Which Eastern Religion Makes Most Sense?

[Bishka]

Buddhism - because other then my current faith - it's the one that I'm most comfortable with and sets me at ease.

 

[Random]

Some might suggest that asking which Eastern religion makes the most sense demonstrates a Western bias: if you see a sensible Buddha on the road, kill him.

:biglaugh: Very good.

Buddhism is in vogue right now, besides being the most sensible of very sensible bunch: in the West, Buddhism is coming to be seen as having set the philosophical precedent for the scientific method, naturalism, evolution and all sorts of things.

Gautama Buddha's assertion that belief is only valid if verifiable in ones own experience earned it my vote though.

 

[lilithu]

Very nice!!!:clap

How ironic it is to see that most people in the western hemisphere seem to forget that Christianity ,very much, has it's roots in and is still very much an "eastern religion". I was afraid that I was going to have to affirm that fact until I saw your post. Well done Djamila.

Sincerely,
SoliDeoGloria

Like James pointed out, it kinda depends on what one means by "Eastern." Do you think it's ironic for a person of Chinese descent to think that Christianity does not count as "Eastern" when compared to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Gautama Buddha's assertion that belief is only valid if verifiable in ones own experience earned it my vote though.

All delusion is "verifiable in ones own experience".

 

[SoliDeoGloria]

Do you think it's ironic for a person of Chinese descent to think that Christianity does not count as "Eastern" when compared to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism?

That would be even more ironic when considering the actual facts, which still are that Christianity has it's roots in and is still very much an "eastern religion" that has been widely adopted by the west. What I find ironic about most people in the western hemisphere taking that position is that it is more of a cultural phenomina then anything else, it doesn't represent the facts at all.

Sincerely,
SoliDeoGloria

 

[Snowbear]

Which Eastern religion makes the most sense to you, and why?

A. Buddhism
B. Hinduism
C. Taoism
D. Other (please specify)
E. They all make a great deal of sense.
F. None of them make sense.

It seems you named these 3 'Eastern Religions' for this poll because they are the best known ones. I'm curious though, why did you not include Christianity as a specific choice?

 

[Hacker]

It seems you named these 3 'Eastern Religions' for this poll because they are the best known ones. I'm curious though, why did you not include Christianity as a specific choice?

Probably cause Christianity doesn't MAKE any sense...i'm sorry I'm not trying to sound blunt AND there is some good teachings in the holy bible, but the concet of hell makes me upset and THAT doesn't make sense (to me anyhow )and that's why ANY religion that doesn't include that concept(hell) is more appreciated in most cases, and i know you weren't talking to me but I think that's why...however, I never knew that Christianity was considered an "Eastern" religion anyhow.

 

[Snowbear]

...however, I never knew that Christianity was considered an "Eastern" religion anyhow.

Many folks don't. But it DID originate in the middle east

 

[Hacker]

Many folks don't. But it DID originate in the middle east

Oh, well you learn something new everyday!hehe

 

[James the Persian]

Probably cause Christianity doesn't MAKE any sense...i'm sorry I'm not trying to sound blunt AND there is some good teachings in the holy bible, but the concet of hell makes me upset and THAT doesn't make sense (to me anyhow )and that's why ANY religion that doesn't include that concept(hell) is more appreciated in most cases, and i know you weren't talking to me but I think that's why...however, I never knew that Christianity was considered an "Eastern" religion anyhow.

OK, don't know if you're aware of this (and I'm not sure about the other religions mentioned) but there certainly is a hell in Buddhism. It's not permanent (but a number of Christian churches and/or thinkers have argued that hell is not eternal either) but it is there. It seems that your reason why Christianity doesn't make sense whereas eastern religions do is based on a faulty premise. Of course, if you mean eternal damnation as a punishment from God rather than just hell, you have a point and, in fact, I'd totally agree with you, but that is not a universal belief amongst Christians.

James

 

[Hacker]

OK, don't know if you're aware of this (and I'm not sure about the other religions mentioned) but there certainly is a hell in Buddhism. It's not permanent (but a number of Christian churches and/or thinkers have argued that hell is not eternal either) but it is there. It seems that your reason why Christianity doesn't make sense whereas eastern religions do is based on a faulty premise. Of course, if you mean eternal damnation as a punishment from God rather than just hell, you have a point and, in fact, I'd totally agree with you, but that is not a universal belief amongst Christians.

