Christianity Vs Buddhism

[the_webninja]

First there was Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, Cain Killed Abel, then went off to Town to find himself a Wife. THERE WAS NO TOWN! There was only Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel. So you can see right from the start, the very Foundation of Christianity is a LIE.

Point #2, Mathematically Speaking, if you calculate the NUMBER of all the Species in the World during the time of Noah, (Including all the Animals, Reptiles, and Insects which have since been extinct), and figure out the dimensions for living space for each Species, and the Space to hold Fresh Food and Water for each species, and the TIME it would take to Gather each animal, reptile, and insect, including all the Poisonous ones, AND all the different kinds of Food they each would need for a period of 40 days and 40 nights. You will see it is impossible to build a boat large enough EVEN TODAY to hold all the Food, Water, and have enough Space to house all the Species in the World. Now think about how long it would take you to catch ONE wild Squirrel? Do you really think Noah could catch THAT MANY Wild Animals before the Flood? I don’t think so.

There are many other examples of contradictions and blatant falsehoods throughout the Bible. But let’s look for a moment at what does Christianity DO for the People?

By stating “Thou shalt not have no other God before me” Christians believe this to mean they should not ALLOW anyone else to Believe any Differently than THEY do. This is why Christians get involved in Missions all around the World to try to FORCE their Religion onto everyone else, with no respect what so ever for what other people might think or Believe. The ONLY thing the Christians want to do is FORCE their Beliefs onto others, and eventually try to FORCE their Beliefs into LAW in every country around the World to FORCE everyone who is NOT Christian to Live under Christian Beliefs.

Now if you believe that Christianity is a Righteous Religion then this doesn’t sound so bad. But what about FREEDOM for ALL? If you Force one Idea among everyone, then there IS NO FREEDOM. This is why the Native American Indians were forced off their Lands. This is why the Religions of Hawaii, Samoa, and many other tiny Islands in the Pacific have become almost extinct. Then shortly after the Christians FORCE their Religion on the people, they Take over their Land. Because Christians Believe they are BETTER than everyone else. This is why they come to a place like Thailand and try to “Teach” everyone that Buddhism is “Wrong”.

Christianity is Based on Hatred and Contempt of all others. Where Buddhism is Based on Compassion and Understanding, not Hatred and Contempt. The idea of going to another Country just to tell them their Religion is Wrong, THAT IDEA in itself is a form of Disrespect to the People of Thailand. As if to imply that the Christians KNOW BETTER, as if THEIR Religion is BETTER. They think of themselves as BETTER than everyone else. This is an Act of Disrespect to the people of Thailand, as if they Think the people of Thailand are nothing more than Ignorant Natives they need to “Save”. Like the “Saved” all the people in the Pacific right? They Stole their Lands, their Religions, then FORCED them to live in accordance with what THEY Believe. This is the Christian way.

But Speaking of Ignorance, Christians Ground their Beliefs in Ignorance, which is why the Tree of Knowledge is considered Evil in Christianity. Christians Teach Ignorance so they can convince people to accept their Beliefs which are based on Blatant LIES. The only way that Christians can get people to accept their Beliefs is by making people to think in ignorant ways. Which is Dangerous to Society as a whole. In otherwords from then on, all decisions which are made, in Government, Laws, and Society as a whole are based on Ignorance, NOT KNOWLEDGE! This is like closing your eyes while Driving a Car! Not only do they destroy their OWN lives, they also Spead Misery, Hatred and Contempt upon everyone they come in Contact with. Because once their Beliefs are made into Laws, anyone who Believes any differently, such as Drinking after Midnight, or even Drinking and Partying at ALL, will be Persecuted by Christian Authorities. This is just ONE example, there are THOUSANDS of others. The Point here to remember is when you take away FREEDOM, and Replace it with Ignorance, you only Create Suffering for everyone. NOT HAPPINESS.

