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The Man
Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Posts: 1249 Location: USA Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 1:47 am Post subject: Re: religion -- Buddhism |
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Nacho wrote: | what's your religion? |
Roman Catholic. Loud and proud.
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Geezer
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Posts: 3125 Location: S.F. Bay Area Country: |
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bmwracer
Joined: 07 Jul 2003 Posts: 125547 Location: Juri-chan's speed dial Country: |
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niko2x
Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 4009 Location: East Coast, US Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 2:22 am Post subject: |
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bmwracer wrote: | Agnostic. | ditto, same here. maybe a little shinto/bai sun. (HK way of honoring ancestors) _________________
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The Man
Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Posts: 1249 Location: USA Country: |
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niko2x
Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 4009 Location: East Coast, US Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 2:28 am Post subject: |
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The Man wrote: | Agnostics believe that God exists, though, right? | agnostic people are people who would like to believe in a god (higher being), but not in anything in particular right now... _________________
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The Man
Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Posts: 1249 Location: USA Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 2:32 am Post subject: |
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niko2x wrote: | agnostic people are people who would like to believe in a god (higher being), but not in anything in particular right now... |
As I understood it . . . agnostics believe that God exists, but, know that there is or can never be evidence of God's existence.
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niko2x
Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 4009 Location: East Coast, US Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 2:36 am Post subject: |
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The Man wrote: | As I understood it . . . agnostics believe that God exists, but, know that there is or can never be evidence of God's existence. | actually, i usually don't like to talk/discuss about religion, because that is one subject that WILL start fights. not that i'll shy away from it and all, but i don't care to get into any more heated discussion about any religion. i figure you (just a figuritive you, the man) have you own belief, i have mine. i won't impose my thinking to you, so you stay the hell away from me. _________________
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The Man
Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Posts: 1249 Location: USA Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 2:44 am Post subject: |
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niko2x wrote: | actually, i usually don't like to talk/discuss about religion, because that is one subject that WILL start fights. not that i'll shy away from it and all, but i don't care to get into any more heated discussion about any religion. i figure you (just a figuritive you, the man) have you own belief, i have mine. i won't impose my thinking to you, so you stay the hell away from me. |
Waitaminute, Niko2x . . . I'm not trying to be mean here. . My best friend doesn't believe in God or anything else; I'm asking all this to know more.
As I understand it, agnostics believe in God, but know that there can be no evidence to prove it. I think that's interesting (and I'm not trying to be condescending by saying that it's interesting).
I'm looking over my last two posts . . . and I'm still trying to figure out where I was deliberately being mean.
Because I can tell you in my heart and mind, that I was not trying to be that.
In a different thread, I said that I was glad "God" is in the Pledge of Allegiance. That's just my opinion; and does having that opinion ostracize me from wanting to learn about other religions?
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niko2x
Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 4009 Location: East Coast, US Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 2:52 am Post subject: |
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The Man wrote: | Waitaminute, Niko2x . . . I'm not trying to be mean here. . My best friend doesn't believe in God or anything else; I'm asking all this to know more.
As I understand it, agnostics believe in God, but know that there can be no evidence to prove it. I think that's interesting (and I'm not trying to be condescending by saying that it's interesting).
I'm looking over my last two posts . . . and I'm still trying to figure out where I was deliberately being mean.
Because I can tell you in my heart and mind, that I was not trying to be that.
In a different thread, I said that I was glad "God" is in the Pledge of Allegiance. That's just my opinion; and does having that opinion ostracize me from wanting to learn about other religions? | dude, if i sounded like i was offended, i whole heartedly appologise. i didn't mean to come out so gruff. i just wanted to get the idea across that i have been some discussions before with religions that had turn into ugly fist fights. (but then again we were all drunk, so everything is cool).
but to answer your question, that is MY religion. it may or maynot be idealistically agnostic, but fairly on the right track, more so than those people who DON"T belive in god. i hope i have cleared my miscommunication and again, "eu sou pesaroso". _________________
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Duneman
Joined: 28 Jan 2004 Posts: 51 Location: USA Country: |
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Geezer
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Posts: 3125 Location: S.F. Bay Area Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 3:10 am Post subject: |
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No fights, no meanness, and no jokes.
I think of myself as an Agnostic.
