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And that's the point...that you think you have the only way. That's just ego talking.
I agree. I'm not immune. I have sin, and will this side of Heaven. Only Jesus deals with it. Buddhism has no answer to the problem of sin other than to tell you to try harder.
I agree. I'm not immune. I have sin, and will this side of Heaven. Only Jesus deals with it. Buddhism has no answer to the problem of sin other than to tell you to try harder.
That's just your anti-other-religion perspective. You're a hater.
Hey Phet, is there anything in Buddhism that is characterized as "sin"? I was thinking sin is a Christianity/man made concept.
I don't think we use the word "sin", but then again we are talking about an English word, rather than a Pali word.
We have the Five Precepts that define 'moral behavior' in Buddhism:
Abstain from killing
Abstain from stealing
Abstain from sexual misconduct
Abstain from wrong speech
Abstain from the use of intoxicating substances that cause inattention
They are not commandments, because they are not imposed on people. They are the path to reducing or eliminating suffering for oneself and others. But what is moral behavior? In Buddhism these virtues are not just do this, do that. They get down to the underlying motive of intent.
Perhaps it explains why I consider the logicality re: a theist’s right to believe what they want as relative to our right not to profess a religion or believe in a god. Nevertheless, it does not explain (some of the posts in) this thread. :-)
Yes theists have the right to believe in a God or in their own religion. However some if the theists believes they get from their religiin is directly or indirectly affectingbothers and society in negative ways. Plus for some theists they view those of othe rreligions or of no religion in negative sterotypes.
Discussions or even arguing with some theists force both them and ourselves to view a subject in acdiffetent light. Yes some theists and atheists have no interest in viewing a topic in a fifferent light but others do and hence forums exist
Yeah ya think? I mean even if for the sake of argument it were true that the son went "straight to hell" why would you feel the need to RUB IT IN? That is just deliberate cruelty, and in my book, in a just universe people would go "straight to hell" for that before they went there for being in despair.
I think a lot of this black-and-white rigid thinking about suicide and depression represents a desire to deny that life is objectively difficult in a world that is obviously full of problems and problematic persons, full of grief, sorrow, loneliness, betrayal and confusion. Because that leads to a conclusion that is intolerable to fundamentalists: their faith isn't some simple fix for all this. It is not some magic silver bullet that puts psychiatrists out of business and makes all personal problems trivial if not entirely gone and replaces it with "the joy of the Lord". After all that is the value proposition they argue to prospective converts: are you sad and lost and unhappy? Jesus is the answer, my friend!
This is why they need to eject people with too many or too persistent problems from full fellowship. In my experience you got empathy and support for relatively minor difficulties, or for more major ones so long as they were transient and tidily resolved in fairly short order and can become the basis for some triumphalist narrative in your personal testimony. But if you had unspeakable loss or tragedy or -- worse -- difficulty coping with seemingly ordinary challenges then you become a Problem and start getting Lectured. Buck up and tow the line. And if you don't, you are a backslider. We're supposed to be busy living the Victorious Christian Life (tm) here! Get with the program! -- That's the subtext.
So a lot of everyday life in such circles is everyone trying to jack up each other's mood (often in unconvincing ways) or else just keeping their problems to themselves because you can't show weakness / lack of faith by being sad or unhappy in any ongoing way. You have found the capital-A Answer to capital-L Life and that's your story and you're sticking to it.
Your insights into the fundamentalist mindset are truly awesome, mordant. You missed your calling.
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Your insights into the fundamentalist mindset are truly awesome, mordant. You missed your calling. 
