whats with all the BvNB derivative topics in pHD nowadays?

anyway, personal IMHO, human being as a species still need religion. individual people may not need religion depending on their thinking.

here's to hoping human being as a species may one day do without the need of religion

if you look in history, religion is generally used to
1. explain the unknown/allay fear of the unknown
2. guide people to do good
3. give courage in times of uncertainty/fear

these are generally the positive aspect, i'll ignore the negative aspect such as compel people to obey a leader, etc

given point 1 to 3, religion is no longer needed when
1. knowledge increase and/or people no longer fear the unknown
2. people do good for the sake of doing good
3. people learn to control their fear and doubt

the majority of the negative emotions like fear/doubt/aggression/selfishness/territorialism/etc are instinctual remnants of evolution (if you believe in it) they stem from the lower portion of the brain (the reptilian brain - as coined by carl sagan) and is vital for survival in less civilized times (it is still vital, now, in some extent) religion, as i see it, serve to control and channel this portion of the brain.

accordingly, on top of this "reptilian brain" is your logical and analytical "thinking brain" or the cerebrum. many decision making is a contest between these two brains. religion will no longer be needed if the upper brain is able to fully suppress the lower brain and thus controlling the negative emotions and urges. perhaps at this point, the human race would achieve some form of "enlightenment" as coined by some religion

think about it, if you dont have religion, what place is there for "god"?

true, and religion shall still have its purpose for humanity so long as humanity is unable to find a solid "base" within itself. certain portion have already (according to them) found such a base, as for them religion is meaningless.

on the opposite, i look at creation and the universe and at such a cosmic scale and timeline, i have concluded that humanity in general is really nothing in that scale. to believe that we hold some special place in the universe is pure arrogance.

did you just stereotyped atheist=communist?

dear god, not pascal's wager again. at the surface it seemed a solid argument, but think about it deeper, its the worst logical argument for religion, ever.

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Added on November 17, 2009, 4:30 amoh, please do elaborate

This post has been edited by lin00b: Nov 17 2009, 04:30 AM

sorry, logic fail.

communist are atheist = true

however,

atheist are communist = false

therefore please dont call atheist communists.

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Added on November 17, 2009, 11:44 pmthere is no "creator" in buddhism, neither is there "holy energy". didn't you also say you "studied" many religions?

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Added on November 17, 2009, 11:53 pmbolded sentence, congratulations, you just contradicted yourself in one post

moving on, since energy cant be created nor destroyed, it must have existed forever in different form.

please dont say it cant, for your so-called god existed forever too.

This post has been edited by lin00b: Nov 17 2009, 11:53 PM

religion is not just limited to the monotheism religion (ie abrahamic)

you have polytheism;
you have superior beings who are when you look at it, not *that* superior;
you have animism;
and you have religion with no god as its centerpiece (see buddhism, pantheism, etc)

also

in reply to my post #47

and now you say in post #106

to my post #105

???

This post has been edited by lin00b: Nov 18 2009, 12:14 AM

bad analogy, as there are places where humans will not survive without clothing. same cant be said about religion.

continuing on your clothing analogy, 200 years ago, clothing covers everything. today, clothing are getting mroe and more revealing by the day. (aka religion is becoming increasingly irrevelant)

AFAIK, it is just a nice story.

wow, quanyum mechanic brain, the act of observation cause the brain to materialize

never heard of it, but most likely a chinese perversion/modification/addendum/con-job and not actual buddhism. kinda illogical when the corner stone of buddhism is to eliminate/control desire/craving. and you have this ritual that for all purpose head the opposite direction

speaking of clothing earlier, evolutionist answer me this, what stupid accidental natural selection would result in a species that is unable to survive in its natural habitat without "borrowing"/stealing the skin of another animal??

their hell is not the christian hell. its a translation error. it might be better to say all buddhist goes to after life. and after sometime they are reincarnated into this world.

the super ones becomes deity/saint and goes to heaven; the uber ones achieve nirvana and say "screw you in the rat race, i'm on the fast track now!"

most chinese practice a bastardized version of buddhism. and most is custom rituals rather than religious rituals.

