> "Pastor Frank" christfirst.edu> wrote in
> news:45978032$0$18572$88260bb3@free.teranews.com:
>

>> "Reverend Dave" ministerpants.com> wrote in message
>> news:Xns98A816EBCCCDCrevdave@38.119.71.210...

>>> "Pastor Frank" christfirst.edu> wrote in
>>> news:45943f70$0$15437$88260bb3@free.teranews.com:

>>>>
>>>> The Sanscrit maya means illusion / dream. Therefore the we the
>>>> dreamt are the illusion of the dreamer, AKA God.

>>>
>>> Buddhism bases itself in reality, seeing things as they are, not
>>> dreams or illusions. By the way, most early Buddhist texts were
>>> written in Pali, not Sanskrit. Later texts perhaps, like the Lotus
>>> Sutra, which some people look upon as the Buddhist equivalent of The
>>> Book of Mormon.
>>>

>> Your read the santized English translations I bet.

>
> If you consider English translations of the original Pali Canon
> translated by Sri Lankan monks to be sanitized. As you appear to be an
> expert on the subject pehaps you could suggest some more appropriate,
> unsanitized translations?
>

>> Original Buddhist writings are beset by gods and miracles of all kinds.

> "Reality" my foot!!!
>
> Yes Frank, there are gods in Buddhism, more precisely devas, beings in
> the other realms according to the Buddhist cosmology however none of
> these created the earth, or the universe nor did they create mankind
> which was the central point of HiEv's original arguement, ie that most
> Buddhists are technically atheists in that they do not believe in a
> creator being.
>
> As for the miracles, I'd really love to see some references. Do you have
> any URL's you'd care to share?
>
>

>> Buddhism is a derivative of Hinduism. Btw ALL religions are based
>> on maya.

>
> Buddhism is a derivative of Hinduism in the same way astronomy is a
> derivative of astrology.
>
> One might be correct in saying that Christianity is an extention of
> Judaism in that the central point that held true in the earlier belief
> still holds true in the newer, ie the existence of God.
>
> The comparisson between Hinduism and Buddhism is not so favourable. It
> would be correct to say that Buddhism diverges from Hinduism, in that it
> rejects the notion of a creator being, it rejects the pantheon of Hindu
> gods (Brahma, Rama, Shiva, Krishna, Vishnu, Maya and so on) and it even
> rejects the notion of Atman (soul).
>
> I agree that all religions that are belief systems are based on illusion
> (maya) and consequently delusion. Fortunately Buddhism is not a belief
> system.
>
>
>

>>>>>>

>>>>>>> Saying "atheists only disbelieve" is a sure sign that you have no
>>>>>>> clue what "atheism" means. For your information, "atheism" means
>>>>>>> "without a belief in god(s)." It does NOT necessarily mean an
>>>>>>> active disbelief in the possibility of god(s), though it can mean
>>>>>>> that too. Furthermore, "atheists" are not a monolithic group who
>>>>>>> all feel exactly the same about everything. They just have one
>>>>>>> thing in common, they have no belief in gods. That's it.
>>>>>>> Anything else can be believed or not and it won't change the fact
>>>>>>> that they're an atheist.
>>>>>>>

>>>>>> That proves my point. You exclusively talk about the things
>>>>>> you DON'T believe. Whereas we Christian talk about things we
>>>>>> DO believe.

>>>>>
>>>>> The difference between atheists and Christians is that atheists for
>>>>> the most part believe in things that are observable, or proven to
>>>>> be true.
>>>>>

>>>> Those have nothing in common with religion, for religion deals
>>>> with
>>>> qualities. I.e. the quality 'beauty' is observable but not
>>>> scientifically quantifiable, therefore not intrinsically "proven to
>>>> be true". The same goes for all qualities, especially character
>>>> qualities, which are the perview of religion.

>>>
>>> The perception of beauty is a matter of personal preference based
>>> perhaps in part on societal norms but with no requirement for
>>> rational thinking.
>>>

>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>> 2) Atheism is responsible for the greatest crimes in human
>>>>>>>>> history.

>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Christ's prime law is to love others and treat them as you
>>>>>>>> would want
>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>> be treated. Atheists don't believe that too, as much as they
>>>>>>>> disbelieve pretty much everything, else and act accordingly. See
>>>>>>>> below

>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Bullshit. "Atheism" simply means having no belief in gods. They
>>>>>>> can believe or not believe in the "Golden Rule" if they want to.
>>>>>>>

>>>>>> That's a lie, for atheists post reams of calumnies and hate
>>>>>> against what we hold holy, as well as go out of their way to flame
>>>>>> believers.

>>>>>
>>>>> Of course Christians never ever do the same. Please let me know
>>>>> which NG you read on a regular basis so that the next time Old Man
>>>>> Joe, or others of his ilk show up in the atheist groups spewing
>>>>> their hatred, I can crosspost it back in your direction.
>>>>>

>>>> By all means. I have yet to see Old Man Joe "spew hatred". He
>>>> does
>>>> a good job however explaining Calvinism, with which I disagree. Ad
>>>> hominem is most commonly used by atheists, who run quickly out of
>>>> atheist words to use, for how many ways are there to say "there
>>>> ain't no god(s)"?

>>>
>>> Obviously Joe doesn't post his hatred towards atheists to your NG.
>>> The next time he decides to pop in with one of his "atheists are God
>>> haters" rants I'll be sure to pass it on to you.
>>>

>> Would you like me to "pass on to you" the atheist trashing of what
>> we
>> Christians consider holy and the flaming of believers?

>
> Frank, you already do this from time to time. Ranting and raving about
> how atheist trolls soil your pristine Christian newsgroups. Why let it
> get to you? Why not just turn the other cheek when someone is offensive?
>
>

>> Btw I'm sure you are aware, that most who call themselves atheist
>> are
>> not, but rather are anti-theists in general, of not also
>> anti-Christians in particular.

>
> And yet I do understand where they are coming from. I'm willing to bet
> that the same people are probably also anti-communist and anti-fascist. I
> imagine that their greatest fear would be to have their democracy morph
> into a theocracy and eventually end up as something not unlike what
> Margaret Atwood describes in The Handmaid's Tale.

>
>
>
> --
> "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm
> not sure about the former."
> - Albert Einstein
>
> Remove pants to email me.
>
> http://www.apatheticagnostic.com/
>
>
>
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