Buddhism is Based on Compassion and Understanding, so instead of Condemning Human Behavior Buddhism teaches to try to UNDERSTAND it. This Leads to GROWTH in KNOWLEDGE, which increase people’s understanding, so they can make BETTER Decisions about Life, and the World Around them. Buddhism is based on TRUTHS and Natural Laws, not Scriptural BS that contradicts Scientific FACT.

You don’t see too many Buddhists Invading other Countries to tell them THEIR Religion is Wrong do you? No, Because Buddhism bases itself on the Law of Cause and Effect. They don’t do things to others, because they don’t want people doing things like that to THEM. This is a Natural Law which is Stricter than some False God and False Scriptures. Christians believe in Holy Wars and Forcing their Beliefs on others, and all in the Name of their False God. Just the Same way the Muslims do. Christians have Blown up Abortion Clinics in the US, they have Bombed places in the UK, and Even in the Middle East. Christians Took over the Philippines and told them “You either practice Christianity or we will KILL YOU!” That is why the Philippines is Christian while all the Surrounding Countries are Hindu or Buddhist.

The Bottom line is Christianity is a False Religion, and it does not Help the people. It only Hurts EVERYONE.

Buddhism Helps everyone who practices it. So the TRUTH is in the Actions of a Religion. A TRUE Religion WORKS. A False Religion, by it’s very Nature causes Chaos and Disorder, and brings Suffering upon the people.

[uncle paul]

buddhism = the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth.

now you know why most farang are christians

[Curt]

Christianity is Based on Hatred and Contempt of all others

All religions I have looked into are based the golden rule, karma, or whatever you wish to call it.

Even scarey Islam is based in compassion.

It's politics, rationalized by religion, that gives most a bad reputation.

[thaibebop]

Even H.H. The Dalai Lama said that every religion was based in compassion, but whether or people choose to see that is another issue.

[AmeriThai]

I’m not going to start in on trying to make a declaration on which religion is best between Christianity and Buddhism. But I think it’s worth pointing out a few errors in Webninja’s views. Rather than making sweeping condemnations claiming Christianity is a false religion, it might make more sense to do some homework first.

The references to Adam and Eve, the Flood of Noah, and the 10 Commandments did not originate from Christianity as Webninja indicates. They stem from Judaism, which stems from the monotheistic religious teaching of Moses. Having been born and raised in Egypt, Moses was certainly familiar with its pantheistic religion. The Book of Genesis is thought to have been written by Moses. There are strong indications that the view of Moses were borrowed and modified from other cultures, including that of the Sumerians.

Some of the writings of the Old Testament may be more figurative than precise details. The reason is that telling a story or legend is more akin to illustrative examples of morality and easier for others to remember and learn from.

For whatever it’s worth, Adam was evidently created full-grown, meaning he could produce offspring from day one, and he died at the ripe old age of 930 years. I’d say that’s plenty of time to produce enough offspring and descendants to make a sizable population.

Cain was given the boot and headed off to the Land of Nod where he built a city and took a wife. One line of thought about where his “wife” came from is that there were other inhabitants that were created BEFORE the creation of Adam. People were created on the 5th day, but the creation of Adam isn’t mentioned until AFTER the 7th day.

Regarding the Great Flood, it’s worth mentioning that many civilizations around the world have had a tale of a Great Flood. There is some thought that the legend of the Great Flood of Noah may have been based on an actual event that involved a break between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea causing a massive flood and wiping out towns in the area, which now lie under mud and water of the Black Sea.

The story of Noah’s Ark isn’t so much about the preservation of animals and the human race. It was about the removal of a world gone bad and a second chance to make it better.

Interestingly, both the stories of the Garden of Eden and the Great Flood are legends of the Sumerians, which predate the writings of Moses. There’s little doubt that Moses was aware of these stories.

Rather than to be so quick to condemn a religious view, it’s best to understand it first. Nearly all major religions contain the same basic theme of morality and how to avoid certain pitfalls. The problems today have nothing to do with the basic “message” of a given religion. It has more to do with how some people twist the context to suit their own personal agendas, even if it means to attempt to justify wrongdoing.