and yes, buddhism is a very hippie/zen religion.

joss stick, paper offering, ching beng, etc is part of ancient chinese custom of remembering the ancestors.

these are not in buddhism which is by large a non-dogmatic religion. there is no set ritual for you to follow, only a set of philosophy. when buddhism spread to china, the chinese who convert still retain most of the original custom and taoist religion ritual, resulting in the ritualistic practice you see today in most chinese community.

you can say most chinese today practice a mix of buddhist and taoist belief, which is in some cases rather contradictory. buddhism for the religion, taoism for the rituals. a fusion religion.

and besides, all those chinese uncle and aunties are not in anyway religion expert, they just follow what their parents do who got it from their parents and so on and so on.....

living for the moment is the way to the future

more or less the "no one gives a damn" reason, most chinese are not that deep religion wise, they are more worried about hte material world than the spiritual one.

you can follow the buddhist life philosophy and yet still burn stuff. i dont see the incompatibility there. i mean buddha didnt say "dont burn stuff".

i dont live in the past, but i appreciate/remember the past while living in the present. and living in the present does not mean not caring about the future. you can think/care/plan for the future, but your focus must be in the present. you cant keep saying "i'll enter harvard in 5 years" without focusing on studying hard now.

yeah i practise these chinese custom. you can do lots of silly things buy saying its "custom"

"X" wrong knowledge.

there is room for hell (aka afterlife) and god (godS even) in buddhism. buddhism is not an atheist religion. its just that buddhism tend to focus on your spirituality rather than some paranormal superpower being. it dont really care about gods and/or demons as its objective is for people to achieve enlightenment.

the burning and the 18 layers etc are afaik taoist though. and since buddhism has room for these supernatural stuff so they cohabitate quite well.

a crude and simple way of describing it but basically yeah; but buddhism is a very personal "religion" (more like a way of life) you live life in a certain simple (but hard to achieve) way and you get the reward then and there, no need to wait for some so-called promised afterlife.

the buddha did not ascend or achieve enlightenment when he left the world. he achieved enlightenment while living.

and i wouldnt say "not give a damn about the surrounding world"; and i wouldnt say "buddhism can be plugged in to other teaching" but rather buddhism can cohabitate with most other religion in a peaceful way.

and last i check, accepting the good while discarding the bad, is a good thing buddhist accept that there are many ways to salvation/inner peace/bliss; just that they think their way is the shortest path (not necessarily the easiest path) and so they dont object if others wish to go at their own pace/take the scenic route.

polytheism is not a result of buddhism. polytheism exist pre-buddhism. and afaik, you dont have to pray in buddha (or the buddhist saints - hard to spell name that i cant be bothered to google). buddha is not god. buddha dont need your prayers.

not to turn this into religious war, but you may search youtube for "buddhism vs christianity" for some thoughtful discussion (among some rubbish)

disclaimer: i'm not a devout buddhist; actually i'm not much of a buddhist at all. i'm agnostic. all are based on my observation and analysis. if some one retort with some war like buddhist commandments; lets just say that wont be the 1st time im wrong about something

This post has been edited by lin00b: Dec 16 2009, 10:44 PM

life is not always (actually more like never) black and white; my way or the highway; etc.

idol worship is again a chinese/taoist practice. and same argument as the paper offering is made. buddha dont really care

correct; buddhism is one of the few (if not the only) religion where the final outcome is you becoming the highest position in that religion.

buddhism is a teaching/guideline/way of life

having said that, buddhism claims many super natural things like reincarnation, the eternal soul, cosmic karma that cant/hard to be verified and this depends on faith. therefore it is also a religion.

but then again, if you disregard those religious stuff, it is still a very good guideline on how to live your life fully and in harmony. just dont expect a reward at the end. the reward is the journey.

congratulations, you are now officially part of the problem, but seeing the opposite side as something not human. that is hte first step to killing others as well, they are not really human and it is not wrong to kill them.

i'm sure many on the other side would feel the same about you.

and thus peace will never come.

invisible superpowered beings are after my souls (which is invisible). woohoo, i never knew i'm that important