Christianity Vs Buddhism

Personally, I find the philosophical value of Buddhism to be MUCH more beneficial than any western religion.


The simple fact that Buddhism encourages wisdom and knowledge while western churches don't is all I need to know. Christianity in itself has set us back ~100 years of technological advance and it's pretty fucking pathetic but it seems that everyone with faith is too blind ( same word tbh ) to the fact that churches have slowed the technological advances of our previous civilizations.

Not only technological advance but the premise of the religions themselves is blatantly obvious!

Western Religion:

Everyone is born inherently evil and we must cleanse ourselves of sin.
Commandments from a ruler
Must worship the almighty powerful God.
Theological imperialism


Eastern Religion:

Lead a moral life.
be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions
develop wisdom and understanding.
No sexual misconduct - This is interpreted differently between Buddhists, one being not to take advantage ( using ) someone else for their body, and another includes homosexuality, but this ONLY applies to Vinaya ( being the life of a monk who is supposed to live the life of celibacy )


Fear mongering vs development of wisdom and a moral compass without the fear of being punished by a deity.


Generally, I just want a discussion of the pro's and con's as well as the opinions of those in this community. Please compare and contrast these ideals.


PS: I am an atheist, but I follow Philosophical values from Buddhism, Taoism, and Zen( to be fair I am following the teachings of Alan Watts's interpretation of Zen )

 

I'm a muslim and as far as I know we've been peaceful for as far as I can remember Christianity started the wars, crusades etc. The goverment is trying to make them look bad atm idk why I'll do some further research on this and update later.

 

Buddhism isn't necessarily a religion, it's closer to a way of life.

The whole idea of Buddhism is to understand the truth and nature of suffering, and through inner reflection, the accrual of insight and wisdom and the following of the dharma remove suffering from your life entirely. By continuation you then continue to aid others in removing suffering from their lives through compassion.

Furthermore, Buddhists don't actually intrude upon other people's beliefs. The only time a proper Buddhist will ever teach you is if you ask them to. This is actually how it has always been. Western religions did have their crusades, however Buddhist monks were only known by their robes. They impressed people with their demeanor and kindness and that caused people to ask about Buddhism. Keep in mind that this was in ancient India, so it was probably fascinating to the laymen. Very few branches of Buddhism advertise themselves majorly like Christianity etc. does. In fact, I only know of one branch that exists within Japan most prominently that does.

That being said, if you're going to compare and contrast Christianity and Buddhism, don't. You're comparing apples and oranges, and furthermore only really trying to argue a single minded view. Buddhism and Christianity aren't actually mutually exclusive; they can co-exist within a single person depending on what kind of each (Mahayana Buddhism as opposed to Therevada monastic Buddhism). Buddhists don't impress themselves upon Christians, so don't try to do it for them. If you feel compelled to impress Buddhism upon anyone, the Buddhist way would be to simply show compassion to Christians, not argue about them.

 

The Muslim invasion/attacks in india toward Hindus, how do you justify that?
Also, Buddhism isn't a religion.

 

IMO.

All religion should be boycotted. People are always attacking each other due to religion but personally,

Buddhism seems to be more about peace and tranquility whereas Christianity is misinterpreted so much and causes so much hatred.

 

I consider myself an Atheist, although the only Religion I have ever felt I could be a part of is Buddhism, except, I would prefer not to even call it a Religion.

Buddhism seems to work much differently to most religions, none of the ridiculous bs going on.

 

Pretty much every religion has the same core beliefs/goals. The main differences are about how said goals should be achieved.

 

"For some, an attempt to mingle reason and faith can result in irrational scholarship or phony religion, either condition demonstrably worse than the described separation."

