X-Message-Number: 22521
Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 13:58:22 +0200
Subject: Re: Buddhism without all supernatural mumbo-jumbo
From: David Stodolsky <>

On Saturday, September 13, 2003, at 08:18  PM, mike99 wrote:

> Most religions declare a set of tenets that their members must believe 
> in
> order to be saved, redeemed, liberated or enlightened. These tenets 
> include
> such ideas as the existence of God, the redeeming work of a Savior, 
> and the
> existence of an immortal soul or Self. If a person denies any or all of
> these tenets, he or she is not considered to be a true or orthodox 
> member of
> that particular religion. Is Buddhism a religion of this type? Did 
> Buddha
> require such beliefs of his followers?
>
> The short answer is  No.  Among all the religions that have existed in 
> human
> history, Buddhism is the only major religion that does not require such
> beliefs of its followers.


Judism is one of many behaviorally-oriented life philosophies. Belief 
is irrelevant,  if you follow the rules, you are Jewish. While Roman 
Catholicism remains oriented toward 'good acts', the value of belief is 
more central in Protestantism. However, even in the Danish State 
Lutheran Church, there was recently a major controversy caused by a 
priest declaring he didn't believe in God, etc. So, if you consider 
Judism and some Christian philosophies as major religions, this last 
statement leaves something to be desired.


dss


David S. Stodolsky    SpamTo: 

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