Religious Nationalism in the US

[Kenny]

Okay, you just said all teens are basically the same, apparently not realizing we're not talking about 13 year-olds in this thread.

The idea that one must have children of their very own in order to understand these topics is silly and a total diversion. There are many children in my life that I care deeply about. I even used to be a child myself! I even made a point about that in one of my posts, in the part that you completely ignored. And guess what? I care about ALL children, not just the ones that are related to me.

Great... then take care of those who are under your authority, (I'm sorry, you don't have any), love those who are not but always under the authority and direction of the parents (unless it is abusive)

 

[Colt]

Where have i said anything such thing?


This is surely what you want the world to believe, and some theists are at peace. But there is a lack of consistency among theists in this regard. Look at the far right Christians who lack empathy and tolerance for those they condemn, like gays, minorities, and liberals. Such Christians do not follow what Jesus taught. If you can’t admit this then you have some work to do.


Then what is the source of Jesus’ suffering that believers keep going on about? As noted he had God’s wisdom, so what gives? Just another bogus claim?


I’m not convinced. Prove it.

The Son of God came down from his glory in heaven and lived the human life. he knows what it's like to be human.

Atheists often have a long list of the faults of some religious people as a self-deceiving excuse not to search for God within themselves.

Spiritually lazy demands that others prove God for them. I find God quite on my own without demanding others somehow prove the subjective experience of God consciousness.

 

[SomeRandom]

The Egyptians built tombs for the afterlife.

* In Shinto, a religion indigenous to Japan, the concept of salvation is based on the belief that all living things have an essence, soul or spirit known as "kami." Rather than living in a glorified Heaven, kami live among us. Some kami are more powerful than others. Some are even deified. But all kami must be honored. People who die violently, lead unhappy lives, or have no family to care for their kami become hungry ghosts, causing trouble for the living.

* Hinduism includes belief in an afterlife among its basic tenets of the religion. The Hindu belief in an afterlife is a foundational aspect of the religion.

* Buddhism is a religion without a God which is an absurdity. They just believe in death and have a selfish desire to escape suffering in life. Thats about it.

Umm I don’t know if I’d go as far as to call the Hindu belief in the afterlife (itself merely temporary at best, since the atman is believed to merely attain that status until the next cycle in rebirth) a fundamental aspect of the religion. The endless cycle of rebirth and death maybe. But even that can differ depending on the tradition.
The goal is to actually, in a sense, I guess “become one with divinity.” There isn’t really an afterlife, it’s trying to realise the true nature of the divinity within.
Again depending on who you talk to

 

[Colt]

Having an afterlife doesn't mean there is a salvation. Like the Celts, who had no concept of salvation but did believe in reincarnation.
And how nice of you to tell us your true feelings about Buddhism. I'm sure some will be happy to tell you about how absurd your own religion is.

Buddhism is a religion without a God, facts aren't feelings. Did you not know that?

 

[Colt]

Umm I don’t know if I’d go as far as to call the Hindu belief in the afterlife (itself merely temporary at best, since the atman is believed to merely attain that status until the next cycle in rebirth) a fundamental aspect of the religion. The endless cycle of rebirth and birth maybe. But even that can differ depending on the tradition.
The goal is to actually, in a sense, I guess “become one with divinity.” There isn’t really an afterlife, it’s trying to realise the true nature of the divinity within.
Again depending on who you talk to

Point is, a continuation of life in some form as opposed to final death.

 

[Colt]

What is this, a contest now? Why are you trying so hard to deflect the conversation?

For all you know, we've been nannies all our lives but never had children of our own. Or we specialized in the psychology of childhood development.

He enjoyed his life, lived it to the fullest, and didn't really have many regrets about it. Now we get all kinds of theists doing exactly what he said they'd do, after he died.

Anyhoo, perhaps we could get back to the topic of the thread, despite your obsession with the dude.

Just more rope-a-dope. You made yet another bogus claim that needed fixing. I responded directly to your false claims.

 

[SomeRandom]

Point it, a continuation of life in some form as opposed to final death.

I mean if you squint at it I guess
Rebirth is actually not the desired outcome. Because it means you haven’t attained true “inner peace” yet and have to try again
Final death as it were is the goal, in all honesty

 

[Colt]

I mean if you squint at it I guess
Rebirth is actually not the desired outcome. Because it means you haven’t attained true “inner peace” yet and have to try again

Is the "self" still in existence?

 

[SomeRandom]

Is the "self" still in existence?

Hmm good question
The answer though….is probably above my pay grade in all honesty lol.

Which basically means I’m not entirely sure, can I get back to you?