To claim western religions are opposed to scientific exploration and development is blatantly wrong. Many modern professionals manage to mingle both their professions (I'm a biologist) and their religions (I'm Mormon)

Nor is your description of Christianity very well thought-out. Not every Christian faith believes in original sin. (Mormons don't. Not sure about the rest) Nor is the primary teaching of the Christian faith that you are inherently evil. It simply brings forth the concept of accountability which, in essence, is not negative. You need to be held accountable, that's life (and apparently afterlife)

You have a very limited understandings of both religions, as it were. As demonstrated by Swan's post.

 

This and i agree

 

Did I say it was a religion? I clearly stated that the philosophical values it teaches are far greater than western religion. I also don't consider it to be a religion as there is no faith involved.

EDIT#2: I mistakenly did indirectly refer to buddhism as a religion through the use of comparison. I don't personally view it as a religion, but others do so I referred to them ( being Buddhism, Taoism, and Zen ) as eastern religions. My mistake.

I'm not trying to impress Buddhism on anyone, I'm merely trying to compare two ideologies between civilizations.

Christianity tells you how to live your life, so does Buddhism. They are BOTH ideological ways to live ones life through a beliefs system. Also, I'm not compelled to impress Buddhism upon anyone, I'm simply asking the forum what they think about both of these ideologies. I never claimed to be a Buddhist.

READ SOME HISTORY BRO.

Dark ages
Burning of "witches"
Killing of millions ( which prevents technological advance obviously.. )
Irrefutable opposition towards stem cell research
They even imprisoned astronomers for believing the sun was the center of the solar system.

Once again, I ask you, has western religion offset technological advance? No shit.

It is true that current western religions no longer oppose scientific advance ( they had to in order to survive ). But, if ANYTHING interferes with their "beliefs or faith" ( you know the ones they were spoon fed as a child ), then they will refute it regardless of the positive benefits. ( such as stem cells ). NOT ONLY THAT but they continue to refute stem cell research ( from aborted fetuses ) EVEN THOUGH the fetuses will otherwise be wasted. If that's not a big "fuck you" I really don't know what is.

I didn't describe Christianity, I described one of its VERY SOLID BELIEFS. Original sin is a core belief in most Christan religions. ( that is, unless they changed their interpretations recently )



accountability is negative, as you are threatening one for bad deeds. Eternal hellfire, SOUNDS NOT NEGATIVE.


If anything Mormonism is the best comparison to eastern ideology as it's newer and doesn't carry the ( same ) retarded baggage that other older religions do. This is due to the fact that the religion is newer and the people who are running it understand that they must change in order to conform, such as "re-interpreting" parts from the bible, the book or Mormon, and doctrine/covenants.

Examples being;

Blacks can't hold priesthood repealed ( only after 129 years )
Polygamy
Re-interpretations scriptures.
And [God] had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people, the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them. And thus saith the Lord God; I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities."
^
New interpretation is that God marked them so they would be able to avoid these blackened people. That is to replace the old one that black people are cursed.

As an Atheist I do study religion and philosophy quite often, but your assumptions that I hardly understand western religion and eastern philosophies is absurd as you don't know me. Even though I did present biased views on western religion it's backed by fact.

 

As an observation just on these forums, and not really that much to do at all with the OP, but interesting nonetheless. Some of the Atheists around here become so diametrically opposed to even the idea of some sort of religious philosophy that they appear just as pig headed and ignorant as the religious people they are opposing, and isn't ignorance the core of opposition? Sorry Divine, I just thought I would put that out there.

I haven't really studied Buddhism too much, but I do love a good kung-fu movie.

 

I agree completely.


It is difficult for myself not to come off pig headed towards religion as I've been mistreated by religion throughout the entirety of my childhood.

But that being said I'm open to all types of religious philosophy ESPECIALLY Buddhism as it promotes well being, happiness, and personal development. Also, no wars have been started over Buddhism. So far I have not found anything that I disagree with in the Buddhist way of life and am incorporating many of these things into my life. Mediation is gaining popularity and a recent study has shown some benefits from doing it.


