Christianity

[Sbane]

Just wondering.

[Sbane]

My overall opinion of the wisdom of starting this thread is bad.

Why?

[Sbane]

My overall opinion of the wisdom of starting this thread is bad.

Why?

This sort of thread tends not to produce edifying discussion.

I am personally more interested in the poll results, especially in comparison to another poll on this subforum. As expected, the results are hilarious.

[Sbane]

Thank you Clark for your posts in this thread. I don't get how anyone who puts in even the least bit of effort to understand Hinduism would think it is some sort of draconian religion with rules that everyone must follow. I come from a Hindu tradition but the types of rituals and beliefs my family has is likely completely different from another family that lived a few hundred miles away. It is not even one religion if it is understood from a western perspective, but a collection of beliefs in a region of the world that has been categorized as Hindu by outsiders. No wonder the word "Hindu" came from outside India.

Also, speaking of Buddhism, it's key tenets are a good way to live a happy life. If taken literally, it can mean a life of asceticism that would be impractical for most people. But if Buddhism is used as a guiding principle in your life, you can be a happier person. You can't afford the iPhone 6? Great, you don't gain happiness from possessions anyways. That does not mean you need to flush your iPhone 5 down the toilet. That is a very literalist, Christian way of looking at things. In any case, most Christians don't follow their religion literally either. If they did, they would be stoning gays in the street. Another thing the eastern religions are superior at. Much less stoning to death of undesirable groups.

[Sbane]

Is that really what eastern religions emphasize? Or is that just what western hippies think eastern religion is about? Somehow I doubt the average practicing Hindu is a paragon of tolerance.

And, just because people don't actually follow the rules of a religion (mostly because those rules are so strict) doesn't make the religion itself less strict.

I am no expert on religion but I think the hippies got it right. "Hinduism" has been corrupted by outside, socially conservative influences for a long time now. Of course there is social conservatism within Hinduism as well, but it's not a religion like Christianity or Islam. There are plenty of Hindu priests who sit around smoking weed in the name of Shiva (one of the main gods) all around India. Eating bhang (edible marijuana) is an extremely common activity during Holi (done by even the conservatives in Hindu society). Indeed, my parents didn't even know bhang and marijuana are the same thing. So yeah, the hippies got it right.

[Sbane]

In any case, most Christians don't follow their religion literally either. If they did, they would be stoning gays in the street. Another thing the eastern religions are superior at. Much less stoning to death of undesirable groups.

...

Yeah, because as we all know, the bible is very gay friendly.

[Sbane]

Thanks for that. I was making a general point about western religions being much more strict about these social issues whereas eastern religions take more of a live and let live attitude. A perfect example of that would be the Hijras of South Asia.

[Sbane]

One reason why this particular board is so absolutely and utterly dire is that it is full of people who believe themselves to be knowledgeable about subjects on which they are actually totally ignorant.

I have already admitted I am no expert on religion, which is why I usually don't post on this board. That being said, I know enough to know that saying eastern religions are more doctrinally strict than western religions is absolutely wrong.