Comments on: Pray 4 Trig

By: MarkB

MarkB — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:41:04 +0000

What sins can a fetus possibly commit? … I really want to know what the possibilities are.

Well, for males, when do the fingers finish forming?

By: Psaltseller

Psaltseller — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:10:13 +0000

When it became known at our church that my wife had terminal cancer, some well-meaning church lady told my then-10-year-old son “if you pray real hard your Mommy will get better.” What a load of guilt to lay on a child. The pastor defended this person, on the basis that she was trying to give the child hope. What absolute dreck.

I used to live down the road from a fundie church that had this big neon sign outside: “Healing every Thursday!” So this is their God as a trained seal? Again, drecklichkeit.

By: Apostate Rebel

Apostate Rebel — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:53:31 +0000

As a parent of a child with Down Syndrome, I find this abhorrent! It’s this kind of BS that leads to people with disabilities being treated as less that human beings, or as something to exploit.

By: Buffy

Buffy — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:50:18 +0000

I really hope that’s a Poe. I know fundies are chock full of stupid and actually believe their magic fairy can heal *everything* (to the point that they let their children die of treatable conditions while they pray over them). But to put up a crazy site like that….

By: Vas

Vas — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:26:28 +0000

Ah… pray4trig is a Poe site. Stop and think for a moment even xtians are not that bat shit crazy and the comments about atheists and why god won’t heal amputees are a dead give away.

By: Lorelei Armstrong

Lorelei Armstrong — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:48:46 +0000

My only concern is that they might have foreknowledge that he has some kind of mosaic Down Syndrome, which would mean some percentage of his cells are Trisomy 21, while others are not. Depending on the cell you check, he could be seen to have Down Syndrome or not.

By: BrainUser

BrainUser — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:13:21 +0000

This is going to look so bad that I wonder if its not an atheist putting it on.

By: Parrotlover77

Parrotlover77 — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:29:13 +0000

People don’t realize this about Buddhism.

Well, they’ve never bombed anybody over their beliefs, so it makes them a little more immune to criticism. Also, they don’t tend to force anybody into their beliefs. If they want a pessimistic outlook, fine by me as long as they do it in peace… which they seem to actually be doing for the most part.

…and I feel strongly that it’s incumbent upon us to do all that we can to help the Tibetans prosper in exile, and to regain autonomy in their homeland.

Word.

By: Jeff Eyges

Jeff Eyges — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:26:19 +0000

You know, I want to emphasize that although I have issues with Buddhism, I’m not saying that the tradition is without value. It emphasizes compassion and forgiveness in a way that is often lacking in western religions. There’s also a vast system of meditative method, refined over the course of centuries, that I feel can be of tremendous value to the individual and to society. (I myself am, unfortunately, the world’s worst meditator!) Alan Wallace is a teacher of Tibetan Buddhism who is currently working with neuroscientists to explore the potential of meditation to benefit society, and he’s been getting some impressive results:
http://www.sbinstitute.com/research_Shamatha.html

As far as Tibet is concerned, the actions of the Chinese government over the past sixty years have constituted nothing short of cultural and physical genocide, and I feel strongly that it’s incumbent upon us to do all that we can to help the Tibetans prosper in exile, and to regain autonomy in their homeland. (/soapbox)

By: Jeff Eyges

Jeff Eyges — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:52:39 +0000

Stamati, apart from the fact that the concept of “self” in Advaita (Indian non-dualistic philosophy) is much like that in Buddhism, my experience of thirty-five years has been that Buddhists, both Asian and Western, play fast and loose with the concept. I’ve often said that if I were pressed to give a one sentence definition of the concept of “self” in Buddhism, it would be this: when it’s to your advantage to exist, you don’t; when it’s to your disadvantage to exist, you do!

By: stamati

stamati — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:51:54 +0000

In Buddhism, the self does not transmigrate as in Hinduism, since the Buddhists don’t believe a self separate from everything else exists.

By: OtherRob

OtherRob — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:35:38 +0000

Jeff said:

Of course, the Buddhists think these things are the results of actions committed in prior lifetimes. Is it so different?

I don’t know enough about Buddhist philosophy to give *their* answer to your question. But from my point of view — and, of course, assuming that reincarnation is true for the sake of the argument — a sin committed by a person that carries over into the next lifetime would be different than a sin committed by a fetus in the womb. Still can’t wrap my brain around that concept….