Regardless, Religion has been detrimental to humanity and Buddhism is more of a philosophical guide to leading your life rather than a "burn in eternal hellfire if you don't believe"

 

Okay, before I start I'll let you know that this is from a Mormon perspective...
Because of Adam's fall, we are inherently evil. This is why Christ went through the atonement so we can repent for our sins which all of us are guilty of committing. The only being to have lived without iniquity is Jesus. However, as said in the 2nd Article of Faith, men will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam's transgressions. We aren't going to be punished because of the fact that we will sin, but based on our own merit and free choice. This is why repentance is necessary and essential to gaining exaltation. Adam's fall was apart of God's plan of salvation.

Edit: On a side note, completely Off-Topic, Dusang, I remember your thread about your experience dating a girl of Mormon faith how it was a conflict of interest with you because you were not a Mormon. Seems like you've converted now? Update me on the situation

 

You're right in your edit: you kind of DID imply it was a religion. That is the premise upon which my entire post is founded, hence due to misinterpretation there has been a clash.

It sounds like you're trying to discredit Western religions by only listing the bad parts about it, while raising eastern religion/philosophy upon a pedestal. That is to say, where or not you mean to, this post is actually impressing Eastern religion / philosophy.

The great part about Buddhism is what I like to refer to as "not giving a shit." That is to say, the Buddha realised that not everyone is the same and therefore not every teaching will apply to any one person. Therefore, Buddhism is not so much a set ideological way to live one's life. In fact, most of practiced Buddhism revolves around examining the teachings, questioning them, and reflecting in on yourself.

As for the latter about impressing it upon people, see my earlier quotation and the premise upon which my post is founded.

 

It seems rather simple-minded to assume that western religion was solely responsible as opposed to any other ulterior motives. People will fight change and advancement whether religion is present or isn't. It's scary. People will try to garner power, regardless.

I work in regenerative medicine research. It's garnered more support than you think. Generally people, or those I meet, tend to support the use of embryonic stem cells in research. Even if they don't, I tend to attribute it to a lack of understanding, not religion.

It's not a core belief in Judaism, Mormonism, Catholicism (recognizes original sin but it remains distinct from actual sin. It is a state of being and less-so something to be held accountable for)

3 large religions.

Accountability doesn't mean Hell. It means having to answer for transgressions, either in asking for forgiveness or simply choosing to do better. It's a method in which progress is facilitated.

Scriptures are not interpreted singularly by the church as a whole. It's through introspection and questioning these beliefs come about. The church takes no official stance on that scripture. Some of its members chose to believe it was racial. I disagree.

Also, I found it funny how recently I had similar questions regarding the priesthood and blacks. I couldn't understand how God could allow something so treacherous to be done. I still don't. Not at all.

Generalizations are never "backed by fact."

@JohnK:

I'm still working on it, heh. Trying to garner an understanding of the religion for her sake. We're getting married next year. Surprised you remembered, heh.

 

Imo, every religion is a different way of praying to the same god. You could take aspects of Christianity or Buddhism or any other religions and combine them whichever way you want tbh.

 

Buddhism requires no praying whatsoever to any entity. Some do however pray to Buddha but that's by choice not by any instruction of the religion.

 

Buddha isn't a god, but a "model citizen", an absolutely perfect reflection of the Buddhist morals. Therefore, Buddhists have never prayed to him because praying is the process of asking for divine intervention-- help, forgiveness, requests of all sorts-- or simply giving thanks. When a Buddhist appears to pray in front of a Buddha (or at all for that matter), they're actually meditating, self-reflecting. It's entirely purposeful towards self improvement, motivated only by their ideals and will to better their living.

Just a bit of insight to Divine_God's last statement and the poster above whom I also noticed mentioned praying

As far as Christianity being a pariah compared to Buddhism, you can hardly relate the two, as mentioned by the ever perceptive Swan. A more apt and interesting comparison would be Christianity and Catholicism, and Muslim by extension. Much more possible and controversial perceptions

 

Your right, buddhism is better than christianity because it teaches better values..and it is also more believable man

 

In your opinion how is he a more believable man?