the road to redemption" (I knew a fanatic Christian woman who said exactly that, she never called someone a heretic). Glass half full or half empty?

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

I'll probably have had enough of life by then. Moar atheism pl0x.

Oh, looks like a religion debate sprung up. nothxkbye

 

[Tsuyu]

What I'm saying is - if you don't find that Buddhism prohibiting meat, sex and material possessions violates your rights as a human, why would the Christian belief that all nonbelievers go to Hell do?

Are you really asking this? Really? You can't tell the difference? One is entirely voluntary and the other is not. Night and day.

Why not? You're essentially trying to cherrypick all the troublesome things that come with being a follower and compare it with things that make any religion worthwile (how to be a good person).

No. What I am saying is that even if the followers try and whitewash their religion, it is what it is. Islam wants to conquer the world, plain and simple. Christianity wants eternal torment for everyone not in their club. In this regard I respect people like Westbourough Baptist Church because they are not hypocrites who just "cherrypick" (see what I did there?) the aspect of their religion that are social acceptable.

No, God Hates Fags and everyone else will go to hell, they claim. That is the true face of Christianity, like it or not. If you just choose the good aspects of Christianity you are a friggin' hypocrite - accept your vile religion for what it is.

That is why I dislike Christians, no matter how nice they make themselves out to be, deep down they hate me to such a degree that they wish eternal torture on me.

Eternal.

Torture.

 

[TRA Rotid]

Are you really asking this? Really? You can't tell the difference? One is entirely voluntary and the other is not. Night and day.

I think I didn't quite understand you there. First you're saying that you aren't a Buddhist because you want meat, sex and material possessions. Then you say even with these things you can be a Buddhist. Makes no sense.

No. What I am saying is that even if the followers try and whitewash their religion, it is what it is. Islam wants to conquer the world, plain and simple. Christianity wants eternal torment for everyone not in their club. In this regard I respect people like Westbourough Baptist Church because they are not hypocrites who just "cherrypick" (see what I did there?) the aspect of their religion that are social acceptable.

No, God Hates Fags and everyone else will go to hell, they claim. That is the true face of Christianity, like it or not. If you just choose the good aspects of Christianity you are a friggin' hypocrite - accept your vile religion for what it is.

That's what's wrong with people's perceptions. It's not the year 500 anymore; the world has long since changed along with everything else - religion included. Just because the Bible hasn't been rewritten to today's standards, doesn't mean every single Christian takes it 100% seriously.
Now if I understand you correctly, the Westbourough Baptist Church is some oldschool extremist Christian group. You're only "supporting" them because they fit your image of a Christian - that is, close minded, bigoted and extremely outdated people who have, to put it simply, failed to evolve.
Except religion is everything but black and white - and that's what I think you don't want to understand. You're basically claiming that you know everything about what Christianity is and what it stands for simply because you read an adventure story on the Bible (or from any other source).

That is why I dislike Christians, no matter how nice they make themselves out to be, deep down they hate me to such a degree that they wish eternal torture on me.

Eternal.

Torture.

Yeah I'm really hoping you're don't actually mean that. Don't ever assume you know what people think or feel.
It's also quite funny you supporting Buddhism yet seem to have a deep hate against any Abrahamic religion on par with what you're making them out to be.

 

[Tsuyu]

You just don't get it, do you? That's fine, I guess. It was getting off-topic anyhow.

 

[TRA Rotid]

Yeh, I could say the same. Fine then.

 

[HobbeBrain]

Therein lies the irony that if you follow of these three religions but don't adhere to all of it, you are commiting heresy for which yada yada yada eternal hellfire in the afterlife as well as the chance of being persecuted, burnt alive, beheaded, or hanged from having alternative beliefs.

Many people call themselves 'christian' but don't follow the terms and conditions, as well there are far too many to remember on a daily basis, and in so people are sinning against their religion without realizing it.

You can say you only follow parts of it but don't literally believe in it, but to do so is heretical and therefore you misewell believe in something which isn't so judgmental and orderly. As with Christians who believe in science, this co-operation between science and scripture cannot exist at all.

For if genesis isn't true then there is no original sin for which immanuel Jesus had to be sacrificed, making christianity redundant. But if you just follow the tenents of Jesus you might as well just become a stoic or a buddhist or a hindu leaving aside all the hateful pro-Judaism beliefs he told you to adhere to as well. Jesus says you can't believe in the new testament without believing in the old so he is promoting the barbarism of the last two dozen books

Thing about you is, you know your s**t better than the people who are religious...

 

[Tsuyu]

Thing about you is, you know your s**t better than the people who are religious...

The Devil knows the Bible like the back of his hand, they say.

Or at least Tom Waits says so.

 

[Angel]

That is why I dislike Christians.

 

[Tsuyu]

Sorry Sharon, but people believing that after I die I'll get tortured for all eternity sorta makes it hard for me to like them. No matter how much I like or love them personally, that particular aspect of their character is always there, gnawing at the back of my mind. The local priest where I live is a decent chap, but I can barely resist the urge of giving him the finger every time I see him because of what he represents.

I wish it wasn't so, but it is what it is.... because I like you. A lot. However, when my thoughts travel in that direction, I feel all sorta.... dunno. Down.

 

[Gikoku]

Sorry Sharon, but people believing that after I die I'll get tortured for all eternity sorta makes it hard for me to like them. No matter how much I like or love them personally, that particular aspect of their character is always there, gnawing at the back of my mind. The local priest where I live is a decent chap, but I can barely resist the urge of giving him the finger every time I see him because of what he represents.

I wish it wasn't so, but it is what it is....

And what makes you think every single Christian thinks that? Just because somebody follows a religion doesn't mean they completely represent everything that it stands for. It is their choice to follow it how they wish. To think such a thing is true for all of them is completely ridiculous in my opinion. It is never wise to generalize.

 

[Tsuyu]

Because if they didn't, they wouldn't be Christians. To be a Christian means you believe in The Bible which is rather harsh in it's treatment of unbelievers (as well as human beings in general). On a personal level there might be Christians who do not believe in it, but they represents a religion that does.