Why Belief?

The gospels tell the story of a man who was supremely good. I have never read a fiction about a man who was so perfectly righteous and worthy of praise than Jesus. Everything that he taught I have found to be true in my life and the lives of others.Regardless of where feelings of right and wrong come from, I believe they have real value. There is a deep message from the story of Jesus that feels completely right, true, and pure. So I believe it.

So why am I not a Buddhist?1) There are lots of nice guys in the world; no perfect ones.
2) Buddah never claimed to be God, nor did he say if there was a god.
3) Jesus performed miracles (a few of my close friends would testify that he still does); Buddah didn't.
4) While much of Buddah's teaching is wisdom, it does not carry the same message of the Gospel. (not that this means his message is false, just that it doesn't seem complete to me)But if we debate these points any further it will get off the question in the OP, which was what first caused me to believe.

Sure, that's one reason I've never been a Buddhist. But now that I have the benefit of understanding both Buddhism and Christianity, I can safely say that I am not a Buddhist or a Christian simply because I was raised that way. My experience here at EvC has forced me to doubt everything I've ever believed and wiped away the blind faith that was indoctrinated in me since youth. All that is left is my choice to trust. It is for those that never have a choice. But I have a choice. You don't know this. This is a belief, and it is a belief that strips the meaning from everything in life. I disagree. How can one have the power to bless one's self, if one does not have the power to give one's self the greatest blessing of all: life? No man is an island. Can a man who lives alone his whole life, bless himself? I think we can bless each other, but we cannot do it on our own. It is supported by the unverifiable gospels and the unverifiable testimonies of my friends. ...and I've been through this many many times before here... due to solipsism, the question of verification is really a question of subjectively determined levels of confidence. IOW, acceptance or rejection of these claims is based on trust. I trust. I trust because to deny Christ is to deny everything that I believe to be good, true, pure, and meaningful in the world. I fully recognize the weakness of my position, and I accept this weakness. I believe the weakness of righteousness is stronger than the strength of physical evidence. I value the intangible things more than the tangible. What is the thing that many people fear as much or more than death? Being alone and unloved. The eightfold path does not mention love. What is the biggest question on many people's minds? What is the meaning of life? I see no meaning in the eightfold path. The first of the "Four Noble Truths" is that Life means suffering. Is that all we're living for? To suffer and die? Should I tell Dr. Ortiz who just lost his beautiful daughter, Nancy, of 18 years that he is only suffering because he desires to have his daughter back, and that to end the suffering he must end desire? I do not see Buddha's wisdom as being complete.This message has been edited by Hangdawg13, 04-29-2005 08:01 PMThis message has been edited by Hangdawg13, 04-29-2005 08:09 PM

I enjoyed your post, dawg. Don't agree with all of it, of course , but it was interesting and enjoyable, thanks.Anyway, I only have a few comments...

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Why do you think there isn't an answer to every question?

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Because there isn't."What would I have been like as an adult if I hadn't been abused as a child?""What would my life be like if I hadn't gotten married 12 years ago?""What would it be like to live for 300 years?""What would it be like to have been raised in Ecuador?"I could go on, but...

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The Eightfold path is simply eight things to do "right". What is "right" is really the issue. There are many things that are "right", and if you believe love is right, then yes, you could say "the eightfold path is love in action." However, if you are the anti-Buddha and inclined to believe that killing Jews is "right", you could also say, "the eightfold path is the 'Final Solution' in action," and that to not kill Jews would be harming yourself and your fellow humans. This is hyperbole of course. I realize Buddhism says to do no harm to yourself or others. I just believe that if love is not the central theme, then something is wrong.

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The thing is, dawg, that buddhism has been around at least as long as Christianity, and even though your point that Christianity has love as a central theme, it seems to me that the actions of buddhists have been much more loving than the actions of christians in the last 2000 years, by a long shot.I mean, can you name any wars started in the name of the Buddha?So, Christianity seems to preach a lot about love but it has been Buddhism which has actually practiced it.This message has been edited by AdminSchraf, 04-30-2005 10:14 PM

Grrrreat... even better once finals are over.I understand the sort of personal experiential verification of the Christian beliefs that you are talking about. I've experienced it too.I hope you understood that when I said: I didn't mean that I still view Christianity as invalid. I now believe very much in Christ and his power in my life.

Thanks for your.... reply? Weird... somehow your message got pasted into mine. Anyways... Thanks You have a point here. Unless there are an infinite of realities, then "what if things had been different" is a nonsensical meaningless question. So let's say that the entire set of meaningful questions must have answers, and we cannot always know which questions are meaningful or not nor can we always understand the answers to the meaningful ones. So... we agree... only I trust in some information that you do not so you believe a few questions are still unanswerable while I believe they have already been answered. Well, no true scotsman would ever start a war in the name of Christianity... er... you know what I mean. I agree. It's sad really. In fact, if I were a conspiracy theorist I would say it is undeniable that there must be some kind of unseen conspiracy going on here. I mean there's always been someone: Pharisee, pastor, pope, king, crusader, false prophet, communist, fascist Islamist, president, or television producer going to great lengths exercising his power to keep the masses that are called by Christ's name from actually getting His message. I don't know if you have ever had any friends that have beaten the conspiracy and actually got the message and followed it, but I can testify that when the message gets through and finds open ears and hearts it does change lives for the better with love. Debating on this site and doubting Christianity has actually helped me to see through all the lies and hypocritical teachings and into the true message of Christ.

Wow! cool. Thanks. I don't know the mind of God, but MAYBE one reason he demands faith is that it is very hard if not impossible to be humble and loving if you feel like you have to prove something.Well, thanks for this exchange. Have a good'un.

Yep... UTA is really liberal and diverse from what I hear. All the liberals (except for my athiest friend CJ) at my highschool went to UTA or UNT and all the conservatives, hicks, and good'ole boys went to A&M.