RFox wrote:

Astralbex wrote:

Hi
Unfortunatly being open minded and being very religous must be a hard cross to bear ( sry about the pun!)

All religons are dogmatic in their views. Saying your open minded is therefore a contradiction to your own personal beliefs.

Mmmm...............?

I must disagree. Taoism certainly isn't dogmatic.

Oh OK , I stand, or sit corrected!

Astralbex wrote:

RFox wrote:

Astralbex wrote:

Hi
Unfortunatly being open minded and being very religous must be a hard cross to bear ( sry about the pun!)

All religons are dogmatic in their views. Saying your open minded is therefore a contradiction to your own personal beliefs.

Mmmm...............?

I must disagree. Taoism certainly isn't dogmatic.

Oh OK , I stand, or sit corrected!

Lol.

Pesonally I follow a eclectic path, so any other knowledge and wisdom is greatly taken in!

Astralbex wrote:

Pesonally I follow a eclectic path, so any other knowledge and wisdom is greatly taken in!

That sounds wonderful!
I have studied many different religions, theologies, philosophies and the like. I find it fascinating what people believe or how they come to those beliefs or absence of belief as the case may be. We humans are an interesting bunch. Lol

Mark has been otherwise engaged today. Torn between the fact that the sun was shining and the best petits-fours and coffee in the south of France needed to be consumed. Plus trying to set up a Portuguese, German, Chinese, French, Russian and Dutch version of his blog. Sheesh. More work than I thought.

Religion = Scum politician. the only one I have any sort of respect for is Buddhism. And if I am brutally honest,  the Zen Buddhists. 

It's not religions per se,  that are wrong, it's the people that mis-create/mis-use them. People make choices, and hopefully learn how to make better ones.

It would be good if people really started accepting that truth, of looking at themselves, instead of blaming badness on whatever outside of themselves. We must always look within to find the answers...is it the not-real self in me or is it the not-real self in someone else?

there have been many people who have become saints, sages, wise, etc...from the same religions that others have accused of hurting them. It is the people

or here is another take on similar:    I used to get a kick out of kids saying things like blaming what happened to them on an inanimate object or a living thing with less consciousness than themself. i.e. a plant, poison ivy, for instance, they would say "that poison ivy gave me a rash" instead of "I touched that poison ivy". With some people it is an occassional slip of the tongue, with others it is a constant perception.

We are responsible for our own actions, and how we perceive another's actions...sometimes we just need to learn that point. I still have learning to do on that point.

Mark Knowles wrote:

Mark has been otherwise engaged today. Torn between the fact that the sun was shining and the best petits-fours and coffee in the south of France needed to be consumed. Plus trying to set up a Portuguese, German, Chinese, French, Russian and Dutch version of his blog. Sheesh. More work than I thought.

Religion = Scum politician. the only one I have any sort of respect for is Buddhism. And if I am brutally honest,  the Zen Buddhists. 

Sounds like you've been having fun!

I can see why you singled out Zen Buddhists. I have always studied on my own, talking to Buddhists of all different philosophies etc. Then I thought I might like to have a formal teacher, someone to discourse with on different issues.
Many of my friends are Tibetan Buddhists and so I decided to explore that option but what I have discovered is that Tibetan Buddhism is too dogmatic for me. It is probably the most organized and institutionalized form of Buddhism. While it still holds firm to the Buddha's original teachings there is so much more hierarchy and ritual it seems and that doesn't work for me.

The Buddha himself was not interested in ritual or dogma. In fact he didn't want his teachings to become an organized religion. So I have to agree the Zen Buddhists hold more firmly to the first Dharma teachings than anyone else it seems and now I'm leaning more in that direction.

I don't do well with organized hierarchies. I think an individual approach is better and Zen is certainly individual.

This is what I feel for most religions.

Hooksey wrote:

It pains me to see so many highly religious people spew hate towards other religions and viewpoints. Isn't a main aspect of every religion having goodwill towards others. Most major religions do not condon hatred, but for some reason religious debates always spark the evil in people. For example, I just asked my girlfriend who is Catholic, what makes your religion perfect, and every other one "pointless". My question came after a comment she made about Catholism being the only religion that makes sense. How can people be so closed minded and ignorant?

Does anyone have any input? Thank you...

It's all fully explained in Becker's 1970s classic book, "The Denial of Death".

Well worth a read.

It explains the psychological processes underlying the "us and them" mentality and the apparently counterproductive desire some people have to sacrifiice their lives for a symbol like a cross or a flag - when we were supposedly trying to survive first and foremost.

It explains how the survival of an IDEA, like a nation or a religion, helps us to feel that we ourselves will live as long as the idea survives.

It is fascinating reading, and makes complete sense of everything from suicide bombing to the Holocaust and the Spanish Inquisition, and from high school bitchy cliques to celebrity-worship and even women choosing to be "circumcised".

Anyone interested in religion or human society should at least read a summary of this book!

Jenny

Anyone read the God Delusion?  I am about to start it, but I wanted to hear some opinions first, just incase it starts out boring.

RFox wrote:

I agree with Misha that truly spiritual people will have a wide open mind.

I do think so too. Unfortunately there is only few people in this world having such character, and usually these people I know let themselves to remain "unknown"...

dina