Religion ? you can live without it.
patgoh
(There are some very insightful postings in our forum about
religion but I think it is not nice to place the link here.)
Copy and paste 1 of them here :
Uncle Lai, let me try to humor you, please.
Lai CF wrote:
if you are not of the Book, you are an Unbeliever.
If you believe in The Book, then you should also believe that Adam
and
Eve were the first couple or humans created by God. And they
bore
two sons, Cairn and Abel. When Cairn killed Abel, God punished
him
into exile east of Eden. There he met a girl and have children.
How
come suddenly one girl came out of nowhere? Because the story
teller
at that time never thought that his people were so smart la.
Quote:
If you are not borne Jewish, you cannot be saved.
If God only created the Jews, then who created the Negroes, the
Russians,
the Chinese, the Malays, the Indians, Red Indians, Polynesians,
etc.?
If God also created all the rest, why The Book never say so?
Even if it is true God created all the rest, then why he only wants
to
save the Jews, not all the rest? Because the story teller never
traveled
outside his well, so the thought of the existence of other races
could
never cross his mind la.
Quote:
But those Taosits, Buddhists, are there any Gods to
them?
The Taoists believe in the Heavenly Jade Emperor as the Supreme
God,
with countless numbers of big gods and small gods, demi-gods,
angels,
asuras, spirits, ghosts, spirits, etc. etc. etc.
The Buddhists believe in the one and only Buddha and His
Teachings.
The Buddha taught that there are six types of beings, i.e.
gods,
semi-gods, human beings, animals, ghosts or spirits and
hell-beings.
The gods reside in 37 heavens and in each heaven, there are
different
types of gods. But all these gods will die also once their time is
up,
though they can live for millions of years.
Quote:
Is savage men "atheist", not knowing gods?
Savage men also believe in gods of the sun, moon, mountains,
rivers,
trees, rocks, etc. etc. etc.
Quote:
If God created everything, are living organisms "atheist" simply
they do
not know God?
Living organisms are born from 4 different kinds of births:
womb-birth,
egg-birth, heat-and-moisture-birth and spontaneous birth.
That would include bacteria, germs, microbes, viruses, protozoa,
amoeba,
etc. They are usually parasites. They need a host to survive. So,
in the
end, either they destroy the host of the host destroys them. If God
had
created them, how come God so cruel?
Quote:
Or God is the sole preserve of Man?
And if it is, then isn't it is Man created God, not Beast of the
field, Beast of the Forest, Denizen of the Sea?
Is that your final answer, Uncle Lai?
If it is, I fully agree with you that it is Man that had create the
concept of
having a Creator God. The Book is nothing but a collection of
fables to
indoctrinate and frighten the uneducated people of ancient times
into
obedience and submission to the Authority, probably a very
cunning
person who must be very lazy to find food for himself and who
wanted to
manipulate and control everyone else to his will. That was the
beginning
of dictatorship, despotism and tyranny. And it went on for one
generation
after another, until today. If LKY were to live a few thousand
years ago,
he could have been mistaken as a God, even more superior than
Abraham, Moses, Jesus, etc.
According to The Buddha's teachings, the gods also desire to
become
human beings, because Man is the most precious thing on Earth.
Only
Man can become a Buddha. And when you become a Buddha, you
are out of the 6 realms of beings forever. You won't have to take
any
more rebirths. Thats why it is called "Rinpoche", meaning Most
Precious.
