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The only Buddhist region in Europe

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Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#101

Post by Quarrelsome »

shigawire wrote: post #91
Quarrelsome wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't sorry, I rather mean that one is forcing a personal sense of morality on one's supply chain, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. But what is bad is that one only drops what is advertised to them as being bad which makes one think it was never about the sense of morality in the first place. The implication being that every single supply chain is bad (e.g. cobalt mining in DRC) but we conveniently just don't…

I pretty much have to use a phone.i don't have to watch a creepy sex tourist on YouTube - so I choose not to.

My issue with that stance is that effectively its saying that you'll be ethical when its _convenient_ but when its inconvenient you'll be unethical.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#102

Post by throwaway894345 »

boxed wrote: post #96
u9rptDjqLl0Pdcz wrote: post #65

Also of interest is the Mari Native Religion which is practiced in the Mari El Republic of Russia[0]. I believe this is the only example of an indigenous religion surviving with continued practice into the modern day. RT made a documentary about it[1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Native_Religion [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ_2kpTJvj0

Hinduism? Seems like a pretty big one to forget :)

Is Hinduism indigenous? Wasn’t that a product of Aryan migrations from the north? (genuine question: what constitutes “indigenous”? if one native american tribe drives out another in a particular region, is the conquering tribe still indigenous? What about cases where people mix to become a new people? Is it correct to say that the Irish, British, Germans, Italians, etc are indigenous Europeans?)

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#103

Post by Quarrelsome »

string wrote: post #71
Quarrelsome wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't sorry, I rather mean that one is forcing a personal sense of morality on one's supply chain, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. But what is bad is that one only drops what is advertised to them as being bad which makes one think it was never about the sense of morality in the first place. The implication being that every single supply chain is bad (e.g. cobalt mining in DRC) but we conveniently just don't…

I readily accept that the reality is harrowing, but I don't agree that just sharing information about some potentially immoral thing is anything like the pursuit of some state of moral purity. Is it not better that individuals try to make supposed moral decisions where possible, even if they ultimately fall short? It seems that in order to function one must come to terms with the fact that existence is a moral balanc…

I'm with you there, I just wish people had this level of energy in regards to things like having Saudi Arabia as an ally. We take the zero effort to stop watching this Youtuber but when we're at the pump we're mostly not thinking about the suffering of women in Saudi Arabia. You're right that there's this metric of distance that appears to matter in these calculations.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#104

Post by cyberbanjo »

tomcooks wrote: post #87
brink wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a child I had a subconscious assumption that Christianity wasn't rational, and maintained that view into my mid-twenties. Thankfully, I had the drive to do research on it, and an open enough mind to accept it, because I was ready to reject Christianity completely for a short period. I know this view isn't popular, but today, I see Christianity as the most rational philosophy/religion out there. I think it's been w…

Could you explain what's rational about Christianity? Moreover, do you refer to a specific branch or Christianity as a whole?

On that subject the blog undivided looking touches on using applied history and theology to rationalize Christianity. It appeals to my sense of mrationality at least.

http://www.wall.org/~aron/blog/

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#105

Post by rat87 »

anoncake wrote: post #47
oytis wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not quite. Church tax in one matter. Also Muslim women wearing headscarfs are discriminated in access to certain positions in government service e.g. at school, at courts etc. UPD And also we have Bavaria :)

Muslim headscarves are banned because we're a secular state and the state has to be neutral in religious matters. The Christian Democratic Union would never discriminate on the basis of religion. There is a cross in every classroom because the previous sentence was an obvious lie.

That's the opposite of neutrality

True neutrality/freedom of religion would let people make personal choices about religous clothing. I'm not surprised that France has something so ridiculous but I'm somewhat disappointed that Germany would also fail to understand this

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#106

Post by collias »

boxed wrote: post #100
brink wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a child I had a subconscious assumption that Christianity wasn't rational, and maintained that view into my mid-twenties. Thankfully, I had the drive to do research on it, and an open enough mind to accept it, because I was ready to reject Christianity completely for a short period. I know this view isn't popular, but today, I see Christianity as the most rational philosophy/religion out there. I think it's been w…

You don't need to know much about it. Christians believe in a god. That's open and shut right there.

Belief in a god in itself is not really that irrational.

Even secular thoughts like simulation theory agree in some sort of force that is outside of the material space-time universe we exist in.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#107

Post by yowlingcat »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #102
boxed wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hinduism? Seems like a pretty big one to forget :)

Is Hinduism indigenous? Wasn’t that a product of Aryan migrations from the north? (genuine question: what constitutes “indigenous”? if one native american tribe drives out another in a particular region, is the conquering tribe still indigenous? What about cases where people mix to become a new people? Is it correct to say that the Irish, British, Germans, Italians, etc are indigenous Europeans?)

> Wasn’t that a product of Aryan migrations from the north?

I know this isn't a great answer, but "yes and no" -- it is certainly true that the Proto-Indo-Europeans brought with them Rigvedic religion. But that religion itself was syncretized with other beliefs across Central Asia and South Asia over quite a long period of time. While it is often dramatized as a "violent" invasion (no doubt reminiscent of later "violent" "Aryan" invasions), the truth is more bland, which is that the nomadic Indo-Aryans and their ancestors had a rich level of cultural exchange with more settled civilizations. Some of it by the sword, but some of it otherwise.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#108

Post by tengbretson »

boxed wrote: post #100
brink wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a child I had a subconscious assumption that Christianity wasn't rational, and maintained that view into my mid-twenties. Thankfully, I had the drive to do research on it, and an open enough mind to accept it, because I was ready to reject Christianity completely for a short period. I know this view isn't popular, but today, I see Christianity as the most rational philosophy/religion out there. I think it's been w…

You don't need to know much about it. Christians believe in a god. That's open and shut right there.

I don't think the belief in creation by God requires any more leaps of faith than a belief in other cosmologies, such as the big bang, etc.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#109

Post by andredz »

cyberbanjo wrote: post #104
tomcooks wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you explain what's rational about Christianity? Moreover, do you refer to a specific branch or Christianity as a whole?

On that subject the blog undivided looking touches on using applied history and theology to rationalize Christianity. It appeals to my sense of mrationality at least. http://www.wall.org/~aron/blog/

I would recommend that blog as well; it is among my favorite places on the internet. Aron's writings have had a huge and very positive impact in my life.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#110

Post by boxed »

today20201014 wrote: post #90
qwerty456127 wrote: post #59

It seems weird Buddhism is such a minor religion in Europe while it is so rational, based on individual experience (rather than belief) gained through reproducible applied self-regulation techniques, backed by neuroscience and explained with consistent philosophical logic.

Perhaps people experience cognitive dissonance when reconciling the things that you mentioned with beliefs about reincarnation ? I am relying on a rather common and uninformed understanding of Buddhism here, so I may be way off base. EDIT: I had to look it up, but I guess European culture has contained some sort of belief in reincarnation (Plato's Republic, Book X / Myth of Er). I don't suppose this belief has much t…

It's not reinkarnation. It's rebirth. Buddhism explicitly rejects the idea of a soul so reinkarnation would be very strange. Rebirth is something else that can be difficult to explain...
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