And no, Agnostics don't "believe" in God.
I think the guys your thinking of are the Deists. Most of the Founding Fathers (Ben Franklin, Thomas Payne etc.) were Deists. They rejected all established religions, and the classic notions of God the Father sitting on a big throne. They believed in Reason and Nature, and said that those were the real supports for a believe in some kind of guiding presence out there in the cosmos.
Unlike Athiests, Agnostics don't declare that there is no God. We say that we don't know.
Maybe there's a God, maybe it's just Santa, maybe it really is a big turtle?!? Or just as likely, there's nothing. Who knows! It's a big universe.
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The Man
Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Posts: 1249 Location: USA Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 3:13 am Post subject: |
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Geezer wrote: | No fights, no meanness, and no jokes.
I think of myself as an Agnostic.
And no, Agnostics don't "believe" in God.
I think the guys your thinking of are the Deists. Most of the Founding Fathers (Ben Franklin, Thomas Payne etc.) were Deists. They rejected all established religions, and the classic notions of God the Father sitting on a big throne. They believed in Reason and Nature, and said that those were the real supports for a believe in some kind of guiding presence out there in the cosmos.
Unlike Athiests, Agnostics don't declare that there is no God. We say that we don't know.
Maybe there's a God, maybe it's just Santa, maybe it really is a big turtle?!? Or just as likely, there's nothing. Who knows! It's a big universe. |
I see.
Thank you for this answer, Geezer.
Hmm. I guess I gotta do more reading on the agnostic and/or atheist view.
And, offense here, but, I think either the dictionary and some other agnostics I know might want to change the definition that I've come to understand of them. (and, to be fair, the remainder of agnostics I know would agree with Geezer's "declar[ation] that there is no God. We say that we don't know.")
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bmwracer
Joined: 07 Jul 2003 Posts: 125547 Location: Juri-chan's speed dial Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 3:22 am Post subject: |
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The Man wrote: | Agnostics believe that God exists, though, right? |
Agnostics question the existence of God... One step away from not believing at all.
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Duneman
Joined: 28 Jan 2004 Posts: 51 Location: USA Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 3:30 am Post subject: |
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bmwracer wrote: |
Agnostics question the existence of God... One step away from not believing at all. |
that's always been my understanding. they're fence-straddlers. my dad is one - he says he can't say whether there is or there isn't.
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bmwracer
Joined: 07 Jul 2003 Posts: 125547 Location: Juri-chan's speed dial Country: |
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 7:19 am Post subject: |
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Duneman wrote: | that's always been my understanding. they're fence-straddlers. my dad is one - he says he can't say whether there is or there isn't. |
I wouldn't call it fence-stradling... I think it's more like "give me proof..."
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vibius
Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 536
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Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2004 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Geezer wrote: | Unlike Athiests, Agnostics don't declare that there is no God. |
I think that's a misconception about atheism.
Atheism originally was coined to mean: "without god". It is a lack of belief. An atheist simply does not believe in any god. That's not quite the same thing as asserting that "god does not exist". The latter is a specific belief, and is sometimes called "strong atheism" (or "positive" or "dogmatic").
A good explanation of the meaning of atheism and agnosticism can be found in the first chapter of "An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism" by Gordon Stein.
"Agnosticism" as coined by Thomas Huxley in 1869 was actually more of an affirmation of Rationalism, but that is not really how the word is used today.
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thetenken
Joined: 08 Nov 2003 Posts: 435 Location: USA Country: |
Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 11:30 pm Post subject: |
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Nacho wrote: | thanks for the info. i'll check out the links. what type of buddhism does the Japanese pracitice? |
Japanese practice all types, but most sects in Japan are along the lines of Pure Land and Zen. Since Japan got most of its Buddhist practices from China, it is more Mahayana style. Still, most Japanese don't believe in Buddhism per se, but more like the Chinese in a mixture of religions. As they say, the Japanese are born Shinto, and die Buddhist.
As for the agnosticism conversation, it doesn't matter what you label yourself, as you know what you believe. More on agnosticism on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism _________________
"...but it was my integrity that was important. Is that so selfish? It sells for so little, but it's all we have left in this place. It is the very last inch of us...but within that inch we are free." - V for Vendetta
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