James

Well then we agree! Punishment for not BELIEVING in some sadistic behavior directed to his only son as some spiritual meaning also.

 

[James the Persian]

Well then we agree! Punishment for not BELIEVING in some sadistic behavior directed to his only son as some spiritual meaning also.

We believe in neither eternal damnation for simply not believing in Christ nor the sadistic behaviour you describe (by which I suppose you mean the 'God was so offended by Adam's sin that the only way He could forgive mankind was to have the blood of His Son' idea known as substitutionary atonement), and yet we are the next largest Christian church after the RCC, so you can se that your impression of what Christians believe is far from representative of the truth.

James

 

[Hacker]

We believe in neither eternal damnation for simply not believing in Christ nor the sadistic behaviour you describe (by which I suppose you mean the 'God was so offended by Adam's sin that the only way He could forgive mankind was to have the blood of His Son' idea known as substitutionary atonement), and yet we are the next largest Christian church after the RCC, so you can se that your impression of what Christians believe is far from representative of the truth.

James

What truth?

 

[James the Persian]

What truth?

What I mean is that the truth, with regards to what Christians believe, is much more complex than can be addressed in such broad-brushed terms as 'Christianity makes no sense'. What you say may be (indeed, in my opinion, is) true of some subsections of Christianity but clearly is not true for all. There are many, many Christians who would look at your comments and react, much as I'm doing, by suggesting that what you say doesn't make sense indeed does not but that they, whilst Christian, do not adhere to those beliefs either.

James

 

[lilithu]

That would be even more ironic when considering the actual facts, which still are that Christianity has it's roots in and is still very much an "eastern religion" that has been widely adopted by the west. What I find ironic about most people in the western hemisphere taking that position is that it is more of a cultural phenomina then anything else, it doesn't represent the facts at all.

Sincerely,
SoliDeoGloria

All you are doing is repeating exactly what you said before, without presenting any facts either. What do you mean by "Eastern"? Are you saying that Christianity came from China or India, etc?

 

[lilithu]

Many folks don't. But it DID originate in the middle east

That's what I thought you guys were getting at. As someone of Chinese descent it seems extremely Western-centric to me for people to be calling the Middle East "Eastern" when what the OP was clearly refering to were religions which came from the East, not the Middle East. It would be like if someone asked what our favorite "Western" states were in the U.S. and someone on the East Coast insisted that Missouri is a valid answer because it's in the "Mid-West."


And to my fellow UU, please remember that this thread is not the place to be criticizing Christianity (or any other religion).

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

That's what I thought you guys were getting at. As someone of Chinese descent it seems extremely Western-centric to me for people to be calling the Middle East "Eastern" when what the OP was clearly refering to were religions which came from the East, not the Middle East.

:clap Exactly! :clap

 

[d.]

taoism, obviously.

in fact it is the only religion that makes any sense to me at all, since its teachings very sensibly avoids metaphysical speculation or 'the supernatural'.

 

[d.]

i must admit i have some trouble telling these people apart.

 

[James the Persian]

That's what I thought you guys were getting at. As someone of Chinese descent it seems extremely Western-centric to me for people to be calling the Middle East "Eastern" when what the OP was clearly refering to were religions which came from the East, not the Middle East. It would be like if someone asked what our favorite "Western" states were in the U.S. and someone on the East Coast insisted that Missouri is a valid answer because it's in the "Mid-West."

I agree entirely, which is why I asked for clarification. I must admit, though, that when I think of eastern and western religions, I think less of geography and more of certain systems of thought. That's why I will stand by my conviction that Orthodox Christianity is truly Middle Eastern in the sense that certain aspects of our theology are certainly more in line with truly eastern thought whilst others are clearly more western. Whether, then, you choose to categorise it as eastern or western, in my opinion, is merely a matter of perspective. Having grown up in a fairly rationalistic and analytic Protestant church and then later practiced Tibetan Buddhism for several years, I think I can fairly suggest that a Protestant might consider it eastern whilst a Buddhist would consider it western. Both would be right, from their own perspective.

James