Just as there are people who claim to be Christian, Jewish or Muslim who are not exactly shining examples of those religions, so too are there people who claim to be Buddhists that don’t exactly follow the teachings. If everyone in every religion was perfect, there’s be no need for any religious organizations or religious teachers of those religions. But people aren’t perfect, and so the religious teachings of morality and decency continue. But the teachings are only as good as the ones doing the teaching.

It isn’t a question of which religion is better. It’s a question of how one understands and applies the basic teachings of those religions.

[Thaiboxer]

Interesting topic here. I was baptized as a Catholic but I don't practice the religion and in fact I disagree with much of what is stated either in the Bible or by other Catholics/Christians. Many of these statements contradict scientific fact. I'm all for the Big Bang Theory and evolution. I believe many religions, and therefore religious tales, were started by people in order to explain how and why things happened in the world around them before scientific studies were conducted. All religions have their little quirks but most religions do contain some good concepts. How people interpret/teach those concepts is a different ball game. A poster on here some time ago commented that religion divides people and it often does. Most people don't have a problem with religion as long as they don't allow it to take over their lives.

[chownah]

Webninja,

Many Christians believe that their religion is base on Jesus Christ and his life. If you want to understand what he stood for I recommend you read the New Testament part of the Bible and pay special attention to the things it indicates that Jesus said.....it is my opinion that if you want to understand someone's message the best thing is to go right to that person and study what they say and what they do...in this case that person is Jesus. I'm not a Christian but my opinion of Jesus is that he is right up there with Buddha and the rest.

I also recommend you read some Buddhist writing and pay attention to what Buddha says. This will be a bigger task because there is there is a lot more of it to read. After you have read about Jesus and Buddha based on what they said...then go look at Christians and Buddhists around the world and see how well you think either of them actually follow or even understand what their gurus said. When I do this my conclusion is that neither of these two groups of people follow the teachilngs of their master and in fact the vast majority of both of these groups don't understand their masters' message.

[girlx]

my feeling is that religion is based on nice, traditional stories which teach compassion and present a moral standard to live by. it's ridiculous how literal people take them, and how many problems the interpretations can cause. people should not take religion so seriously. after all, there is no way to know the truth about things, despite the concept of faith.

[a2396]

I am not a big fan of any organized, dogmatic and ritualized religious practices. They may be good for some people, but not for me. I judge someone by the degree of honesty, fairness, sincerity, etc, with which they treat me and other people. In general. I find Budhism to be more flexible and accepting of the needs of humankind and rooted in reality, rather than the historical story-telling of Christianity. It is refreshing to be away from the rabid pronouncements of the "Taliban" Christians back home. It is their way or the highway.

[a2396]

buddhism = the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth.

now you know why most farang are christians

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is not much to life without desire (within reason). I think many people have not heard of this concept when it comes to desire for money.

[mcfester]

Buddhism is not a religion

Christianity is a religion

Islam is a religion (so they believe)

Religion = WAR

[a2396]

First there was Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, Cain Killed Abel, then went off to Town to find himself a Wife. THERE WAS NO TOWN! There was only Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel. So you can see right from the start, the very Foundation of Christianity is a LIE.

Point #2, Mathematically Speaking, if you calculate the NUMBER of all the Species in the World during the time of Noah, (Including all the Animals, Reptiles, and Insects which have since been extinct), and figure out the dimensions for living space for each Species, and the Space to hold Fresh Food and Water for each species, and the TIME it would take to Gather each animal, reptile, and insect, including all the Poisonous ones, AND all the different kinds of Food they each would need for a period of 40 days and 40 nights. You will see it is impossible to build a boat large enough EVEN TODAY to hold all the Food, Water, and have enough Space to house all the Species in the World. Now think about how long it would take you to catch ONE wild Squirrel? Do you really think Noah could catch THAT MANY Wild Animals before the Flood? I don’t think so.

