christianity vs bhuddism

as i understand way more people(per capita)leave the christian religion than bhuddism. why?

Originally posted by karoly aczel
as i understand way more people(per capita)leave the christian religion than bhuddism. why?

Probably a number of factors including:
- Buddhism is probably more flexible - ie you can change your beliefs quite dramatically without saying you are no longer Buddhist.
- Different cultures of the members.
- Different education circumstances. As I understand it as education levels rise people on average become less religious. Maybe the education levels are rising faster in Christian countries.

You should probably find out where Islam or Hinduism fit in as that might give other indications. I believe that there is more risk of ostracism if you leave Islam than with most other religions.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Probably a number of factors including:
- Buddhism is probably more flexible - ie you can change your beliefs quite dramatically without saying you are no longer Buddhist.
- Different cultures of the members.
- Different education circumstances. As I understand it as education levels rise people on average become less religious. Maybe the education lev ...[text shortened]... believe that there is more risk of ostracism if you leave Islam than with most other religions.

all good points i agree with.
i was thinking bhuddism may be a better religion and therefor less people find a need to change

It could be because some (all?) buddhists don't consider themselves any more 'correct' than all the other 'foolish common mortals' and therefore have nothing to leave or change. Everyone is an adherent of the 'human' religion whether they want to be or not. In this context there is no 'better' - just different. In or out - same difference.

Simple.

There are more Buddist holidays per year than there are Christian holidays.

I worked it out once. If you become a member and believer in all religions
then you only have to work 4 weeks out of every year.

Originally posted by karoly aczel
as i understand way more people(per capita)leave the christian religion than bhuddism. why?

because there is no sin and guilt in buddism.

Originally posted by duecer
because there is no sin and guilt in buddism.

Seems to me that for the (vocal?) majority of Christian posters here, there isn't "sin and guilt" for them either.

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
Seems to me that for the (vocal?) majority of Christian posters here, there isn't "sin and guilt" for them either.

That leaves plenty for you and me.

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
Seems to me that for the (vocal?) majority of Christian posters here, there isn't "sin and guilt" for them either.

Of course there is sin but if you have a relationship with Jesus He takes away our past guilt.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Probably a number of factors including:
- Buddhism is probably more flexible - ie you can change your beliefs quite dramatically without saying you are no longer Buddhist.
- Different cultures of the members.
- Different education circumstances. As I understand it as education levels rise people on average become less religious. Maybe the education lev ...[text shortened]... believe that there is more risk of ostracism if you leave Islam than with most other religions.

Hi, there, TW! Hope all is well with you and yours.

Buddhism is probably more flexible - ie you can change your beliefs quite dramatically without saying you are no longer Buddhist.

Or having other Buddhists declare you not to be a “true” Buddhist…?

That kind of thing could be a pragmatic reason for choosing a given religion/philosophy, however, not an evidentiary reason. One who sticks with Buddhism because they believe, say, that a range of perspectival beliefs (given the perspectival nature of human consciousness) best expresses the general “truth of the matter” would be putting the same point into an evidentiary category.

I would hope that most people change, or stick with, religions/philosophies ultimately for evidentiary reasons rather than simply for pragmatic ones.

NOTE: Some people argue that Buddhism is not, properly, a religion but a philosophy—since it does not require belief in a supernatural dimension of any kind.

_________________________________________________

Clear light refracted
through a thousand prisms:

Then folks argue about
which resulting hue
is the only “true” color—

(That is, from my Zen perspective, a very Buddhist bit of doggerel.)

Originally posted by vistesd
Hi, there, TW! Hope all is well with you and yours.

[b]Buddhism is probably more flexible - ie you can change your beliefs quite dramatically without saying you are no longer Buddhist.

Or having other Buddhists declare you not to be a “true” Buddhist…?

That kind of thing could be a pragmatic reason for choosing a given religion/philosoph ...[text shortened]... s the only “true” color—

(That is, from my Zen perspective, a very Buddhist bit of doggerel.)[/b]

what does the word doggerel mean?

Originally posted by karoly aczel
what does the word doggerel mean?

Bad poetry. 😉

Originally posted by karoly aczel
as i understand way more people(per capita)leave the christian religion than bhuddism. why?

Do you have any data about this? Christianity has grown significantly in Asia.

Originally posted by karoly aczel
all good points i agree with.
i was thinking bhuddism may be a better religion and therefor less people find a need to change

"Better" in what way? More attractive? Less likely to be 'seen through'? More likely to cause lasting delusions?
The vast majority of believers become members of the first religion they are introduced to - usually that of their parents. I suspect that the choice of leaving a religion and taking on a new one takes more thought but is also affected by what other religions you are exposed to and how strongly your friends/relatives are likely to react to your change.

Originally posted by duecer
because there is no sin and guilt in buddism.

By saying this, do you mean that if you are into adultery, killing, mugging, raping etc that this religion is for you? Does it also mean that this type of religion supports whatever you feel doing to do without having to feel guilty about it?

I honestly think this is a load of nonsense. If this is the case, then the earth really has billions of nutcases walking around us.