I do know that different traditions teach different things. Which is honestly the norm for Hinduism as it’s more like a collection of differing spiritual traditions rather than a unified religion like the Abrahamics.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Buddhism is a religion without a God, facts aren't feelings. Did you not know that?

You said they dont have a god (which itself isn't entirely accurate), and the opinion is when you said that is absurd. No, it's not. That's your opinion, and it's a crappy one at that.

 

[Colt]

You said they dont have a god (which itself isn't entirely accurate), and the opinion is when you said that is absurd. No, it's not. That's your opinion, and it's a crappy one at that.

A religion without a God is like beer with no alcohol, what's the point?

Reminds me of the Unitarian Universalist church where some Atheists go....for something?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

1) Who said "Sex ed" was bad? I didn't

Yes, you did. You don't get to say something and then say "I didn't say that."

2) It is the "porn" education that I am talking about - examples are abundant (if you want them like the post I gave)

See? You just did it again. Sex ed is, guess what? Going to cover sex topics and information. That includes what things look like and how they function. That doesn't make it porn, no matter how many prudish Christians insist it is.

3) I am not talking about the reproductive understanding

You can't separate that. It's why sex ed is so important, because we humans like to do it but it can have some major, life altering effects such as pregnancy.

 

[SkepticThinker]

It's just to silence people when they know they've lost. It's to silence someone when a better reply is not immediately available. It's to silence disagreement, and it's very rude.
I've changed diapers, lost nights of sleep, been there for health and illness, fears and excitements, school and extra curricular events, helped coach sports teams, been there for crushes and heart aches, gave sex talks, so, yeah, that crap is just to silence me especially as I have the education and professional experience to form a better foundation for my views. Doesn't matter, they say. They think I just don't understand. Yeah, actually I do.
Interesting story, had an eight-year-old client, and a few us strongly suspected the client is homosexual. Ok, so maybe those of us who saw this where LGBT of some sort but we picked up on this and that, pieced things together and yeah, turns out the client is homosexual and we saw the struggles of internal turmoil and conflict of realizing this difference and difficulties in accepting and coming to terms with that.
But no, I don't understand.

Well said! And agreed. Just because people don't have their very own children doesn't mean they haven't taken care of children in some meaningful way, don't have any in their lives, and don't care about them as much as someone with kids does. You're right, it's just a rude dismissal.

Keep up the good work, by they way.

 

[Colt]

Do Buddhists believe in God?

"In a word, no. There is no divine creator god or supreme being in the Buddhist teachings, so that Buddhism is often called a nontheistic religion. The historical Buddha began as an ordinary person, who gained awakening by training his own mind and apprehending the true nature of reality. His enlightenment wasn’t bestowed through communion with a superior, external force but through his own efforts. And that’s a major point of the Buddhist story. From the Buddhist point of view, a personal god isn’t necessary: we each have the raw material to achieve our own liberation.

Then again, most Buddhist traditions have a cosmology populated with deities and other supernatural beings. Even the earliest Buddhist texts refer to the Indian gods and metaphysical creatures who made up the spiritual milieu of the time. According to legend, the gods watched over the Buddha’s path—from past lives to enlightenment—and rejoiced on the night of his awakening. But it’s important to remember that in all these stories, the celestial beings themselves are caught up in the cycle of death and rebirth—they may have extraordinary powers, but they haven’t reached the Buddha’s level of attainment."

Do Buddhists believe in God?

 

[SkepticThinker]

Just more rope-a-dope. You made yet another bogus claim that needed fixing. I responded directly to your false claims.

Uh huh. Tell us again about how we're the miserable angry ones.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

A religion without a God is like beer with no alcohol, what's the point?

If it's a good beer, even without alcohol it'll still pair well with a good burger.

Reminds me of the Unitarian Universalist church where some Atheists go....for something?

Why don't you ask them? If I recall correctly we even have some church going atheists here.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Just because people don't have their very own children doesn't mean they haven't taken care of children in some meaningful way, don't have any in their lives, and don't care about them as much as someone with kids does.

Yup. You don't have to actually have your own kids to understand. There's many ways to have kids in your life without doing anything to make one. It makes me wonder if they'd apply enough follow through to say parents who adopt don't understand?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Point is, a continuation of life in some form as opposed to final death.

And that inherently must involve a salvation, why?

 

[SomeRandom]

And that inherently must involve a salvation, why?

Technically speaking final death is the true goal in a lot of Dharmic paths.
Or salvation if you like, though that’s probably more akin to a wonky translation lol
(Not speaking for all, since I sincerely don’t know what every path teaches.)

 

[Colt]

And that inherently must involve a salvation, why?

Saved from death.