There are many other examples of contradictions and blatant falsehoods throughout the Bible. But let’s look for a moment at what does Christianity DO for the People?

By stating “Thou shalt not have no other God before me” Christians believe this to mean they should not ALLOW anyone else to Believe any Differently than THEY do. This is why Christians get involved in Missions all around the World to try to FORCE their Religion onto everyone else, with no respect what so ever for what other people might think or Believe. The ONLY thing the Christians want to do is FORCE their Beliefs onto others, and eventually try to FORCE their Beliefs into LAW in every country around the World to FORCE everyone who is NOT Christian to Live under Christian Beliefs.

Now if you believe that Christianity is a Righteous Religion then this doesn’t sound so bad. But what about FREEDOM for ALL? If you Force one Idea among everyone, then there IS NO FREEDOM. This is why the Native American Indians were forced off their Lands. This is why the Religions of Hawaii, Samoa, and many other tiny Islands in the Pacific have become almost extinct. Then shortly after the Christians FORCE their Religion on the people, they Take over their Land. Because Christians Believe they are BETTER than everyone else. This is why they come to a place like Thailand and try to “Teach” everyone that Buddhism is “Wrong”.

Christianity is Based on Hatred and Contempt of all others. Where Buddhism is Based on Compassion and Understanding, not Hatred and Contempt. The idea of going to another Country just to tell them their Religion is Wrong, THAT IDEA in itself is a form of Disrespect to the People of Thailand. As if to imply that the Christians KNOW BETTER, as if THEIR Religion is BETTER. They think of themselves as BETTER than everyone else. This is an Act of Disrespect to the people of Thailand, as if they Think the people of Thailand are nothing more than Ignorant Natives they need to “Save”. Like the “Saved” all the people in the Pacific right? They Stole their Lands, their Religions, then FORCED them to live in accordance with what THEY Believe. This is the Christian way.

But Speaking of Ignorance, Christians Ground their Beliefs in Ignorance, which is why the Tree of Knowledge is considered Evil in Christianity. Christians Teach Ignorance so they can convince people to accept their Beliefs which are based on Blatant LIES. The only way that Christians can get people to accept their Beliefs is by making people to think in ignorant ways. Which is Dangerous to Society as a whole. In otherwords from then on, all decisions which are made, in Government, Laws, and Society as a whole are based on Ignorance, NOT KNOWLEDGE! This is like closing your eyes while Driving a Car! Not only do they destroy their OWN lives, they also Spead Misery, Hatred and Contempt upon everyone they come in Contact with. Because once their Beliefs are made into Laws, anyone who Believes any differently, such as Drinking after Midnight, or even Drinking and Partying at ALL, will be Persecuted by Christian Authorities. This is just ONE example, there are THOUSANDS of others. The Point here to remember is when you take away FREEDOM, and Replace it with Ignorance, you only Create Suffering for everyone. NOT HAPPINESS.

Buddhism is Based on Compassion and Understanding, so instead of Condemning Human Behavior Buddhism teaches to try to UNDERSTAND it. This Leads to GROWTH in KNOWLEDGE, which increase people’s understanding, so they can make BETTER Decisions about Life, and the World Around them. Buddhism is based on TRUTHS and Natural Laws, not Scriptural BS that contradicts Scientific FACT.

You don’t see too many Buddhists Invading other Countries to tell them THEIR Religion is Wrong do you? No, Because Buddhism bases itself on the Law of Cause and Effect. They don’t do things to others, because they don’t want people doing things like that to THEM. This is a Natural Law which is Stricter than some False God and False Scriptures. Christians believe in Holy Wars and Forcing their Beliefs on others, and all in the Name of their False God. Just the Same way the Muslims do. Christians have Blown up Abortion Clinics in the US, they have Bombed places in the UK, and Even in the Middle East. Christians Took over the Philippines and told them “You either practice Christianity or we will KILL YOU!” That is why the Philippines is Christian while all the Surrounding Countries are Hindu or Buddhist.

The Bottom line is Christianity is a False Religion, and it does not Help the people. It only Hurts EVERYONE.

Buddhism Helps everyone who practices it. So the TRUTH is in the Actions of a Religion. A TRUE Religion WORKS. A False Religion, by it’s very Nature causes Chaos and Disorder, and brings Suffering upon the people.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

HEAR, HEAR

[cdnvic]

This looks like a trainwreck waiting to happen. Keep it nice please. Open your minds and discuss.... you learn more than by arguing.

cv

[Richard Hall]

There is no "versus" or "better" but rather what just matches one's personal needs.

Does the question what is better sun or rain is an useful question and may anticipate an accurate answer? There are just too many ways that can take you to the same destination equally.

Cheers,

Richard (Buddhist)

Edited July 30, 2005 by Richard Hall

[Shivek]

We all know every religion is created by man coz man himself doesnt know that which religion is true or false but we all know there is one Supreme ruler who created us. So the moral of the story is dont criticize or blame religions, but just follow the religion u r born with and always do good things!

[richb2004]

It’s ISLAM for me.

It’s really very, very peaceful. We respect our women and have never caused any offence to anyone. We live peacefully with all other religions and especially feel a great bond and brotherhood towards those of the Jewish faith.

Yes, I would certainly recommend Islam, its fab!

Richard (Atheist)

[bina]

actually i had a particularly funny and illuminating conversation three way: a teenager girl from a traditional right wing religious jewish moshav and my thai worker, buddhist of course... with me translating (very difficult since my thai is limited to agriculture and daily life)... i couldnt really explain to an up country buddhist what it means to be a religious jew (the concept of god as jews see it) and i couldnt really explain to her any of the various aspects of buddhism with out comparing to something that she already knows.... (they are not super exposed here to christianity or islam either, i.e. islam as a religioun and not as the arab population)

it was hard for her to grasp that there is a way of life that doesnt involve some entity that is the holy of holys that dictates your life and it was easier for her to deal with the other two big religiouns since there are of course similarities

and difficult for him to grasp the opposite....

she says the religion provides her with structure for her life; he says anything goes as long as u dont hurt someone else.... cant really argue with either of them....

as for bible and lies: since i live where all this actually was supposed to take place, i'll clarify: the kids in the non religious schools learn the old testament as a guide line to history and historical events with liberal doses of morality thru story, as a soap opera , etc and even rabbis will tell you that a biblical year wasnt neccesarily what we consider a year, etc etc.....

the dalai lama stated the basic truth in that all these 'great' religiouns, one of the precepts is compassion, and that by doing bad u ruin yourself.... all the rest is the psychology of homio sapiens : elaboration, convolution, exageration, fear etc

[cdnvic]

It’s ISLAM for me.

It’s really very, very peaceful. We respect our women  and have never caused any offence to anyone. We live peacefully with all other religions and especially feel a great bond and brotherhood towards those of the Jewish faith.

Yes, I would certainly recommend Islam, its fab!

Richard (Atheist)

That sounds like every muslim I know. If you keep the ones you see on TV in context, and get to know the ones in your neighbourhood, you get exactly that preception. I know you meant this in jest, but what you said is actually true. I won't let Al-quada choose how I see muslims any more than I let the IRA choose how I view catholics.

cv

[RDN]

... We respect our women  ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They look just like this, too:

[Mr Red]

I was raised a Christian, and even participated in the organized church services relying on their beliefs as a basis for my life. After I married my lovely Buddhist wife, I would occasionaly go to services, as would she just for satisfying curiosity about other beliefs. But when I would hear sermon after sermon telling me that if one did not believe in Jesus and accept him as your saviour, you would go to ######. I found that very disturbing to think a woman as fine as my wife would go to ###### simply for not being Christian. When I discussed this with my minister, he was adamant that was absolute fact. Left the church and have not been back since.

While I consider myself Christian, I am also a practicing agnostic. I choose to believe the portions of the teachings that focus on the way I should conduct my life and dealings with others and do not accept the legends and certain bible quotes as absolute fact. I consider most of the bible's stories as just that, written tales that originated as teachings to make a point about how to conduct yourself, but these stories turned into legends that morphed into the written words you see today. I'm sure this is similar in most relgions that originated in the days before you had the technology to capture the actual message.

Buddhism offers wisdom that is closer to what I believe, and perhaps someday I could fully embrace it. For now, I consider myself led by higher principles that are common to most world religions and have no interest in the trappings and misguided teachings of the individual organized churches. I do believe in a higher power and feel comfortable in the way I conduct my life. Perhaps true religion lies within one's self, and if you consider it long enough, you can devine the way to true happiness.

[richb2004]

It’s ISLAM for me.

It’s really very, very peaceful. We respect our women  and have never caused any offence to anyone. We live peacefully with all other religions and especially feel a great bond and brotherhood towards those of the Jewish faith.

Yes, I would certainly recommend Islam, its fab!

Richard (Atheist)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That sounds like every muslim I know. If you keep the ones you see on TV in context, and get to know the ones in your neighbourhood, you get exactly that preception. I know you meant this in jest, but what you said is actually true. I won't let Al-quada choose how I see muslims any more than I let the IRA choose how I view catholics.

cv

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have had some contact with Muslims over the years, although admittedly not Thai Muslims. My opinion is based only on in-depth conversations with Pakistanis, Indians, Saudi's, Iraqis, Nigerians, Syrians, Egyptians, Libyans and Tunisians.

You are correct in saying that they are friendly and peaceful people, upto a point. As long as you steer clear of conversations regarding religion things will be great. Take reliogion and then you will find their reluctance to compromise. Also if you take time to read the Quoran your opinion may change. You don't need to read very much of it to get a feel, the first two pages are quite revealing.

[thai3]

It’s ISLAM for me.

It’s really very, very peaceful. We respect our women  and have never caused any offence to anyone. We live peacefully with all other religions and especially feel a great bond and brotherhood towards those of the Jewish faith.

Yes, I would certainly recommend Islam, its fab!

Richard (Atheist)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That sounds like every muslim I know. If you keep the ones you see on TV in context, and get to know the ones in your neighbourhood, you get exactly that preception. I know you meant this in jest, but what you said is actually true. I won't let Al-quada choose how I see muslims any more than I let the IRA choose how I view catholics.

cv

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You have to ask yourself if people are living decent peaceful lives because of the religion they follow or in spite of it. In the case of Islam I would say mostly inspite of all the hate and division contained in the koran. Sure there are lots of 'loving and peaceful' suras, but plenty of contradictory ones instructing the faithfull to kill the infidel and to keep themselves apart from the infidel. The problem moslems have here is how can the 'word of god' have so many contradictions. The imamas explain this away be saying that where conflicts occur that the later surra's override the earlier ones, a bit embarassing when those later ones encourage killing. IMO the so called exremists are merely taking the koran literally and are treating non believers acordingly.

It's interesting to compare the sort of examples the lives the founders of religions gave us. We all know what sort of lives Buddha and Jesus led which is rather a contradiction to the founder of Islam.The islamic scriptures tell us he was a slave owner who in one battle promised jews safe passage out of a city only to have them slaughtered later, of course he was preaching religious tolerence at the time! It's well documented also that he was married to at least 12 women one being 7 and about 9 when he had sex with her, of course god told him it was OK to shag kids in a dream

Thank god more muslims do not follow the phrophets examples, or take his more hateful ravings more literally-peter

[AmeriThai]

In my opinion, the biggest problem with how people perceive religion (and politics) is that they are often taught to see the differences and have an 'I'm right you're wrong' attitude. If people could get past all that and focus on what we all as people have in common, the world would be a more peaceful place. That's pretty hard to achieve by trying to force things down each others' throats.

Edited July 31, 2005 by AmeriThai